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[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 195 (Wednesday, October 8, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60887-60889]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-23008]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary of Transportation

Requirements for the Recognizing Aviation and Aerospace 
Innovation in Science and Engineering Awards; Deadline Extension

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary of Transportation, U.S. Department of 
Transportation.

Action: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to a recommendation by the Future of Aviation 
Advisory Committee, the Secretary of Transportation is announcing the 
third-annual competition to recognize students with the ability to 
demonstrate unique, innovative thinking in aerospace science and 
engineering. In its third year, the Secretary has decided to create two 
divisions within the award: A high school division and a university 
division (both undergraduate and graduate). The Secretary of 
Transportation intends to use the awards to incentivize students at 
high schools and universities to think creatively in developing 
innovative solutions to aviation and aerospace issues, and to share 
those innovations with the broader community. This notice extends the 
deadline for submitting proposals for the RAISE Award and makes other 
small changes to the prior notices issued in April (79 FR 19167) and 
May (79 FR 29476) 2014. The Department of Transportation has decided 
that interested students could benefit from more time to develop 
proposals for the 2014 competition. Thus, we are extending the dates 
for submitting expressions of interest to November 14, 2014, and for 
submitting final packages to 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on 
December 30, 2014.

DATES: Effective on April 01, 2014 to December 30, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia Watts, Ph.D., Federal 
Aviation Administration, (609) 485-5043, patricia.watts@faa.gov, or 
James Brough, Federal Aviation Administration, (781) 238-7027, 
james.brough@faa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Subject of Challenge Competition: The Secretary's RAISE 
(Recognizing Aviation & Aerospace Innovation in Science and 
Engineering) Award will recognize innovative scientific and engineering 
achievements that will have a significant impact on the future of 
aerospace or aviation. Following an open solicitation by the United 
States Department of Transportation (``the Department''), the Secretary 
of Transportation (``the Secretary'') will designate an Award Review 
Board Chair, who will submit nominations to the Secretary for final 
consideration. The rules for this competition are available at http://www.challenge.gov.
    Award Approving Official: Anthony Foxx, Secretary of 
Transportation.

Eligibility

    To be eligible to participate in the Secretary's RAISE Award 
competition, students must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. For 
the high school division, the students must have been enrolled in at 
least one semester (or quarterly equivalent) at a U.S. high school (or 
equivalent approved home school program) in 2014. For the University 
division, the student must have been enrolled in a U.S.-based college 
or university for at least one semester (or quarterly equivalent) in 
2014. Students may participate and be recognized as individuals or in 
teams. Each member of a team must meet the eligibility criteria. An 
individual may join more than one team. There is no charge to enter the 
competition.
    The following additional rules apply:
    1. Candidates shall submit a project in the competition under the 
rules promulgated by the Department;
    2. Candidates shall agree to execute indemnifications and waivers 
of claims against the Federal government as provided in this Notice;
    3. Candidates may not be a Federal entity or Federal employee 
acting within the scope of employment;
    4. Candidates may not be an employee of the Department, including 
but not limited to the Federal Aviation Administration, or the Research 
and Innovative Technology Administration;
    5. Candidates shall not be deemed ineligible because an individual 
used Federal facilities or consulted with Federal employees during a 
competition, if the facilities and employees are made available to all 
individuals participating in the competition on an equitable basis;
    6. The competition is subject to all applicable Federal laws and 
regulations. Participation constitutes the Candidates' full and 
unconditional agreement to these rules and to the Secretary's 
decisions, which are final and binding in all matters related to this 
competition;
    7. Submissions which in the Secretary's sole discretion are 
determined to be substantially similar to a prior submitted entry may 
be disqualified;
    8. Submissions must be original, be the work of the Candidates, and 
must not violate the rights of other parties. All submissions remain 
the property of the applicants. Each Candidate represents and warrants 
that he, she, or the team, is the sole author and owner of the 
submission, that the submission is wholly original, that it does not 
infringe any copyright or any other rights of any third party of which 
the Candidate is aware, and, if submitted in electronic form, is free 
of malware;
    9. By submitting an entry in this contest, contestants and entrants 
agree to assume any and all risks and waive any claims against the 
Federal Government and its related entities (except in the case of 
willful misconduct) for any injury, death, damage, or loss of property, 
revenue or profits, whether direct, indirect, or consequential, arising 
from their participation in this contest, whether the injury, death, 
damage, or loss arises through negligence of otherwise. Provided, 
however, that by registering or submitting an entry, contestants and 
entrants do not waive claims against the Department arising out of the

[[Page 60888]]

unauthorized use or disclosure by the agency of the intellectual 
property, trade secrets, or confidential information of the entrant;
    10. The Secretary and the Secretary's designees have the right to 
request access to supporting materials from the Candidates;
    11. The submissions cannot have been submitted in the same or 
substantially similar form in any previous Federally-sponsored 
promotion or Federally-sponsored contest, of any kind;
    12. Each Candidate grants to the Department, as well as other 
Federal agencies with which it partners, the right to use names, 
likeness, application materials, photographs, voices, opinions, and/or 
hometown and state for the Department's promotional purposes in any 
media, in perpetuity, worldwide, without further payment or 
consideration; and
    13. The Secretary collects personal information from Candidates 
when they enter this competition. The information collected is subject 
to the ChallengePost privacy policy located at http://www.challengepost.com/privacy.

