Industry Program
Announcement of Opportunity (AO)
Program #7 For 2009-2010

February 2, 2009

Click on link to the left, on the industry program of interest, and then scroll down for details.

Introduction:
This Industry Program (IP) Announcement of Opportunity (AO) replaces and supercedes the previous AO that was released in 2008. This AO is being provided only to Members of the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium. The lead proposing organization for these opportunities must be a WSGC Industrial Member on the date of submittal. In the interest of economy, this is only being communicated via email to members.

Purpose:
To provide grants and match grants for new and on-going projects which have space-related content to support Wisconsin industry initiatives and cooperation with Wisconsin academic institutions of Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium.

Eligibility Requirements:
Any WSGC industrial member, that is a large or small business, incorporated for profit, can submit an application proposal for this Announcement of Opportunity. Proposals must be in PDF format and submitted electronically. They are page limited, have specific format requirements, and shall only use the attached WSGC Industrial Proposal Cover Page

Awards: Maximum value of awards and approximate number of awards are indicated below in Paragraphs A, B and D. Proposal efforts are typically one year in length or less. However, two-year proposed efforts will be considered.

Grant Period Covered by This IP AO: April 1, 2009 - March 31, 2010

Application Deadlines (Email received by Noon of the deadline day): March 12, 2009

Award Announcements Anticipated: March 27, 2009

AO Amendments:
Amendments may be made to this AO document at any time.  If changes are made, a revised document will be sent out to the members via email.

AO Contact: For any clarifications regarding this AO, please contact:

Eric E. Rice
Associate Director, Industrial Program
Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium
Space Center, 1212 Fourier Drive
Madison, WI 53717
Phone: 608-229-2730
Fax: 608-827-5050
E-mail: ricee@orbitec.com

Application Format:
The proposal applications are different for each IP Program Element. All proposals must be submitted electronically in PDF format to be acceptable. The 2009-2010 provided cover page must be used. No proposal may be over 6 pages in length - see special limits below. Font no smaller than 11 pt and margins no less than 1-inch are acceptable. Proposals that do not meet these requirements may not be evaluated.

General Evaluation Criteria:
The following list of criteria will be used in evaluating and selecting awards through a peer-review process. All proposals will be reviewed by the WSGC Director, the Associate Director for Industry Programs, and a Technical Advisory Panel composed of Industry Program Committee (IPC) members and other experts as necessary. All proposals must be approved by the WSGC Director. IPC members that submit proposals are excluded from evaluating their own proposals, but may evaluate others in non-competing categories. The criteria are as follows:

1. Proposal is responsive to the specific AO topic and meets the basic proposal instructions
2. Degree that the proposal meets the goals of the WSGC and Industry Program
3. Degree of benefit to the space grant member(s) involved
4. Potential for growth and expansion of aerospace business and activity
5. Potential to benefit the involved individual(s) in space-related activities
6. Potential to enhance education, knowledge and involvement of underrepresented groups
7. Potential to solve a research or technology need and provide a payoff to state and national space activities
8. Degree of commitment by the proposing organization
9. Past performance on WSGC IP awards, if applicable
10. Available WSGC budget
11. Match provided to the proposed effort
12. All proposals must align with NASA and WSGC goals (see http://www.uwgb.edu/WSGC/ and http://www.nasa.gov).

Debriefings: Debriefings for successful or unsuccessful applications will not be provided.

Proposal Submittal Information:
Submit completed applications, integrated with provided cover page in electronic PDF format to:
knaufs@orbitec.com

Your Email "subject" should state the following: "WSGC IP PROPOSAL-AO#7 - FROM ______________" (your organization name or abbreviation). [If your organization submits more than one proposal, use -a, -b, -c, etc. after your organization name.]

Your Email Message should state:

"Susan Knauf: Attached is (your organization name)'s electronic proposal in PDF format for the WSGC IP AO #7."

[Suggest you call Susan Knauf to verify on-time submittal.]

Submission Contact Information:

Susan Knauf
Office of Industrial Relations Committee
Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium
Space Center, 1212 Fourier Drive
Madison, WI 53717
Phone: 608-229-2804
Fax: 608-827-5050
E-mail: knauf@orbitec.com

Award Notification and Processing:
You will be officially notified in writing once awards have been approved by the WSGC Director. Once you have been notified of an award, to activate your grant(s), please submit invoices to WSGC referencing the name of the PI (Principal Investigator), organization, proposal number and type (A, B or D), and title of proposal and you will receive a check to carry out your project as per the funding procedures established for A, B and D. Award recipients should submit invoices to:

Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium
UW-Green Bay
2420 Nicolet Drive
Green Bay, WI 54311

Industrial Program Announcement of Opportunity and Additional Special Application Preparation Instructions:

Each of the paragraphs below (A, B and D) provide a description of the topic and additional instructions. Funding in all areas is contingent upon availability. Note: Opportunity D contains additional special requirements, which are discussed at the end of the specific instructions. We have dropped C, E and F elements because of a limited budget.

