https://faa-tfm-aid.nianet.org/challenge-details/ Skip to content FAA-TFM-AID Challenge * Home * Challenge Details * FAQs * About Us Menu * Home * Challenge Details * FAQs * About Us The FAA Traffic Flow Management - Application Integration Design Challenge Through the TFM-AID Challenge, teams will prototype ideas for an interactive Graphical User Interface (GUI) design for FAA's new automation system, Flow Management Data and Services (FMDS). The FAA is actively developing future requirements for FMDS to replace the current Traffic Flow Management System (TFMS) in support of air traffic flow management (TFM) across the National Airspace System (NAS). The TFM-AID Challenge seeks designs for a proposed Graphical User Interface (GUI) that supports traffic managers (e.g., TMCs and NTMSs) in performing tasks with a more streamlined and modernized interface than they have today, thereby minimizing user training requirements. The scope of the TFM-AID Challenge will center on designing an integrated display to support traffic managers in an Airspace Flow Program (AFP) TMI scenario. Based on the evaluation of teams' Preliminary Design Review (PDR) packages, up to 5 teams will be selected to continue developing their projects into a Critical Design Review (CDR) package. CDRs will be presented by teams and evaluated by the judges at the onsite FAA TFM-AID Forum in late June 2023, held in the Northern Virginia / Washington DC Metro Area. [Untitled-design-1] View the Full FAA TFM-AID Challenge Guidelines Submissions NOTE: All submissions must adhere to the FAA TFM-AID Challenge Details Document. Submit an Expression of Interest Deadline: October 30, 2022 Submit to Q&A Deadline: November 7, 2022 Submit a Preliminary Design Review Deadline: March 2, 2023 How to Compete Eligibility Resources Deadlines Prizes Rules How to Compete 1. Thoroughly review the FAA TFM-AID 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 an Expression of Intent (EOI) by the deadline. 5. (Optional) Submit questions and attend the Q&A session with the challenge sponsors. 6. Develop and submit a PDR package by the deadline. + Based on a review and evaluation of the PDR packages by the FAA TFM-AID Challenge judges, up to five finalist teams will be selected to advance to the next phase of the competition. + Judges' feedback will be provided to each submitting team. Finalist teams will receive additional feedback detailing specific areas they need to address in the follow-up CDR package. 7. Finalist teams will take feedback into consideration, update their designs accordingly, and submit a final CDR package. 8. CDR package submissions will be reviewed and evaluated by the TFM-AID judges. 9. Finalist teams will be invited to demonstrate their concepts at the FAA TFM-AID Challenge Forum, a face-to-face presentation/ design review in front of subject-matter experts in June 2023. 10. The first-place overall winning team will receive the $25,000 prize award. Eligibility The TFM-AID Challenge is open to full-time or part-time undergraduate and graduate students at an accredited U.S.-based community college, college, or university. Teams may include senior capstone students, clubs, multi-university teams, and/or multi-disciplinary teams. The FAA advocates for inclusion and diversity in all teams. Interdisciplinary teams and minority-serving institution students are encouraged to apply. Eligibility Requirements: * Eligibility is limited to students from colleges and universities in the United States. * Student team members must have been enrolled in a U.S.-based college or university for at least one semester (or quarterly equivalent) during the 2022-2023 academic year. * Team members, including all faculty advisors and students, must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States. * 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. From the lead academic institution, the core team must contain, at a minimum, one faculty advisor who has worked on the project, and two students who can be available to present the final project at the culminating FAA TFM-AID Challenge Forum in late June 2023. A maximum of ten students may participate on any single team. * A faculty advisor may advise more than one team. * A team may submit more than one proposal. * Team members may not be federal employees acting within the scope of employment (this includes co-op students with civil servant status). Foreign Universities (Ineligible) Eligibility is limited to students from universities in the United States. Foreign universities are not eligible to participate in the FAA TFM-AID Challenge. Eligibility Statement Regarding Federal Co-Op Interns Federal Co-Op interns may participate in the FAA TFM-AID Challenge when they are on Leave Without Pay (LWOP). TFM-AID stipends may not be used to support travel for federal employees acting within the scope of employment. (This includes co-op students with civil servant status.) Students attending military institutions such as the Air Force Academy are under the same constraints. Resources Below is a list of preliminary resources intended to help prospective FAA TFM-AID Teams begin their projects and jump-start their research. 