Real World Design Challenge
RWDC © 2015
2015/2016 RWDC NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
FUND R AISING DESCRIPTION AND REQUIREMENTS
Real World Design Challenge Summary
The Real World Design Challenge (RWDC) is an annual competition that provides high school
students with the opportunity to apply the lessons of the classroom to the technical problems
currently faced in the engineering field. Each year students are challenged to optimize the design of
a plane or engineering system. The goal of the RWDC is to motivate and prepare students for
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The RWDC is going into its
seventh year of operation.
Students in grades 9-12 compete in teams of 3-7 members. Teams may come from public, private,
charter, home schools or after school organizations such as Boy or Girl Scouts, science or
engineering clubs, etc. All student team members must be enrolled in high school. Each student
team must have a teacher/coach. A teacher/coach may have multiple teams. There is no cost for
competing in the State Challenge.
Each teacher/coach that registers teams for the State Challenge gets $1 million in professional
engineering software to support the RWDC Challenges or other educational activities. The software
may be loaded on both school and home computers. Teams that win the State Championship are
invited to compete in the National Championship. Each student on the National Winning Team will
receive a $50,000 scholarship to Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.
Fundraising Process
Each team competing in the National Championship must be a State Challenge Winner. Each Team
competing in the National Championship needs to raise a registration fee of $5,000 for the first 3
team members and coach and $1,000 for each team member after that. Each team must be
represented by a minimum of three students and a coach.
Scholarships are only for those teams that choose to compete in the RWDC National
Championship. Those schools that compete in the State Championship and choose to not compete
in the National Championship do not need to raise any money. If the team that wins the State
Championship chooses not to compete in the National Championship, the second place team will be
offered the opportunity to compete. Scholarships may be awarded to teams who need help raising
the funds to compete in the National Competition. All scholarships are awarded based on the merit
of the application. Scholarships are awarded to augment or supplement team fund raising and may
only be used for the RWDC National Championship Registration Fee. There are two types of
scholarships offered to teams: (1) Matching Scholarships for teams who raised funds before the
State Winners are announced; and (2) Need-Based Scholarships for teams that demonstrate a
financial need based on community income and limited fund raising opportunities.
Descriptions and requirements for the scholarships:
1. Matching Scholarships – To be eligible teams need to raise funds before the State Winners
are announced. For each dollar raised by the team, the team will be eligible for one dollar
of RWDC Matching Scholarship money up to $4,500. As funds will be limited, a
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Real World Design Challenge
submission does not guarantee funds will be awarded. Scholarships will be awarded
based on the merit of the applications and availability of funds as of January 8, 2016.
Once funds are submitted to the Aerospace States Association (ASA), the money will not
be returned. Only teams that participate in a Statewide Fund Raising Strategy will be
eligible for the Matching Scholarship. For the Statewide Fund Raising Strategy, all fund
raising done by all teams in the state go into a common pool of money. Those funds are
raised before the State Winners are announced. Teams must submit all funds raised to the
Aerospace States Association (ASA) by January 8, 2016 to be considered for a Matching
Scholarship. All statewide funds raised will be applied to the team representing the state in
the National Championship. Scholarships will be awarded based on merit defined as:
a. The amount of money raised by the teams
b. The availability of funds.
2. Need-Based Scholarships - Need-Based Scholarships are for teams that demonstrate a
financial need based on community income and/or limited fund raising opportunities.
Financial need is defined as schools with a minimum of 50 percent Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program in their school district based on Federal Government standards.
Limited fund raising opportunities must be demonstrated by:
a. Documenting attempted fund raising. Teams must document attempts to get
funds from local businesses, organizations and through activities like bake sales
and car washes.
b. Documenting limited numbers of corporations or businesses in the community or
state.
c. Demonstrating a desire to participate in the RWDC National Challenge.
d. Schools that have a prohibition on fund raising are eligible to compete for
the Need-Based Scholarship but they must document the school or district policy
on fund raising.
All decisions on scholarships are final.
Scholarship Application Process
1. Matching Scholarships – Teams need to provide a list of all donations indicating each
donor/organization with the exact dollar amount. Each application must also list the:
a. School name
b. Team name
c. State
d. Team members with contact information. Team members include all students
and the teacher/coach.
e. Cover page indicating this is an RWDC Matching Scholarship Application.