Expression of Interest

    Candidates are strongly encouraged to send brief expressions of 
interest, in advance, by November 14, 2014. The expressions of interest 
should be sent to the contact shown below and should include the 
following elements: (1) Name of Candidate(s); (2) Name of educational 
institution(s) with which Candidate(s) are affiliated; (2) Telephone 
and email addresses for Candidate(s); (3) brief high-level overview of 
the proposed project.

Submission Requirements

    Final submission packages shall consist of the following elements:
    1. Nomination letter from at least one teacher, advisor, faculty 
member, and others as appropriate. The nomination letter(s) must 
communicate accomplishments in the following areas:

a. Technical Merit of the Concept

    Evidence of technical merit based upon teacher (parent or legal 
guardian in the case of home schooled applicants), advisor, or faculty 
nomination and evaluation of the submitted proposal, written paper, 
and/or reports.

b. Professionalism and Leadership

    Evidence of professionalism and leadership may be in the form of, 
but not limited to:

(1) Membership and offices held in various groups
(2) Presentations made to various groups, meetings, and at symposia
(3) Leadership in student professional activities
(4) Community outreach activities

    2. An overall summary of the innovation, not to exceed one page, 
which includes a title of the project and statement of the impact that 
the innovation will have on the field of aviation or aerospace;
    3. A copy of the student's academic transcript or certified grade 
report (as applicable);
    4. A copy of the paper(s) and related materials describing the 
innovative concept written by the student(s) being nominated (no page 
limit).
    Once submissions have been received, the Department may request 
additional information, including supporting documentation, more 
detailed contact information, releases of liability, and statements of 
authenticity to guarantee the originality of the work. Failure to 
respond in a timely fashion may result in disqualification.
    All materials should be forwarded with a cover letter to the 
attention of: Patricia Watts, Ph.D., Centers of Excellence Program 
Director, Federal Aviation Administration, L-28, FAA William J. Hughes 
Technical Center, Atlantic City International Airport, NJ 08405.
    Hardcopy is preferred; however, the package also may be transmitted 
by email to Patricia.Watts@FAA.gov. Submissions must be sent by 3:00 
p.m. Eastern Standard Time on December 30, 2014. The timeliness of 
submissions will be determined by the postmark (if sent in hard copy) 
or time stamp of the recipient (if emailed). Award administrators 
assume no responsibility for lost or untimely submissions for any 
reason.

Award

    The winner will be announced as soon as possible after the 
submission date. A trophy with the winner's name and date of award will 
be displayed at the Department of Transportation and a display copy of 
the trophy will be sent to the winner's school/college/university. An 
additional plaque or trophy will be awarded to the individual or team. 
At the option of the Secretary, the Department will pay for 
invitational travel expenses to Washington, DC for up to four 
representatives of the winning teams to present their project to 
Department officials and receive the award from the Secretary.

Basis Upon Which the Winners Will Be Selected

    All submissions will be initially reviewed by the FAA Centers for 
Excellence Program Director upon receipt to determine if the 
submissions meet the eligibility requirements. Registration packages 
meeting the eligibility requirements will be judged by advisory panels 
consisting of academic experts, government officials including FAA, the 
Department, and representatives of the private sector. The advisory 
panels will select the most highly qualified submissions and present 
them to the Secretary of the Department, who will select the winning 
entrant.
    Submissions will be judged against other submissions from the same 
division on the following criteria:
    Technical Merit:
     Has the submission presented a clear understanding of the 
associated problems?
     Has the submission developed a logical and workable 
solution and approach to solving the problem/s?
     What are the most significant aspects of this concept?
     Has the submission clearly described the breadth of impact 
of the innovation?
    Originality:
     Is this concept new or a variation of an existing idea, 
and in what way(s)?
     How is this work unique?
     Was the concept developed independently or in cooperation 
with others?
    Impact:
     To what extent will this project make a significant impact 
and/or contribution to the future of the aviation and aerospace 
environment?
    Practicality:
     Who directly benefits from this work?
     Can this program or activity be implemented in a practical 
fashion?
     What are the costs anticipated to be incurred and saved by 
executing this concept?
    Measurability:
     How has this individual/group measured the impact on the 
aviation environment?
     To what extent does the innovation result in measurable 
improvements?
    Applicability:
     Can this effort be scaled?
     Is this work specific to one region, various regions, or 
to the entire nation?
    All factors are important and will be given consideration, but the 
advisory panels will give the ``technical merit'' factor the most 
weight in the screening process. The Secretary retains sole discretion 
to select the winning entrant.

[[Page 60889]]

Additional Information

    Federal grantees may not use Federal funds to develop COMPETES Act 
challenge applications.
    Federal contractors may not use Federal funds from a contract to 
develop COMPETES Act challenge applications or to fund efforts in 
support of a COMPETES Act challenge submission.

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 3719 (America COMPETES Act).

    Issued on: September 19, 2014.
Susan L. Kurland,
Assistant Secretary of Aviation and International Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2014-23008 Filed 10-7-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P
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