RASC-AL Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts Academic Linkage

MEETING LOCATION AND DATE

The RASC-AL Forum 2008 will be held June 9–11, 2008, at the Radisson Resort at the Port, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Surrounded by lush landscaping and centrally located on Florida’s Space Coast, the Radisson Resort at the Port offers easy access to the sunny sands of Cocoa Beach as well as NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

HOTEL INFORMATION

A block of 60 standard deluxe rooms has been reserved for forum participants at the Radisson Resort at the Port at a special workshop rate of $105.00 per night plus 11% tax. Participants can reserve hotel rooms in two ways:

Call the reservations desk at 321-784-0000 and refer to group code 0806RASCAL.
Make your reservation via the hotel’s online reservation service. Enter the word RASCAL in the box marked PROMO CODE to receive the special rate of $105.00. YOU MUST MAKE YOUR RESERVATION BY THURSDAY, MAY 15, TO QUALIFY FOR THE SPECIAL RATE. Cancellations made within 72 hours of arrival date will be assessed one night’s room charge plus tax. As a courtesy to forum guests, The Radisson Resort at the Port will honor the $105.00 rate for up to three days before and after the forum dates.

MEETING FORMAT

The forum will kick off on Monday morning with registration and continental breakfast. Design team presentations and special guest lectures will take place Monday through Wednesday. On Wednesday afternoon, participants will have the opportunity to tour NASA Kennedy Space Center. The meeting will conclude Wednesday night with an outdoor dinner and awards presentation. For planning purposes, the preliminary meeting schedule is:

Sunday, June 8

7:00 p.m.	Steering Committee Dinner
	No student activities scheduled
Monday, June 9

8:00 a.m.	Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.	Team Presentations, Lunch, and Guest Lectures

Tuesday, June 10

8:00 a.m.	Continental Breakfast
8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.	Team Presentations, Lunch, and Guest Lectures
5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.	Poster Session and Reception

Wednesday, June 11

8:00 a.m.	Continental Breakfast
8:30 a.m.	Team Presentations and Steering Committee Forum/ Q&A
11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.	Lunch and NASA Kennedy Space Center Tour
7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.	Dinner and Forum Awards

REGISTRATION

Preregistration
A fee of $50.00 will be assessed each participant to cover forum services. You must preregister and prepay by May 30, 2008, to avoid a late fee of $25.00. Participants registering by credit card must use the secure electronic registration form. Participants paying by any other method must use the downloadable registration form. After May 30, you can only register onsite at the $75.00 rate. Requests for cancellations will be accepted through May 30. A $10.00 processing fee will be charged on all cancellations.

TRAVEL INFORMATION AND FUNDING

Each design team will receive a travel grant to help defray travel costs including airfare, car rental, hotel accommodations, meals, incidental expenses, and forum registration fees. TEAMS WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR MAKING ALL TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS INCLUDING HOTEL RESERVATIONS. Details of the travel grant will be communicated directly to each team’s faculty/industry advisor. Orlando International Airport (MCO) and Melbourne International Airport (MLB) both offer convenient access to Port Canaveral, and are about 48 miles and 25 miles from the hotel, respectively.

SCHEDULE

May 15, 2008	Deadline for hotel reservation at reduced rate
May 30, 2008	Deadline for online registration at reduced rate
May 30, 2008	Deadline for submission of written reports
June 4, 2008	Deadline for submission of oral reports
June 9–11, 2008	RASC-AL Forum 2008

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

RASC-AL (Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts Academic Linkage) is a design program targeted at university-level engineering students developed by the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) and sponsored by NASA. The program commences in September each year with the announcement of programmatic themes and culminates with the design project competition at the annual forum in June.

Student teams, guided by a faculty advisor, work for one or two semesters designing solutions to real NASA engineering challenges. Teams are required to address the issues that a working NASA engineer would encounter, including Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) and realistic assessment of project cost and schedule. Additionally, teams are required to do education and public outreach (EPO) during the process.

All participating student teams are required to submit abstracts that are evaluated by the Steering Committee. The top submissions are invited to travel to the annual RASC-AL Forum and present their work. Participating teams are asked to submit a written report, prepare a poster, and give an oral presentation. These elements, including a team’s EPO efforts, contribute to the scoring used to determine the winner of the RASC-AL Forum.

Participants are encouraged to sign up on our webpage for regular announcements, helpful hints, and programmatic updates.

OBJECTIVES

RASC-AL seeks to provide a means by which NASA can access cutting-edge research and design projects that are conducted at the university level. The program objectives are:

Provide opportunities for universities, faculty, and students to interact with NASA by working on space exploration research and design problems;
Infuse concepts and data for RASC-AL into NASA program planning;
Develop relationships between universities and NASA that could lead to opportunities for student and faculty participation in other NASA research programs;
Demonstrate potential cooperation among universities, NASA, and industry.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Written Reports
Each team must submit one hard-copy original and one electronic copy of a written report, in PDF format on a CD-ROM, no later than May 30, 2008.

