2021 Lunar Dust Challenge Deliverables

Notice of Intent

Deadline: September 25, 2020

Proposal & Video

Deadline: December 13, 2020

PROPOSAL FORMATTING INSTRUCTIONS

Teams are responsible for the formatting and appearance of their proposal. Figures and tables must be placed in the file and therefore must be in digital format. Image files should have a minimum dpi of 150.

File size cannot exceed 90 MB.

15 pages minimum; 20 pages maximum (including figures and tables)
- The Cover Page, Quad Chart, and Required Letters of Support from the University and Space Grant Director do not count toward the minimum or maximum page limits.
- References should be included as an appendix and will not count toward the minimum or maximum page limits. Appendices are to be used for references only.
  - Note: Judges are not obligated to look at the appendices. Include important details in the body of your paper to ensure they are reviewed. There is no preference in citation formatting, but references must be formatted uniformly and correctly. Just listing a link to the source is not acceptable.
Proposals should be single spaced and formatted as a single column
Margins should be a standard 1” (2.54 cm) all the way around (top, bottom, left, and right).
Please use fonts common to Macintosh and PC platforms, i.e., Times, Times New Roman, Helvetica, or Arial for text; Symbol for mathematical symbols and Greek letters.
Font size can be either 11 or 12
File size cannot exceed 90 MB.

PROPOSAL FILES MUST INCLUDE:

Proposing teams will develop a 15-20 page proposal that describes their concept. The proposal must include the following sections:

Cover Page
- Title of the Work
- Full names of all team members, with Academic Level (graduate or undergraduate) and Major
- University name
- Space Grant Affiliation and Space Grant Director Contact Information
- Faculty/industry advisor’s full name(s)
Quad Chart (please use the BIG Idea Project Plan Quad Chart Template found on the “2021 Resources” section of the Challenge Details webpage)
- A Quad Chart is a way for teams to display some standardized information that helps evaluators quickly compare many projects. For the BIG idea Challenge, teams must use the provided template to create a quad chart, and insert the chart as an image into their proposal. Quad charts must address:
  - The team’s objectives and technical approach to the problem
  - An image/graphic of the concept
  - A description of the team and management approach of the project
  - A summary of the schedule and cost for the project) No rounding, please. This cost number should equal the exact total proposed budget).
Summary Statement (Not to exceed one page)
- An overall summary of the innovation, including a title of the project, a one paragraph synopsis of the operational challenge area the proposed technology is addressing, an overview of the proposed technology solution, a one paragraph statement on the proposed verification testing, and a statement of the impact the innovative technology concept will have on lunar exploration goals.
Problem Statement and Background (Not to exceed two pages)
- Challenge being addressed and overall approach
Project Description (Not to exceed 10 pages)
- What technology are you going to develop, and why is it important?
- How does your proposed technology fit in NASA’s planned lunar architecture? (see NASA’s Plan for Sustained Lunar Exploration and Development)?
- Adherence to the Design Constraints and Guidelines
- Verification on Earth
  - Proposers must describe HOW their technology could be demonstrated on Earth to provide confidence it can work in a lunar environment. If selected, teams will need to demonstrate a working technology. It is up to each team to determine the best way to accomplish this, and provide details on how verification testing will be conducted. Physics-based modeling may support verification but is not a sufficient replacement for hardware testing.
    - For the testing, will you accomplish a realistic simulated environment? If so, how? What have you considered from the DSNE?
- Path-to-flight
  - A brief discussion on the concept’s anticipated path-to-flight for a mission to the Moon by 2026. Based on significant differences between on- and off-Earth operations, the path-to-flight description must address the critical modifications that would be made to the design for use on the Moon. Several paragraphs will suffice.
Capabilities Statement (Not to exceed two pages)
- The relevant past experience, expertise and capabilities of the team members and faculty
- Facilities available
Detailed timeline including development and verification testing (Not to exceed one page)
Detailed budget (Not to exceed four pages)
- Budget should include all relevant costs, not to exceed $180,000. Proposers are encouraged to request what is actually needed to conduct the proposed work.
- See Budget Instructions below for specific guidelines
Signed “Letter of University Support” from the Dean of Engineering (or appropriate alternative authority) from the lead university
- A template letter of university support can be downloaded from the 2021 Resources section of the Challenge Details page on the BIG Idea website
Signed “Letter of Space Grant Consortium Support” from the state Space Grant Director affiliated with the primary proposing university. This letter must, at a minimum, affirm that the Space Grant Director:
- Has reviewed the proposal and budget
- Supports and approves the proposal and budget in its entirety (calling out special attention to total IDCs requested and approval of any waived fees or indirect costs as related to the state Space Grant)
- Will, if awarded, distribute the 2^nd installment of funds in a timely manner to keep the team on schedule
Additional Letters of Support from other key partners on the proposal, if any. (Maximum of 10 additional letters)

BUDGET INSTRUCTIONS

Important: Budgets should be displayed as two phases (corresponding to each of the two anticipated funding installments), complete with cost notes/budget justifications.

