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EVALUATION CRITERIA
Round One - 50 Points Total
Significance and Unmet Needs (0-10 Points):
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Does this technology enable or improve NASA science? If it is successful, what difference will it make?
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Can those improvements be measured or established?
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Are there significant needs across the government or private sector for the proposed product or service?
Innovation (0-10 Points):
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How is this capability accomplished today and what are the limitations of current practice?
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Does the proposed idea utilize novel theoretical concepts, approaches, methodologies, instrumentation, or services? (Note that the proposed technology can also enhance an existing approach.)
Approach (0-10 Points):
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Are the overall strategy, methodology, and analyses well-reasoned and appropriate to test the proposed idea?
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Why will this new approach succeed?
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What are the risks and mitigation strategies?
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How does the approach consider NASA science needs?
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What are the milestones?
Team/Founder Aptitudes (0-10 Points):
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Does the individual or team demonstrate high level of ability and dedication?
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Were the passion, drive, discipline, ability to work collaboratively and willingness to push forward under conditions of extreme business uncertainty successfully demonstrated?
Commercialization (0-10 Points):
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Is there a clear path for the product/service to achieve NASA's missions and/or reach the market demand?
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Are the product users and purchasers clearly identified?
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Is there evidence that market research or analysis of competitors was conducted?
Round Two - 80 Points Total
Extended White Paper (40 Points)
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Does the white paper clearly demonstrate understanding of a NASA problem/need and describe a compelling technical solution? (20 points)
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Does the white paper adequately describe the NASA science need/problem at hand?
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Does the paper provide a detailed description of the proposed technology and demonstrate that the technology will address that specific NASA science need/problem?
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Does the team show that they understand state-of-the-art technology related to the problem they're choosing to address?
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Why is the proposed technology superior to the other possible solutions or current NASA approaches?
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Does the white paper demonstrate a clear plan for developing this technology? (10 points)
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Does the paper outline an executable approach to advance this technology to meet NASA needs?
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Does the approach include a schedule with key milestones (may also include possible deliverables, concept report, prototype, brassboard design, etc.)?
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Does the solution take into consideration operational constraints, the space flight environment, etc.?
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Does the overall strategy include a clear approach to test the proposed concept? (5 points)
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Does the paper describe an adequate method for the technology to be simulated, tested, and validated?
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Does the white paper demonstrate an understanding of the challenges, technical barriers, and risks ahead and a plan for mitigating them? (5 points)
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Does the team understand the challenges they might encounter and explain how they plan to address them?
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Is this technology sustainable (i.e., NASA is not the only customer)?
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Oral Presentation (40 Points)
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Were all the relevant components of the Round Two white paper highlighted in the presentation or did they leave out critical information? (20 points)
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Did the presentation clearly demonstrate understanding of a NASA problem/need and describe a compelling technical solution?
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Did the presentation demonstrate a clear plan for developing this technology?
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Did the overall strategy include a clear approach to test the proposed concept?
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Did the presentation demonstrate an understanding of the challenges, technical barriers, and risks ahead and a plan for mitigating them?
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Was the presentation coherent and easy to understand? (10 points)
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Did the team present the information such that a varied audience could understand the technical information?
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Were the team's passion, drive, discipline, ability to work collaboratively, and willingness to push forward successfully demonstrated during the presentation? (5 points)
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Does it appear that this company could successfully develop a product that NASA could use?
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Did the presenter strike you as an entrepreneur capable of scaling a company?
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Was the team able to adequately answer the questions from the judging panel after their presentation? (5 points)
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Can team members think on their feet and discuss details about certain aspects of the presentation?
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