2021 Challenge Guidelines

The FAA Challenge is a higher education engineering design competition that asks student teams to develop creative solutions to transportation technology challenges, and to share those innovations with the broader community. Central to this challenge is a focus on addressing the human experience as related to all aspects of air transportation.

For the 2021 Challenge, universities should consider the cutting-edge needs of the FAA and smart airports of the future, focusing on key emerging technology areas of health-smart airports, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), data analytics, and autonomous robotics systems. Teams should propose one (1) of the four (4) following themes:

Theme 1: Increased Sanitation and Hygiene Practices for Health-Smart Airports

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused public concern regarding air travel due to potential spread of the virus through human contact, surfaces, and air particles. Smart airports of the future should be designed to reduce the spread of pathogens. Innovative solutions are sought for integrating health screening into the security process, reducing the need for physical contact or proximity with passengers through automation, increasing monitoring of social distancing and symptomatic individuals, improving air circulation and filtering, and improving sanitation practices, including the use of UV light.

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Theme 2: Innovative Uses for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) at Airports

The use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) has increased exponentially over the past decade. Smart airports of the future could safely use UAS in a variety of functions. Innovative solutions are sought for the use of tethered or untethered Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), or “drones,” for UAV/wildlife detection and mitigation, detection of foreign objects or ice on runways/taxiways, aircraft and runway inspection, perimeter security, and increased connectivity.

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Theme 3: Smart Airport Data Analytics

Data analytics is an emerging field of analyzing raw data in order to make conclusions and is being used nationwide to discover and predict trends. Airports are complex systems rich in data that could be used to improve operations, passenger experience, and safety. Innovative solutions are sought for the use of big data analytic techniques to reduce security wait times, facilitate navigation, increase the probability of on-time departures, reduce energy consumption, automate interpretation of video data, and improve operational efficiency.

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Theme 4: Innovative Uses for Autonomous Robotics Systems at Airports

Autonomous and semi-autonomous robotics systems are being used throughout industry to improve productivity and perform potentially hazardous operations. High levels of reliability and trusted autonomy are required for such systems to be integrated into airport operations. Innovative reliable autonomous systems are sought for security screening, mobility of passengers and equipment, baggage handling and transport, baggage inspection and tracking, UAV/wildlife detection and mitigation, perimeter security, and runway incursion detection.

Using smart technology to improve the traveler's transportation experience from home, in the airport environment, on the airplane, and to his/her final destination, the concept strives to address the following goals:

• Efficiency - Identify more resourceful options for getting the traveler and his/her belongings from home to the final destination. Considering multiple transportation modes, their interfaces and schedules, costs, support services, environmental, safety and security optimization; address various special needs and preferences. Develop tools and processes to be used to improve the overall travel experience.
• The Airport - Consider the airport design to more creatively utilize space and improve the quality of time spent while in transit. Navigate the airport property and terminal more effectively using new technologies, virtual and augmented reality scenarios, and various means of communication. Take into account emerging ways to positively impact and enrich the airport environment and improve the traveler’s health and safety confidence, productivity, amusement, and overall enjoyment while at the airport.
• Effectiveness - Develop various options to reduce delays and costs throughout the travel experience and facilitate interactions to enhance travel logistics. Address variables such as those traveling with special needs, time of day, weather, congestion and unsafe road conditions. Consider enhanced methods to improve and accelerate various processes such as ticketing, security and customers’ screenings, and boarding/deplaning to reduce wait time throughout the journey.
• Technology and Tools - Apply technological innovations, procedures, techniques and strategies to provide solutions to streamline and enhance all aspects of traveling logistics. Consider the way the traveler navigates from home, to and through the airport, coordinates ground transportation, compares costs, makes reservations, parks, moves self, baggage and belongings, and travels to safely, securely and more expeditiously arrive at his/her final destination.

All proposed solutions must consider:

• Submissions must incorporate solutions that ensure that diverse passenger populations (e.g., people with disabilities, seniors, children, international visitors) are able to successfully navigate and use our airports and transportation systems to get them where they plan to go.
• Physical and cybersecurity are of utmost importance to the Department of Transportation, and should be an emphasized consideration in the development of your solution.
• Stakeholders’ (e.g. passenger, employee, crew members) health and safety
• Congress created the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (see Section 145 “Sense of Congress on Smart Airports”) stating that the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration and the Secretary of Transportation should produce a smart airports initiative plan that focuses on creating a more consumer-friendly and digitally connected airport experience. The purpose of the initiative is to invest in technologies and infrastructure toward better-connected airports while providing appropriate national security and cybersecurity for travelers. Teams are encouraged to propose solutions that align with the bill’s recommendations on modernizing technologies in the following areas:
  • more efficient check-ins
  • shortened security lines
  • Wi-Fi and GPS upgrades
  • improvements of aircraft turnaround for on-time boarding and flights.