Phase 1 Budget = 46% of total funding requested (January 2021 – June 2021) The intent of the 1^st award installment is to facilitate participation in the 1^st phase of the 2021 BIG Idea Challenge program, including, but not limited to labor costs, materials, consultants, machine rentals, etc. needed to begin building the proposed technology.
Phase 2 Budget = 54% of total funding requested (July 2021 – November 2021) The intent of the 2^nd award installment is to facilitate full-participation in the 2^ndhalf of the competition, which can include but is not limited to: stipends for summer/fall research work on the project, costs associated with verification testing (creating simulated analog testing environments or fees for using industry/government testing facilities such as vacuum chambers or cryo chambers), travel and registration for the 3.5 day BIG Idea Forum, etc.)
- The proposing institution must collaborate with the Space Grant Consortium in the creation of the budget. The Phase 2 budget and narrative should include any Indirect Costs (IDCs) associated with the lead institution’s creation of the subaward to fund the selected BIG Idea proposing team(s).
- Reminder: the Space Grant Director’s letter needs to clearly state that he/she has reviewed the proposal and budget, and approves the proposal and budget in its entirety (calling out special attention to approval of any waived fees or indirect costs in the Phase 2 budget as related to the state Space Grant)
- The budget submission will be considered final, and no additional costs will be funded for failure to include IDC costs for the Space Grant’s lead institution. Proposers are encouraged to carefully specify the amount of IDCs required if the proposing team is awarded.

Examples of relevant and allowable costs include:

Materials and Supplies
Facilities Rental (if any)
Stipends for Summer Student Work/Research
Testing Costs
Faculty Salary
Travel Costs
- Proposals must include travel to onsite Forum, currently scheduled to take place in Las Vegas, Nevada (Assume four-night hotel stay and a registration fee of $500 per attendee)
Overhead/Indirect/G&A Costs (Please see section above titled “Awards for Finalist Teams” for details on how the funding will be distributed)
- Note: Teams should work with their universities to minimize indirect and overhead costs to make their proposals as competitive as possible. It is imperative that the primary proposing university and the affiliated state Space Grant Director approve any reduced or waived indirect fees in writing.

Examples of unallowable costs include:

Scholarships
Stipend and travel support for foreign nationals
Stipend and travel support for federal employees (including civil servant Co-Op students)
Tuition and Books
Room and Board
Food/Beverage (with the exception of per diem meal costs associated with travel)

VIDEO FORMATTING INSTRUCTIONS

As a part of the proposal submission process, teams will be required to include a 2-3 minute video. The intent is for the video to augment your paper proposal by including animation, graphics, or other creative ways of showcasing unique aspects of your proposed concept. There are several sample videos to serve as examples on the Challenge Details page.

Videos are limited to a maximum length of 3 minutes
Videos should be uploaded to YouTube, and teams will provide their video’s Youtube URL on the online proposal submission form. Other types of video files will not be eligible for consideration
Videos need to be publicly viewable via a link. Videos should be “Unlisted” or “Public” on YouTube
All of the team members should appear in the video, if at all possible
University name, Space Grant Affiliation, and project title should appear in text at the front of the video
Do not use music or images which may violate copyright law. You may use images created by NASA

PROPOSAL EVALUATION CRITERIA

Teams are encouraged to review the Evaluation Criteria below to better understand how the competition will be judged. The proposal evaluation criteria used to evaluate proposals include:

Technical Innovation (Max - 30 points)
- How innovative is the proposed method?
- How well does the proposed technology increase the state of the art?
- How compelling is the proposed concept’s goals and objectives?
- How well does the proposed concept align with NASA’s exploration goals and challenge guidelines? (Refer to NASA’s Plan for Sustained Lunar Exploration and Development)
Technical Credibility (Max - 25 points)
- How feasible is the proposed technology?
- Is the TRL advancement plan of the proposed technology viable?
- What level of risk is associated with development and verification of the concept?
- Has the team proposed a rigorous systems engineering approach?
- Is the technology operationally resilient? (ability to withstand adverse circumstances and the harsh lunar environment, the capability to degrade gracefully))
Technical Management (Max - 20 points)
- Is the cost plan, including cost feasibility, value, and risk adequate and thorough?
- Is the proposed implementation plan adequate and thorough?
- What is the probability of team success? [i.e., team expertise (including faculty and industry support), access to required facilities, etc.]
Performance Verification Testing (Max - 25 points)
- How feasible is the verification testing for the proposed technology?
- Is the team’s proposed verification testing thorough?
- Does the testing adequately represent the lunar environment?

THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION WILL BE REQUESTED ON THE PROPOSAL SUBMISSION FORM:

Name of college/university
Partnering universities (if any)
Project title
Category team is proposing to
Name and contact information of faculty advisor from lead academic institution
Name and contact information for the student team lead
Name and contact information for the affiliated Space Grant Consortium
File upload for PDF proposal document
URL link for team YouTube video
Mailing address for award checks (for use if a team is selected as a finalist in the competition)
Vendor W9 Form for the primary university (to be completed by the accounting department at the university)
- A template vendor form can be downloaded from the 2021 Resources section of the Challenge Details page on the BIG Idea website
- Note: Teams may receive a pre-filled W-9 form from their institution's accounting department. This form is equivalent to our “Vendor/W-9 Form," and is considered an acceptable substitution.

SUBMITTING THE PROPOSAL AND VIDEO

To upload your proposal and video (.pdf file and link), please click on the button below to complete the online proposal submission form.

No revisions can be accepted after the submission deadline, so please proof your proposal file very carefully before submitting it. If there are any technical problems with the content of your proposal (for example, your file was corrupted), we will try to contact you immediately, so it is very important that you provide us with up-to-date contact information on the submission form.

Late papers will not be accepted, and the submission form will close promptly at midnight on the due date.

Submit Proposal & Video

Mid-Project Report

Deadline: May 20, 2021

MID-PROJECT REPORT FORMATTING AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Mid-Project Report deadline: 11:59 p.m. ET on May 20, 2021

Prior to receiving the second stipend installment, each BIG Idea Challenge team must successfully pass a mid-project status review that demonstrates where they are in the development process. The purpose of the review is to provide the BIG Idea Challenge Judges with evidence that shows the team can perform the work identified in their concept proposal.

The Mid-Project Review (MPR) is a Pass/Fail review based on the submission of a 5-8 page report outlining the progress teams have made on the design, analysis, and development of their concept since it was first proposed. It should also convey whether you feel confident that you will be able to successfully complete the testing of your project as proposed.

Teams must pass this review to receive their 2nd stipend installment, which will come from the National Space Grant Project via the team’s state Space Grant Consortium. Failure to pass this review may lead to delays in receiving the stipend, or withdrawal of invitation to the competition.

MID-PROJECT REPORT FILES MUST INCLUDE:

Cover Page (not included in the page count)
- Project Title
- University name
- Full names of all team members, with Academic Level (graduate or undergraduate) and Major
- Faculty/industry advisor's full name(s)
- CAD Drawing/Photo/Image of your concept
Summary Statement (not included in the page count)
- An overall summary of your concept, what it will accomplish, and a statement of the potential innovative impact the concept will have on NASA’s planned lunar architecture? (see NASA’s Plan for Sustained Lunar Exploration and Development).
Body of Report (5 pages maximum)
- Any significant design and/or scope changes and the reasoning behind those changes
- Progress made to date in research, building, and testing
- Identify potential schedule risks and provide mitigation plans to help overcome them (including any schedule delays due to Covid-19 disruptions, if applicable).
- Safety Plan (including building and testing hazards and planned mitigations, such as Personal Protective Equipment, if needed)
  - Note: This requirement is simply meant to ensure that teams have carefully thought about safety in the execution of their concept development and testing. Each BIG Idea university is responsible for the safety of its students; neither NASA nor the National Institute of Aerospace accepts responsibility for any safety hazards as a result of the development of this technology.
  - See “Additional Requirement” below for details on the Safety Letter each university must supply with their Mid-Project Report. The Safety Letter does not count toward the minimum/maximum page count.
- Any additional CAD drawings, images, and/or photos of your concept
Risk Matrix (1 page maximum)
- The intent behind this requirement is get teams to acknowledge there are always risks and to think about them early in the development process.
- A Risk Matrix is a graphical representation of the Likelihood and Consequence scores of a risk. It is sometimes called a “5x5 Matrix” because it contains five rows and five columns. The rows of a Risk Matrix show likelihood scores, while the columns show the consequence scores. Each cell in a Risk Matrix can be represented by a Priority Score.
- Note: sometimes, “Likelihood and Consequence” will be displayed as “Probability and Impact”

