Selection round
ULI Round 1
Timeline
What happened in this round
Round 1 Solicitation
NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) announced a new opportunity for universities and their research partners to contribute toward NASA research goals. This opportunity is now closed.
Vendor's Forum
The Vendor’s Forum provided interested parties with the opportunity to better understand the intent and scope of the ULI.
A short presentation on the initiative was followed by a question and answer period. Interested parties had the opportunity to provide NASA with feedback that was considered as part of the current solicitation. The briefing was live-streamed and can be accessed in the links below along with additional information.
Applicant's Workshop
Interested parties were invited to submit their questions in advance to hq-univpartnerships@mail.nasa.gov. The briefing was live-streamed and can be accessed in the links below along with additional information.
The Interested Partners List was provided to help connect potential applicants. For further information on the University Leadership Initiative, please contact hq-univpartnerships@mail.nasa.gov.
Step A Proposals Due
The ULI - Round 1 Solicitation was released on NSPIRES on April 19, 2016.
Kickoff Meeting
All ULI awardees hosted their kickoff meetings in 2017 with their non-advocate peer reviewers and NASA.
ULI Lunch and Learn
On July 13-14, 2017 representatives of the five Round 1 ULI teams briefed congressional staff on their research topics, team approach, and expectations for their ULI experience. Team leads accompanied by their students visited congressional offices.
Awards
ARMD announced 5 selections for awards
Technical Interchange at AIAA
The ULI Technical Interchange at the AIAA Aviation Forum in Atlanta was an event to discover cutting-edge research and technologies that will advance U.S. aviation and to exchange ideas and network for both leads and partners looking to participate in future ULI solicitations. ULI presentations:
Introduction from NASA (John Cavolowsky, Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program Director)
Adaptive Aerostructures for Revolutionary Civil Supersonic Transportation (Dimitris Lagoudas, Texas A&M University)
Hyper-Spectral Communications, Networking & ATM as Foundation for Safe and Efficient Future Flight (David Matolak, University of South Carolina)
Panel Discussion - John Langford (President, Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation), Scott Drennan (Director, Innovation, Bell) and Eric Ringer (Director, Aviation Technology, Skyward) talked about aviation challenges that the industry faces that could serve as future proposal ideas for university led teams
Information Fusion for Real-Time National Air Transportation System Prognostics under Uncertainty (Yongming Liu, Arizona State University)
Electric Propulsion: Challenges and Opportunities (Mike Benzakein, Ohio State University)
Advanced Aerodynamic Design Center for Ultra-Efficient Commercial Vehicles (James Coder, University Of Tennessee, Knoxville)
First Annual Meeting
All ULI awardees hosted their first annual meeting (between August and September 2018) with their non-advocate peer reviewers and NASA.
Second Annual Meeting
All ULI awardees hosted their second annual meeting (between July and September 2019) with their non-advocate peer reviewers and NASA.
Portfolio
Awards
In-Time System-Wide Safety Assurance
Ultra-Efficient Subsonic Transports
Innovation in Commercial High-Speed Aircraft
Transition to Alternative Propulsion and Energy
Safe, Efficient Growth in Global Operations