A. Industrial Internship Program Announcement of Opportunity (AO)

Industrial Internship Program Announcement of Opportunity (AO) for students from member schools; a minimum 1:1 (1 out of 2) match is required (i.e. 50% of the total student direct salary or wages). Industry is encouraged to place intern job postings, if available, into WSGC industrial website by the first of each year (50-word max job announcement text). This program could provide up to $2,500 per calendar year per student based upon a 1 to 1 match of student direct salary or wages. Students considered must be attending a WSGC member academic institution and working toward a degree. The company must be an industry member of the WSGC. Students should contact the companies directly for consideration. Students may post their biosketch on the WSGC website if they choose. A maximum of two students per company per calendar year are allowed. If a specific student is not proposed at the time of the proposal submittal, a detailed job description must be submitted and benefits to the hired student must be discussed.  Exceptions can be made if applications are limited. A WSGC Industry Program Committee (IPC) will make award recommendations to the WSGC Director. Specific instructions for "A" applications are:

• Submit the executed Industrial AO Cover Form (see other attached file).
• The attached proposal should be no more than 4 pages (does not include the cover sheet).
• Describe the company scope and activities.
• Describe the work of the intern for the period.
• Provide a brief biosketch of the company intern and his or her career goals, if available.  Though this information is not part of the proposal evaluation, it is important to assure that all internships are filled with students qualified to be funded through the WSGC.
• Describe what is expected and how it will benefit the student intern, the company, and the state and national space activities.
• Provide a detailed budget summary of how all related funds would be spent and who would pay for what (be sure to include and define matching funds).
• Upon award and completion, industry member is to provide a brief statement to IPC that the internship was completed and the industry member shall provide a summary of final cost and match data. Required information shall be emailed to knaufs@orbitec.com.
• If a student intern is not named at the time of the proposal submittal, before an award is made, the student's biosketch and career goals shall be provided electronically to Susan Knauf for review.

B. Provide Industrial Education/Training Awards to Industry

Provide Industrial Education/Training Awards to Industry; minimum 1 out of 2 match of cost is required (i.e., 50% match by industry). An Announcement of Opportunity (AO) to WSGC member industries that provides up to $2,500 maximum support for industrial education/training for an aerospace-related program, workshop or conference for a member industry employee. A minimum of 50% match of the total cost by industry of all related costs is required. Typically this would include the cost of the conference/workshop, the associated travel, and the associated labor and overhead cost of the trainee to attend. To be eligible, the conference workshop must not begin before the award is made. The stipend would be awarded when the training has been completed. Specific instructions for "B" applications are:

• Submit the executed Industrial AO Cover Form.
• The attached proposal should be no more than 4 pages (does not include the cover sheet).
• Describe the company scope and activities.
• Describe the training course, workshop or conference.
• Provide a brief biosketch of the company trainee.
• Describe the training that is expected and how it will benefit the employee, the company, and state and national space activities.
• Provide a detailed budget summary of how all related funds would be spent and who would pay for what (be sure to include and define matching funds [50% of total]).
• Upon award and completion, industry member is to provide a brief summary of final costs and match data. Required information shall be emailed to knaufs@orbitec.com.

D. Industry/Academic Partnerships for Space-Related Activities

Industry/Academic Partnerships for Space-Related Activities — No match required. An Announcement of Opportunity (AO) to WSGC member industries that provides seed money (up to a maximum of $4,000 per year) to develop member industrial/university collaboration/partnerships on an aerospace-related research problem are sought. Up to a maximum of two competitive selections per year would be made by the IPC based upon technical review and potential. Companies may resubmit proposals to continue work from year-to-year, but must demonstrate how the activity has been beneficial to the company, the academic institution, the goals of WSGC, and how additional funding is necessary to expand upon those benefits. The partnership must be led by the industry organization and must have a member university/college element. A minimum of 25% must be spent by the company and academic institution or academic participant to qualify. WSGC will provide the budgeted funds to the lead company at the start of the effort. The company will make payment to the educational institution or its faculty or staff as it agrees with the school (subcontract or consulting agreement to the faculty). The company will develop a plan for development of new technology and IP that all involved parties agree to. Follow-on government proposals are encouraged if the program is successful. Specific instructions for "D" applications are:

• Submit the executed Industrial AO Cover Form.
• The attached proposal should be no more than 6 pages (does not include the cover sheet).
• Describe the company scope and related activities.
• Describe the academic partner's scope and related activities.
• Provide the bios of the industry and academic PI's and key personnel and related publications.
• Describe the work or project that would be accomplished.
• Describe how the company, the academic institution, and the state and national space program would benefit.
• A company may not be considered for new awards if it has not completed required reporting on previous awards.
• Provide a detailed budget summary of how all related funds would be spent and who would pay for what.
• Upon award and completion, deliver the Non-Proprietary Report (NPR) to the IPC and an estimate of any additional funds spent by either industry, faculty or academic institution. Awardees are expected to share non-proprietary research at the annual Wisconsin Space Conference (typically August each year) that occurs after the completion of the project. Specifics of the proceedings format are available here. It is requested that credit be given to the NASA Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium for its funding contribution. Should the work be "proprietary", awardees are not required to present the results. Required information shall be emailed to knaufs@orbitec.com.