Updated schedule/timeline of tasks and deliverables (1 page maximum)
Cost incurred to-date: (1 page maximum)
- Please provide an update on project expenses incurred to date

Additional Requirement: Teams will be required to submit a signed Safety Plan Letter, to be uploaded as a separate document on the online Mid-Project Submission form. (Please use the template Safety Plan Letter provided here).

Optional Augmentation Files: The online Mid-Project Submission form will also include fields for teams to upload video or other files they may want to share to augment their report. The augmentation files are optional.

GENERAL MID-PROJECT REPORT FORMATTING INSTRUCTIONS

Teams are responsible for the formatting and appearance of their mid-project reports. Figures and tables must be placed in the file and therefore must be in digital format. 5 pages minimum; 8 pages maximum (including figures and tables)

The Cover Page, Summary Statement and additional Safety Letter do not count toward the minimum or maximum page limits.
Reports should be single spaced and formatted as a single column
Margins should be a standard 1” (2.54 cm) all the way around (top, bottom, left, and right).
Please use fonts common to Macintosh and PC platforms, i.e., Times, Times New Roman, Helvetica, or Arial for text; Symbol for mathematical symbols and Greek letters.
A Cover Page or Table of Contents will not count toward the minimum or maximum page limits.
References should be included as an appendix and will not count toward the minimum or maximum page limits.
- Appendices are to be used for references and calculations ONLY.
Font size can be either 11 or 12 pt.
File size cannot exceed 90 MB.

MID-PROJECT REPORT EVALUATION

The judges will review each team’s report (and optional augmentation videos) to evaluate the team’s progress towards competition readiness. If there are any concerns regarding a team’s prototype or scheduled timeline, that team may be asked to conduct a follow-up “face-to-face” meeting with the judges via a virtual platform. At that point, the judges may request that improvements be made prior to moving the team to the next phase of the competition.

SUBMITTING THE MID-PROJECT REPORT

To upload your team’s Mid-Project Report and any optional augmentation files, please click on the button below.

No revisions can be accepted to your final Mid-Project submission, so please proof your files very carefully before submitting it. If there are any technical problems with the content of your paper or video file (for example, a file was corrupted), we will try to contact you immediately, so it is very important that you provide us with up-to-date contact information on the submission form.

Late submissions will not be accepted, and the submission form will close promptly at midnight.

Submit Mid-Project Report

Technical Paper &
Verification Demo

Deadline: October 27, 2021

TECHNICAL PAPER AND VERIFICATION DEMONSTRATION GUIDELINES

Technical Paper and Verification Testing Results Demonstration deadline: 11:59 p.m. ET on October 27, 2021.

TECHNICAL PAPER FORMATTING GUIDELINES:

Papers should be single spaced and formatted as a single column
Margins should be a standard 1” (2.54 cm) all the way around (top, bottom, left, and right).
15 pages minimum; 25 pages maximum
The Cover Page, Table of Contents, and Quad Chart will not count toward the minimum or maximum page limits.
References should be included as an appendix and will not count toward the minimum or maximum page limits.
- Appendices are to be used for references and calculations ONLY.
Please use fonts common to Macintosh and PC platforms, i.e., Times, Times New Roman, Helvetica, or Arial for text; Symbol for mathematical symbols and Greek letters.
Font size should be either 11 or 12 pt.
Technical papers should be submitted as PDF files

TECHNICAL PAPERS MUST INCLUDE:

Teams will develop a 15-25 page technical paper that describes their concept. The technical paper must include the following sections:

Cover page (Excluded from page count)
- University name
- University or industry partners, if any
- Project Title
- Full names of all team members, with Academic Level (graduate or undergraduate) and Major
- Faculty/industry advisor’s full name(s) and affiliations
- State Space Grant Affiliation
New: Team Photo or Collage showing the members of your team (excluded from page count)
Quad chart (Excluded from page count)
- Please use the BIG Idea Tech Paper Quad Chart Template.
- Quad charts must address:
  - Concept Synopsis
  - An Image/Graphic of the Concept
  - Innovations (Briefly describe how new innovative approaches / capabilities / technologies increase the State of the Art (SOA) for dust mitigation technologies, enable new operational scenarios because of greater dust tolerance, etc.)
  - Verification Testing Results & Conclusions
Executive summary
- An overall summary of the innovation, including the project title; a synopsis of the challenge the concept is tackling; the problem-solving approach for that problem; testing method; verification testing results, and a statement of the potential innovative impact the research concept will have on the problem.
Problem statement and background
- Overall approach to the challenge being addressed.
- Describe how your proposed technology fits in NASA’s planned lunar architecture? (see NASA’s Plan for Sustained Lunar Exploration and Development)
Project description
- Description of the concept
  - Describe in reasonable detail the concept lifecycle, including all design assumptions, and address development, testing, and implementation.
  - Please include visual (i.e., photos/CAD drawings) and written descriptions of any relevant parts or subsystems, where appropriate, as well as explanations behind your design decisions.
  - Include justification for any design changes/improvements made since the mid-project review.
- Technical Specifications
  - Overall mass, volume, etc. (include specifications for communications, radiation protection, materials used)
- How does your concept integrate and operate with external lunar systems?
- Identify specific potential stakeholders/funders (i.e., Exploration, Science, Commercial) who could benefit from project, and how they will benefit.
Verification testing on Earth (simulated or otherwise)
- Describe your verification process. Teams must describe HOW their system / concept / science / mission was verified (emphasis on demonstration and test) on Earth to provide confidence it can work in a lunar environment.
- Describe what type of data was used or collected, and how it informed your solution.
- Describe any challenges you faced and how you mitigated them.
- What testing facilities (if any) were used?
- For the testing, how did you accomplish a realistic simulated environment? What aspects were considered from the DSNE?
- Did you consider the unique PSR lighting (high contrast), temperature, pressure, power, degraded communications, abrasive regolith, rugged terrain that may include extremely soft soil, rocks, boulders, XX degree slopes, etc.
- Was there critical testing that could not be performed due to budget and schedule constraints?
Safety plan and protocols followed
Path-To-Flight
- A brief discussion on the concept’s anticipated path-to-flight for a lunar mission, including rationale for trades and critical modifications that would need to be made to the design for use on the Moon.
- Present a path to implementation on the lunar surface:
  - What components need additional qualification?
  - What remaining design work needs to be done prior to building flight hardware?
- Discuss any plans/opportunities to continue concept development, if applicable.
Results/Conclusions
- Did the verification testing indicate the design can achieve the proposed objectives? (i.e., will your designed solution work as intended?)
- What were the key results of the tests?
- What conclusions are you able to draw about the problem and your design solution?
Detailed timeline, including development and verification testing
Detailed budget, including all relevant expenditures
- Budget should be broken down by Phase 1 and Phase 2 funding awards
- Recognize all sponsors and/or grants
  - Report the total amount of funding received outside of the BIG Idea Challenge awards
  - Quantify any sponsorships and/or in-kind contributions to the best of your ability

VERIFICATION DEMONSTRATION FILES

Teams are required to provide some sort of visual demonstration of their verification testing results. This can be done via video, animation, modeling and simulation, etc. Modeling and simulation results are not a replacement for test results, but can be used to support the findings from hardware testing. It is expected that the team’s presentation made during the Forum will incorporate an animated, simulated, or otherwise functional demonstration of their solution. Teams can showcase their solutions through a variety of visual and physical modalities, including but not limited to a modeling and simulation experience (including Virtual Reality), application software demonstration, slides, charts, graphic representations, video, animations, data visualizations, etc.

The online Technical Paper and Concept Demonstration submission form will include fields for teams to upload video or any other concept demonstration files. Teams should also plan to include part or all of their verification demonstration in their 30-minute pre-recorded presentation.

SUBMITTING THE TECHNICAL PAPER AND VERIFICATION DEMONSTRATION FILES

To upload your team’s Technical Paper (.pdf file), please click on the button below.

No revisions can be accepted, so carefully review your files before submitting them. If there are any technical problems with the content of your submission (for example, your file was corrupted), we will try to contact you immediately, so it is very important that you provide us with up-to-date contact information on the submission form. Teams are encouraged to review the Final Deliverables Scoring Matrix to better understand how they will be judged.