Written reports must be between 10 and 15 pages using single-spaced type. Cover pages, references, and appendices are not included in the page-limit specifications. Margins must be a minimum of one inch on all sides. A cover page must include the title of the presentation, full names of all team members, university name, and faculty/industry advisor’s name.
The CD-ROM must be labeled with the title of the presentation, university name, and faculty/industry advisor’s name.

Use of color is allowed, but reports will be distributed to the judges in black and white. Appendices are not included in the page limitation. However, judges are not obligated to consider lengthy appendices in the evaluation process. Please use your best judgment when assembling the appendices.

Oral Presentations
Each team must submit one hard-copy original and one electronic copy of their PowerPoint presentation in PDF format on a CD-ROM no later than June 4, 2008.

Presentations will be limited to 30 minutes including discussion of education and public outreach efforts. Each presentation will be followed by up to 10 minutes of questions and discussion. All presentations must follow guidelines as detailed in the instructions for electronic presentations. Refer to these suggestions for PowerPoint presentations to prepare an effective and professional presentation. The CD-ROM must be labeled with the title of the presentation, university name, and faculty/ industry advisor’s name.
Oral presentation scheduling requests must be submitted in writing to the program manager no later than May 15. Only requests based on travel or logistical conflicts will be considered.

Oral reports should focus on discussion/explanation of written reports. If teams identify errors or if additional information is obtained after the time of submission of the written report, teams are encouraged to address this in the oral report. Oral reports that include significant information not covered in the written report will be penalized during judging.

Poster Presentations
Design teams will present posters describing their project at the dedicated poster session on Tuesday evening. Each poster display space is 4’ x 8’. Posters must not exceed the 4’ x 8’ display space and should be designed to attach to the panel with push pins. Push pins will be available at the meeting. Each display place will also include an 8’ table and an electrical outlet.

Please mail CD-ROMs and hard copies of written and oral presentations to:

RASC-AL Program Manager
Dr. Karin Hilser
Universities Space Research Association
3600 Bay Area Blvd.
Houston TX 77058

Note: Once submitted, no changes or modifications to presentations will be permitted.

EVALUATIONS/AWARDS

A panel of experts from NASA, industry, and universities will make up the RASC-AL judging team. Design projects will be evaluated on the 2008 RASC-AL Themes section of the website. A detailed description of the scoring system can be found on the 2008 RASCAL Project Evaluation Form. First- and second-place awards will be given in the undergraduate and graduate categories.

RESOURCES

Writing:
How to Write an Abstract
Abstract Purpose, Common Problems and Examples (The Language Center, Asian Institute of Technology)
What is an Abstract? (The Writing Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
How to Write an Abstract (GalaxyGoo, University of California, Irvine)
How to Write an Abstract (Carnegie Mellon University)
Qualities of a Good Abstract and Steps for Writing (Literacy Education Online, St. Cloud State University)
Writing Abstracts (University of Pittsburgh)

Discipline-Specific Abstract Writing Guides
Engineering (Engineering Writing Center, University of Toronto)
Geosciences (Earth Research Organization)
Mathematics/Computer Sciences (Xerox Corporation)
Physical Sciences (American Institute of Physics)

Presentation:
Oral Presentations
Dazzle 'em with Style: The Art of Oral Scientific Presentation (The Ohio State University)
Oral Presentations Guide (Eastern Kentucky University)

Poster Presentations
Constructing Your Poster (Lynchberg College)
Effective Scientific Posters (North Carolina State University)
How to Make a Great Poster (American Society of Plant Biologists)
How to Prepare a Poster (Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics)
Writing and Presenting Posters (The American Physiological Society)

Education and Public Outreach:
Teams are required to undertake an EPO activity as part of the RASC-AL program. In the recent past, teams have chosen to fulfill this requirement in a variety of ways, including partnering with a local science museum to develop hands-on exhibits and participating in local school career days, science fairs, technology nights, and after-school science clubs. Another idea might be to work with a teacher to implement a robotics program in a school, or to do so at a museum, library, or with the local Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts club. One team developed a competitive trivia game in which students' knowledge of space science and engineering was put to the test. What ever the team does, have fun and share the excitement of science and engineering with the public!

NASA Education
An overview of NASA's education programs, resources, and opportunities for elementary through undergraduate students, classroom teachers, and informal educators.
Science Mission Directorate Education
Educational resources, programs, and opportunities from the Science Mission Directorate.
Resources for Involving Scientists (and Engineers) in Education
The RISE website contains strategies and examples for communicating science and engineering to students during classroom visits, working with teachers, and developing instructional materials.

Science:
Exploration Mission Directorate
Orion Crew Vehicle
Ares Launch Vehicles