The Collier Report of U.S. Government Contracting

Sampling of Federal Government Funding Actions/Set Asides

In order by amount of set aside monies.

• $183,715 - Friday the 10th of July 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  SAN JACINTO COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT (SJCCD), THROUGH ITS AEROSPACE ACADEMY HOUSED AT NASA JOHNSON SPACE CENTER (JSC), PROPOSE A CATEGORY II FUNDING FOR PROPOSALS TO GENERAL AREAS IN THE NEW ISS GEN SIM-ISS NLEP.03-2012 CATEGORY. THE PROJECT, ROBOTICS, OCEAN, MICROGRAVITY EXPLORERS (ROME) CHALLENGE, WILL TRAIN TEN COLLEGE STUDENTS IN UNDERWATER ROBOTICS SO THAT THEY CAN SERVE AS COACHES FOR TEN MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE CLASSROOMS THAT WILL EACH BUILD UNDERWATER ROBOTS AND OPERATE THEM TO COMPLETE A CHALLENGE AT THE CARTER NEUTRAL BUOYANCY LAB (NBL) AT NASA JSC. THE OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT ARE THE SAME AS THE OUTCOMES THAT NASA IDENTIFIES FOR ITS EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES. THE ROME CHALLENGE WILL INFORM, ENGAGE AND INSPIRE THE PUBLIC BY SHARING NASA S MISSIONS, CHALLENGES, AND RESULTS THROUGH CLASSROOM PRESENTATIONS BY STUDENT COACHES AND A WEEKLONG SCIENCE CURRICULUM AIMED AT MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS AND THEIR SCIENCE TEACHERS USING UNIQUE NASA ASSETS. IT WILL ALSO PROMOTE SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATH (STEM) LITERACY THROUGH STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS WITH FORMAL AND INFORMAL ORGANIZATIONS THROUGH RELATIONSHIPS AND NETWORKS DEVELOPED DURING THE GRANT PERIOD BETWEEN SJCCD, A COMMUNITY COLLEGE, AND PUBLIC MIDDLE SCHOOLS. THE PROJECT WILL IMPROVE RETENTION OF STUDENTS IN STEM DISCIPLINES BY PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES AND ACTIVITIES THROUGH A FOCUS ON HELPING COLLEGE AND MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS BECOME ENGAGED IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LEARNING THROUGH UNDERWATER ROBOTICS. FINALLY, IT WILL IDENTIFY, CULTIVATE AND SUSTAIN A DIVERSE WORKFORCE AND INCLUSIVE WORK ENVIRONMENT THAT IS NEEDED TO CONDUCT NASA MISSIONS THROUGH A MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION (SJCCD) AND ITS DIVERSE STUDENTS PARTNERING WITH MIDDLE SCHOOLS THAT ALSO HAVE VERY DIVERSE POPULATIONS. THE ROME CHALLENGE, WHICH WILL DIRECTLY IMPACT APPROXIMATELY 600 MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS, 10 COLLEGE STUDENTS AND 10 MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHERS, WILL TRAIN COLLEGE HONORS STUDENTS IN THE BASICS OF UNDERWATER ROBOTICS INCLUDING BUILDING A ROBOT FROM A KIT, OPERATING THE ROBOT, AND PREPARING AND DELIVERING A PRESENTATION TO A MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE CLASS ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, MICROGRAVITY AND ROBOTICS SO THAT EACH COACH IS PREPARED TO WORK WITH A CLASS OF MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS WHO ARE BUILDING ROBOTS IN THEIR CLASSES. IN THE SPRING OF 2013, THE WEEK-LONG CURRICULUM THAT HAS BEEN DEVELOPED WITH THE HELP OF THE COOPERATING MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHERS WILL BE DELIVERED TO THE CLASSROOMS AND THE ROBOTS WILL BE BUILT AND SHIPPED TO NASA JSC. EACH SCIENCE CLASS WILL CHOOSE TWO REPRESENTATIVES FROM THEIR CLASS TO COME TO NASA JSC AND OPERATE THEIR CLASS ROBOT AT THE NBL WITH THE HELP OF THEIR COLLEGE COACH. THE ROBOTS WILL BE DIRECTED BY THE STUDENTS TO PERFORM A MISSION OF LOCATING THREE VISUAL SITES ON A MOCK ISS THAT HAS BEEN BUILT FROM PLASTIC PIPE AND SUBMERGED IN THE NBL BY THE COLLEGE COACHES. THE MIDDLE SCHOOL REPRESENTATIVES WILL ALSO AGREE TO MAKE A PRESENTATION OF THE ROME CHALLENGE TO THEIR CLASS UPON THEIR RETURN FROM NASA JSC. THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT, THE EMPHASIS WILL BE ON HANDS ON ACTIVITIES TO BUILD INTEREST IN NASA AND THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION AND UNIQUE NASA ASSETS AT JSC. USING COLLEGE STUDENT COACHES WITH MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS WILL ENCOURAGE THE YOUNGER STUDENTS TO HAVE A ROLE MODEL OF THE COLLEGE STUDENTS. ALSO, BOTH THE COLLEGE COACHES AND THE MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS WILL USE APPROPRIATE WEB-BASED SOCIAL NETWORKS TO ENHANCE THE EXPERIENCE OF COMMUNITY THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT PERIOD.

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