3. Need-Based Scholarships – Teams need to provide:
a. Documentation that the school district has a minimum of 50 percent
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program based on Federal Government
standards.
b. Documentation of limited fund raising opportunities, which must be
demonstrated by:
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Real World Design Challenge
1. Documenting attempted fund raising. Teams must document attempts to
get funds from local businesses, organizations and through activities like
bake sales and car washes;
2. Documenting limited numbers of corporations or businesses in the
community or state;
3. Demonstrating a desire to participate in the RWDC National Challenge.
4. Schools that have a prohibition on fund raising are eligible to
compete for the Need-Based Scholarship but they must document the
school or district policy on fund raising.
Each application must also list the:
1. School name
2. Team name
3. State
4. Team members with contact information. Team members include all
students and the teacher/coach
5. Cover page indicating this is an RWDC Need-Based Scholarship
Application
Suggested Fund Raising Strategies:
4. Statewide Fund Raising Strategy – All fund raising done by all teams in the state go into a
common pool of money. Those funds are raised before the State Winners are announced.
The State Winning Team going to the National Championship gets to use the state funds for
the RWDC National Championship Registration Fee. Funds are due by January 8, 2015.
Once funds are submitted to ASA, the money will not be returned.
5. Individual Team-Based Fund Raising Strategy – Each team in a state raises funds to
support their participation in the RWDC National Championship. Funds are raised after the
State Champion is announced. Funds are due March 14, 2015. Once funds are submitted to
ASA, money will not be returned.
Process for raising money – Teams go to local businesses, corporations or other organizations such
as service clubs like Rotary International, Lions Club, etc. and request funds to support their
participation in the RWDC National Championship. Teams may also raise funds in other ways such
as bake sales, car washes, etc.
It is suggested that teams consider raising funds using a diversified approach such as (1) asking
corporations or potentially larger contributors for $1,000 or more; (2) going to small businesses in
the community for small donations of $500 or less; and (3) doing fund raising activities such as
bake sales or car washes.
Be sure to develop a timeline for when funds are needed and be sure to time your fund raising
activities to meet your deadline.
Deadlines for Fund Raising
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Fund raising for the Statewide Strategy is January 8, 2016.
To be eligible for Matching Fund Scholarships all funds collected must be submitted by
January 8, 2016.
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Real World Design Challenge
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All fund raising must be completed and submitted by March 14, 2016.
Matching Scholarship Applications are due January 18, 2016.
Need-Based Scholarship Applications are due January 25, 2016.
All scholarships are announced February 1, 2016.
Process for submitting and keeping track of fund raising – All funds are submitted to the Aerospace
States Association (ASA), which is a group of Lt. Governors across the United States that support
Aerospace and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education. ASA is a
501(c)3 not-for-profit organization. All contributions are tax deductible. Funds may be submitted to
ASA using PayPal or by check. Funds may be submitted directly by the donor organization on
behalf of the school or team. Funds raised by activities such as cake sales or car washes may be
submitted to ASA by the school or private individuals on behalf of the team. All funds submitted
will be tracked by ASA and the RWDC.
Funds submitted to ASA by PayPal must submitted using the following link:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=XUTUY7BTML84U
Funds submitted by check must be:
Checks should be made out to:
Real World Design Challenge
c/o Mr. Charles H. Huettner, Executive Director
Aerospace States Association (ASA)
107 S. West Street, Suite 510
Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone: 202-257-4872
Email: aerospacestates@comcast.net
Key Dates
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Team registration for the State Challenge closes November 20, 2015
Early Fundraising closes January 8, 2016
State Winners announced January 15, 2016
Regular fund raising opens no later than January 15, 2016
Team Scholarship Applications due January 25, 2016
Scholarship Awards announced February 1, 2016
All final registration funds are due March 14, 2016
National Challenge Team rosters of who is going to DC are due March 14, 2016
National Challenge Engineering Design Notebooks are due April 4, 2016
National Challenge Team PowerPoint presentations are due April 15, 2016
National Challenge Technical Judging of Engineering Design Notebooks completed April
18, 2016
National Challenge Teams arrive on April 22-23, 2016
National Challenge Event April 24, 2016
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Real World Design Challenge
Questions:
Contact Dr. Ralph K. Coppola
Founder Real World Design Challenge
Phone: 703-298-6630
Email: rkcoppola@yahoo.com
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