Late papers will not be accepted, and the submission form will close promptly at midnight.

Submit Technical Paper and Proof-of-Concept Demonstration Files

Pre-Recorded Presentation
& Digital Poster

Deadline: November 11, 2021

PRE-RECORDED PRESENTATION & DIGITAL POSTER FILES GUIDELINES

Pre-recorded presentation and digital poster files submission deadline: November 11, 2021

Pre-recorded presentations are limited to 30 minutes, followed by a 30-minute live Q&A session with the judges. Teams may choose who speaks and who doesn’t speak during the presentation. However, we encourage all team members to stand together at the front of the room during the presentation to be available to answer questions, even if they are not presenting.

PRE-RECORDED VIDEO PRESENTATION FILES AND ACCOMPANYING CHART DECK

Each BIG Idea Challenge team will submit a pre-recorded 30-minute presentation that will be played by BIG Idea Program Staff during the first portion of their 60-minute Forum time slot. Pre-recorded presentations will be played for the BIG Idea Judges, Program Staff, competing teams, and the public to view. A 30-minute live Q&A session will follow the team’s pre-recorded video for the second half of each team’s 60-minute Forum time slot.

Presentations should reflect the technical papers. If errors were discovered after the technical paper was submitted, teams should take this time to address them. Significant information discussed during the presentation that was not included in the technical paper will be penalized for scoring.

To submit their pre-recorded presentation, teams should upload their final pre-recorded video file to YouTube as either “Public” or “Unlisted,” with the following naming convention: University Name: “Project Title” – 2021 BIG Idea Forum. Teams will submit this link on the Pre-Recorded Video Presentation, Digital Poster and Chart Deck submission form.

Teams will also submit a copy of the chart deck used during their pre-recorded video presentation. The submitted chart deck must include any slides shown during the pre-recorded video, but may also include additional reference slides to be used during the live Q&A session.

PRE-RECORDED VIDEO PRESENTATION GUIDELINES

Time Limit: Pre-recorded video presentation submissions are limited to 30 minutes. This is a hard limit, and any video submissions received that are longer than 30 minutes will be cut (i.e., only the first 30 minutes of the video will be played).

Video Quality:

Record your video in the 1080p HD, 30 fps setting.
Your video aspect ratio should be 16:9 (widescreen).
Filming should be done in landscape (horizontal) only.
Specialty backgrounds or background blurring can be unpredictable, and is not recommended.

Teams are free to choose the method that works best to record their team’s presentation. The BIG Idea Program Team has two suggestions if the team is not able to physically be together to film:

Method 1: (Preferred/Recommended Method): Record presentations separately and edit them together
- If your team suffers from unreliable internet connections, you may choose to have each team member submit a video recording presenting their individual segment and compile them together with a video editing software (e.g.: iMovie, Lightworks, Blender) afterward. Make sure your slide deck is correctly synced with whomever is speaking.
Method 2: Screen Recording a Video Conference
- Use a video conferencing service (e.g. Google Hangouts, WebEx, GoToMeeting) to call all of the participants. Then, use a screen recording software (e.g.: QuickTime, PowerPoint, OBS) to record your screen and audio while your team gives the presentation.
  - Conduct a test recording and make sure each speaker’s audio and screen capture functions are all working and synced.
  - Team presentations can also be recorded in segments and spliced together afterward.

Important Notes About Recording and Editing:

Take a moment to record a sample of your presentation and review it. Make sure the background, video framing, lighting, audio and overall audio/video quality are the best they can be before recording your entire presentation.
There are many free and paid options to record and edit your presentation. Thoroughly research all applications or software before you download them.
Submitted videos may not show a watermark from the service used to edit or record the presentation.

PRESENTATION SLIDES/CHART DECK FILE GUIDELINES

Each team is also required to submit the presentation slides used in their pre-recorded video. Presentation slides must match the slides shown in the pre-recorded video, but may also contain additional reference slides at the end for use during the live Q&A session.

NEW: During each team’s Q&A session, their slide deck will be available to present on screen to reference and answer specific questions. If a team member would like to display a slide to help answer a question, they should say: “Moderator, please display slide number #--.” The team member should continue answering the question while the slide is being pulled up to avoid “dead” time during the Q&A session.

The slide deck will only be displayed while it is being referenced, and the screen will revert to team members’ video when not being referenced.