1. Thoroughly review the Challenge guidelines
2. Find a qualified advisor and a diverse team of students
3. Ensure that your team meets the eligibility requirements
4. Develop and submit a project plan proposal by the deadline
5. Based on a review of the project plans, 3 teams will advance to the next phase of the competition – further developing their proposed concept for demonstration in June.
6. The finalist teams will be invited to demonstrate their technology in a face-to-face oral presentation/design review in front of FAA subject matter experts at a culminating event in late June 2021. Finalist teams will also be responsible for submission of a technical paper and poster presentation.

The FAA Challenge: Smart Airport Student Competition is open to teams of undergraduate and graduate students at accredited United States-based colleges and universities. Teams may include senior capstone students, clubs, multi-university, or multi-disciplinary students. Teams are encouraged to collaborate and work in concert with industry partners.

• Student team members must have been enrolled in a United States based college or university for at least one semester (or quarterly equivalent) during 2020.
• Team members, including all faculty advisors and students, must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States.
• The designated lead academic institution must submit the application on behalf of the team.
• Each member of the team must meet the eligibility criteria.
• An individual may join more than one team.
• There is no charge to enter the competition.
• Team sizes may vary widely. The core team must contain, at a minimum, one faculty advisor from the lead academic institution who has worked on the project and student(s) who can be available to present the final project at the culminating event in June of 2021.
• Eligibility is limited to students from colleges and universities in the United States.
• Eligibility is limited to academic institutions in the United States.

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Foreign Universities:

Because this is an FAA-sponsored competition, eligibility is limited to students from universities in the United States. Foreign universities are not eligible to participate in the FAA Challenge.

Initial Screening

NIA will initially review entries to determine that all required submission elements are included and to determine compliance with eligibility requirements.

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Steering Committee

The FAA Challenge Steering Committee (SC), a panel of FAA subject matter experts, will evaluate, rate and rank submissions. After evaluating, rating and ranking the submissions, the SC will select three finalist teams.

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Project plans will be evaluated based on the following factors:

Decisions will be based on the following factors. All factors are important and will be considered. However, the SC will give the "technical merit" factor the most weight in the screening process. Score is out of 100 total points:

• Technical Merit (40 points)
  • Has the submission presented a clear understanding of the associated problems being addressed?
  • Has the submission developed a logical and workable solution and approach to solving the problem/s?
  • Do most significant aspects of the proposed concept directly address the theme?
  • Has the submission clearly described the breadth of impact of the innovation?
• Practicality (30 points)
  • Has the team defined who directly benefits from this concept?
  • Has the team outlined how the improvements and related activities can be implemented in a practical manner?
  • How likely is the concept to be accepted and used by the airline, airport, or the traveling public?
  • What are the costs anticipated to be incurred and the costs saved by executing this concept compared to the benefits? Has the team demonstrated an analysis of the trade space between benefits in terms of time, cost, etc. and any potential costs/impact downstream that may be incurred by the airport authority and/or airline?
• Impact (20 points)
  • To what extent does this project have the potential to make a significant impact and/or contribution to airport operations or the overall traveling experience?
  • Has the submission clearly defined the direct beneficiaries of this concept and the breadth of impact of the various components of the innovation?
  • How has this group measured the impact of the concept? (i.e., measurable time, number of reports, resource and/or cost savings, etc.)
  • To what extent does the concept simplify and expedite the travel experience and appeal to users based on intuitive design and ease of use?
• Originality (10 points)
  • To what extent is this concept new, or in what way is this an innovation on an existing idea?
  • How is this concept unique?
  • How did the team members’ experiences inform the proposed concept?

Teams selected as finalists in the competition and invited to attend the 2021 FAA Challenge will be responsible for the following additional submission elements:

Scored/Judged Deliverables:

Additional details on these deliverables will be communicated to the finalist teams upon selection.

1. Technical Paper (due June 6, 2021)
2. Technical Poster
3. Presentation to the judging panel
   • 45-minute presentation/design review, with an additional 30 minutes of Q&A
   • Presentations should be considered the teams’ opportunity to “pitch” their rigorously developed solutions to the judges. It is expected that the presentations will incorporate a 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, supported by slides, charts, graphic representations, video, animations, data visualizations, etc.

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Non-Scored deliverables presented to public:

There may be an opportunity during the Forum for teams to present their concept to a wider public audience of aviation and aeronautic professionals and/or local high school students (TBD).  If given this opportunity, finalist teams may also be asked to share their research via:

1. A condensed 15-minute oral presentation summary of concept, and/or
2. An informal poster session

The following rules, terms and conditions apply to all submissions and teams that do not comply with the rules, terms and conditions may be disqualified:

1. Team is defined as all participants in the submission, including all academic institutions, faculty advisors, students, organizations and industry partners;
2. NIA  will administer the award of a single dollar amount to the designated lead academic institution of the winning team. The lead academic institution is solely responsible for allocating any prize funds among its team members as they deem appropriate;
3. Submission must include a robust project plan proposal to enter the competition under the rules declared and published by the FAA;
4. Submission must be in English and in a format readable by Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF. Scanned hand-written submissions will be disqualified. Additional format requirements may be listed on the FAA Challenge website https://faachallenge.nianet.org;
5. The team and/or team members may not be a Federal entity or Federal employee acting within the scope of employment (this includes co-op students with civil servant status);
6. Team members may not be an employee of the DOT, including but not limited to the FAA;
7. Teams will not be deemed ineligible because a team member used Federal facilities or consulted with Federal employees during a competition if the facilities and employees are made available to all teams participating in the competition on an equitable basis;
8. Proposing team members are not permitted to consult with the SC or any of its committee members other than the invitation to participate in a scheduled Question and Answer (Q&A) Session and the follow-up technical question opportunity set forth in paragraph 9. These opportunities are offered to the teams that submit expression of interest by the deadline;
9. After the (Q&A) Session with the SC, and should the students and faculty have follow-up technical question, follow up technical questions should be submitted to NIA. NIA will forward the question to the SC. After receiving a response from the SC, NIA will post follow-up questions and answers on the Resources page;
10. The FAA Challenge is subject to all applicable Federal laws and regulations. Participation constitutes the team’s full and unconditional agreement to these rules, terms and conditions and to the final decisions of the FAA, which are final and binding in all matters related to this competition;
11. Each team represents and warrants that the team is the sole author and owner of the submission, that the submission is wholly original and authored by the team, that it does not infringe on any copyright or any other rights of any third party of which the team is aware, and, if submitted in electronic form, is free of malware. All submissions remain the property of the team ;
12. By submitting an entry, teams agree to assume any and all risks and waive any claims against the Federal Government and its officers, employees and related entities (except in the case of willful misconduct) for any and all injury, death, damage, or loss of property, revenue or profits, whether direct, indirect, or consequential, arising from their participation in the FAA Challenge, whether the claim or cause of action arises under contract or tort;
13. By submitting an entry, teams agree to indemnify the Federal Government against third party claims for damages arising from or related to the FAA Challenge activities;
14. The SC has the right to request additional information and access to supporting materials from the team;
15. The submission cannot have been submitted in the same or substantially similar form in any previous federally sponsored contest;
16. Each team grants to the FAA, the DOT, as well as other Federal agencies and organizations with which it partners, the right to use names, likeness, application and submission materials not marked with protective markings, photographs, voices, opinions, and/or hometown and state for FAA promotional purposes in any media, in perpetuity, worldwide, without further payment or consideration;
17. Personal information submitted by teams to Challenge.gov is subject to the privacy policy located at http://www.challenge.gov;
18. Personal information submitted by teams as part of the Expression of Interest and/or Submission through the FAA Challenge website will be transmitted to the FAA and may be kept in a system of records. Teams understand that the FAA Challenge website is hosted by a private entity, the National Institute of Aerospace, and is not a service of the FAA or the Federal Government. The collection of personal and individually identifiable information on the challenge website is subject to NIA’s privacy and security policies. Teams agree not to hold the FAA or the Federal Government liable for the protection, use, or retention of any personal information submitted through the FAA Challenge website and/or in the team’s Expression of Interest or Submission;
19. Submission Marking and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C.§552: All materials submitted to FAA as part of a submission become FAA records and are subject to release under the FOIA. Any confidential commercial information contained in a submission should be designated in writing at the time of submission.
    1. Teams are required to use protective markings as follows:
       • The cover sheet of the submission must be marked as follows and must identify the specific pages containing trade secrets or commercial or financial information that is privileged or confidential:
         1. Notice of Restriction on Disclosure and Use of Data: Pages [list applicable pages] of this document may contain trade secrets or commercial or financial information that is privileged or confidential and is exempt from public disclosure. Such information must be used or disclosed only for evaluation purposes. The Government may use or disclose any information that is not appropriately marked or otherwise restricted, regardless of source. [End of Notice]
         2. The header and footer of every page that contains trade secrets or commercial or financial information that is privileged must be marked as follows: “May contain trade secrets or commercial or financial information that is privileged or confidential and exempt from public disclosure.”
         3. In addition, each line or paragraph containing trade secrets or commercial or financial information that is privileged or confidential must be enclosed in brackets.
       • If the team’s submission has been marked as set forth above, the team will be notified of any FOIA requests for their submissions. Teams may then have the opportunity to review materials and work with an FAA FOIA Coordinator prior to the release of materials;
20. The Prize Administrator is the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA). The Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), is the Federal Agency sponsor of the prize;
21. Federal grantees may not use Federal funds to develop submissions;
22. Federal contractors may not use Federal funds from a contract to develop submissions or to fund efforts in support of a submission; and
23. Teams must include all the required submission elements. NIA reserves the right to disqualify submissions after an initial screening if all required submission elements are not provided and/or if eligibility requirements are not met. NIA may give teams an opportunity to fix non-substantive mistakes or errors in their submission packages.
24. The FAA retains sole discretion to select the winning team. The FAA reserves the right to not award the prize if the SC believes that no submission demonstrates sufficient innovative scientific and engineering potential and/or achievements.