Sec. 502. National student unmanned aircraft systems competition program
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/bill/118/hr/3560/ih/section-502·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration shall establish a national program to carry out unmanned aircraft systems technology competitions for students at the high school and undergraduate level (in this section referred to as competitions ) in which students shall compete to design, create, and demonstrate an unmanned aircraft system. The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration shall select, on a merit-reviewed, competitive basis, an institution of higher education to administer the competitions (in this section referred to as the competition administrator ).
In selecting an institution of higher education to administer the competition, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration shall consider the institution of higher education’s prior experience in— administering such competitions; administering national STEM engagement programs; engaging eligible institutions from diverse geographic areas, including poor, rural, and Tribal communities; and connecting STEM activities to Administration missions and centers.
The competition administrator shall be responsible for— awarding grants to institutions of higher education or nonprofit organizations (or a consortium of such institutions or organizations) on a merit-reviewed, competitive basis to host individual competitions; developing STEM curriculum to be utilized by the competition awardees to help students make the connection to the design, construction, and demonstration of the unmanned aircraft systems; developing curriculum to assist students in making real-world connections to STEM content and educate students on the relevance and significance of STEM careers; ensuring awardees are supporting the activities laid out in subsection (f); conducting performance evaluations of competitions, including data collection on— the number of students engaged; geographic and institutional diversity of participating schools and institutions of higher education; and any other activities the Administrator finds necessary to ensure the competitions are successful.
In awarding grants authorized in subsection (d), the competition administrator shall give priority to applications that include a partnership with that State’s space grant program under chapter 403 of title 51, United States Code. In carrying out the competitions authorized in subsection (a), the competition administrator shall ensure competitions occurring at both the high school and undergraduate levels— allow students to design, construct, and demonstrate an unmanned aircraft system; allow students to compete with other teams in the performance of the constructed unmanned aircraft system; connect to relevant missions and Center activities of the Administration; connect relevant STEM curriculum to the design, construction, and demonstration of unmanned aircraft systems; support activities designed to help students make real-world connections to STEM content and educate students on the relevance and significance of STEM careers; and are geographically dispersed in order to serve a broad student population, including those in rural and underserved communities.
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration $6,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028 to carry out this section. Of the funds authorized for each such fiscal year— $1,000,000 shall be for the competition administrator as authorized in subsection (b); and $5,000,000 shall be awarded for grants to carry out competitions as authorized by subsection (d).