Saturday, May 07, 2011

Prize Roundup: Conrad Awards at Ames, LaserMotive at SPIE, FAA Prize Discussion, More

Bright Young Minds Present Visions for the Future - NASA on the Conrad Foundation's Innovation Summit held at NASA Ames:

The team from Upper Clair High School in Pittsburgh, Pa. won the aerospace exploration category for their composting system for use in long-duration space flight. The “Perpetual Harvest Space Nutrition System” takes organic waste and creates compost that is then used to grow fresh foods while also serving as an air filter for human habitation.

The winner in the clean energy category, the West Philly EVX Team, was a prominent contender in the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE and other competitions.

SPIE 2011: Laser solution for long-endurance UAVs - Shepard

EuSEC moved to August, 2011 - The Space Elevator Blog

Here are some articles on the FAA AST budget request, which includes funding for a prize for a partially reusable cubesat launcher:

Nield Lays Out FAA Commercial Space Budget for Congress - Parabolic Arc
FAA Defends Requested 74 Percent Budget Increase for FY2012 - Space Policy Online
Raising the profile of FAA’s commercial space transportation work - Space Politics

'Incentiprizing': The New Path To Business Breakthroughs - The Huffington Post

@: Pauls Robotics

@: Wow, we had a great business trip to CA this week! Can't go into details, but there's some exciting stuff coming up!

The 2011 Team America Rocketry Challenge is scheduled for next weekend - May 14.