EACH PRESENTATION MUST HAVE A COVER SLIDE THAT INCLUDES:

Project title
University name
University and/or industry partners, if any
Advisor’s name(s)
Team members’ names

Slide readability

Please ensure the font on your chart deck is large enough to be viewed on small personal electronic devices (i.e., iPads and small laptops). Take advantage of high contrast options and avoid black screen backgrounds. Emphasize slide readability, especially for significant figures/calculations.

DIGITAL POSTERS

Digital Poster Guidelines

Each team is required to submit the digital file of their poster. Digital posters will be displayed on the BIG Idea Challenge Website, and as such, will need to follow some standard guidelines:

Posters must be 48” x 36” (9600 pixels x 7200 pixels)
Posters should be printed in a horizontal format
Poster file size limit is 95MB
Poster file should be submitted as a PDF file
Images and graphs should be clear, legible, and appropriately sized for the poster
- Images and graphs embedded within the poster should be “print-ready,” with a minimum DPI of 150 whenever possible
Links or redirects in the body of their poster can be used sparingly, however, they shouldn’t be used as a way to add/supplement important information to the Technical Paper (the judges do not have to view any links in the poster, and will not consider any information from them in their final scoring.
- This includes redirecting to a webpage, video, or any other content.
- All content should be included in the text or directly embedded within the PDF
- If the poster has a References section, links may be included in that section only

Q&A SESSION GUIDELINES

Finalist teams will participate in a live 30-minute Q&A Session with the BIG Idea Judges for the second half of their 2021 BIG Idea Virtual Forum time slot. Judges may ask questions about the team’s technical paper, poster, presentation, verification demonstration, or overall concept. If there is any time remaining after the judges’ questions have been answered, the virtual forum audience consisting of competing teams and members of the public will be allowed to ask questions during the remaining time. When possible, we encourage teams to craft
Q&A session answers that are approximately 45-60 seconds long to allow for as many questions and answers as possible.

The student team lead is responsible for identifying which team member should respond to each question. The Q&A session moderator will confirm the team lead AND a secondary lead during each team’s pre-presentation AV check. If the primary team lead loses connection, the secondary team lead will take over to direct questions to the team. Here is an example of a Q&A session exchange:

Judge: Can you tell me more about the TRL of your concept?
Primary Team Lead: [Team Member A], can you answer that question?
Team Member A: Yes. The TRL of our concept was determined using…..

SUBMITTING THE PRESENTATION AND DIGITAL POSTER FILES

To upload your team’s Presentation and Digital Poster Files, please click on the button below.

Teams should upload their final pre-recorded video file to YouTube as either “Public” or “Unlisted,” with the following naming convention: University Name: “Project Title” – 2021 BIG Idea Forum.
Make sure your YouTube account has been verified before attempting to upload your video. Youtube will not allow videos of this length to finish processing until the user’s YouTube account has been verified. Please allow sufficient time to upload the video to YouTube prior to the deadline.

Presentations must be submitted by the deadline using the online upload tool. Revisions to presentation files will not be accepted after the deadline – no exceptions. Teams that do not submit a presentation by the deadline will be barred from presenting, and their stipends may be subject to return to NIA.

Late submissions will not be accepted, and the submission form will close promptly at midnight on the due date. Teams are encouraged to review the Evaluation Criteria to better understand how they will be judged.

Submit Presentation Files

Dates and Deadlines

All deadlines are at 11:59 PM Eastern unless otherwise noted.

Date	Deliverable
September 25, 2020	Deadline to submit a Notice of Intent
October 7, 2020 11:59 AM EST	Deadline to submit questions for Q&A session Click here to submit questions for the Q&A session
October 14, 2020	Q&A Session for interested teams
December 13, 2020	Deadline to submit Project Plan Proposal and Video
January 29, 2021	Teams are notified of their selection status
Early February 2021	First installment of development stipends sent as appropriate
May 20, 2021	Mid-Point Report Deadline
June 10, 2021	Teams are notified of pass/fail status
Late June 2021	Second installment of stipends sent as appropriate (from SG directly to schools)
October 27, 2021	Technical Paper and Verification Demonstration Submission Deadline
October 31, 2021	Deadline for Forum Registration
November 11, 2021	Presentation and Digital Poster File Submission Deadline
November 17 - 18, 2021	2021 BIG Idea Forum (in conjunction with ASCEND 2021)

NASA's Breakthrough, Innovative, and Game-changing (BIG) Idea Challenge