1. TFM Learning Website - Provides tutorials on how TFM is conducted in the NAS, including how the existing TFMS is used. + Document overview of AFP strategy + Video providing more background on AFP planning + Documented best practices for AFPs + Document describing considerations for creating an FCA 2. TFMS Storyboard: TFMS | Traffic Flow Management System (faa.gov) 3. Traffic Flow Management Background (in Challenge Guidelines document) 4. AFP TMI Scenario 5. Traffic Flow Management Concept of Operations for Flow Management Data and Services (FMDS) 6. Traffic Flow Management in the National Airspace System booklet 7. Overview: Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC) | Federal Aviation Administration 8. Collaborative Decision-Making Home Page | Federal Aviation Administration 9. Suggested Prototyping Tools: Figma, Whimsical, Sketch + Note: These tools are provided as a reference and suggestion, and are not sponsored or endorsed by the FAA or NIA. Teams should carefully review all options before selecting a prototyping tool. + For an example of the differences between a Mock-up, Wireframe, and Prototype, please visit com and/or Mockplus.com. 10. Traffic Flow Management Background 11. FAA TFM-AID Challenge Documents & Templates: + The FAA TFM-AID Challenge Guidelines Document + The FAA TFM-AID Challenge Evaluation Criteria + The TFM-AID Quad Chart Template + The FAA TFM-AID CDR Advisor Attestation Form Template Deadlines DATE DEADLINE October 30, Deadline to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) 2022 November 7, Deadline to submit questions for Q&A Webinar 2022 November 15, 2022 Interactive Q&A Webinar 3 - 4:30 PM Submit an EOI to receive an invitation. EDT March 2, 2023 Deadline to submit a Preliminary Design Review package March 30, 2023 Teams are notified of selection status May 17, 2023 Deadline for online registration and payment for Forum May 27, 2023 Deadline for hotel reservations at the group rate June 7, 2023 Deadline to submit a Critical Design Review (CDR) package June 25, 2023 Deadline to submit a forum presentation chart deck June 28 - 29, FAA TFM-AID Challenge Forum (Northern VA / Washington 2023 DC Metro Area) Prizes Prize: A trophy with the winning university's name, participating students' names, and date of award will be displayed at an FAA facility, and a display copy of the trophy will be sent to the lead academic institution. The lead university will be presented with an award of $25,000 and finalist student will each receive a copy of the winning certificate. Travel Reimbursement Finalist teams presenting at the 2023 TFM-AID Challenge Forum will receive travel reimbursements for eligible costs (up to $6,000 per team) to facilitate travel and lodging for the Forum, held in the Washington D.C./Northern Virginia Metro Area in late-July 2023. Rules Rules, Terms, and Conditions: 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. The Prize Administrator 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 Preliminary Design Review (PDR) 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 Office applications or Adobe PDF. Scanned hand-written submissions will be disqualified. Additional format requirements may be listed on the FAA TFM-AID Challenge website; 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; however, Federal Co-Op Interns may participate in the FAA TFM-AID Challenge anytime when they are on Leave Without Pay (LWOP). 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 judges 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 opportunities 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, should the students and faculty have follow-up technical questions, those questions should be submitted to NIA by email to oleary@nianet.org. 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 FAA TFM-AID Challenge website; 10. The FAA TFM-AID 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 FFAA TFM-AID 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 TFM-AID 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 DOT, the FAA, 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 TFM-AID Challenge website will be transmitted to the FAA and may be kept in a system of records. Teams understand that the FAA TFM-AID Challenge website is hosted by a private entity, the Prize Administrator (NIA), and is not a service of the FAA or the Federal Government. The collection of personal and individually identifiable information on the FAA TFM-AID Challenge website is subject to the Prize Administrator'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 TFM-AID Challenge website and/or in the team's Expression of Interest or Submissions; 19. Submission Marking and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C.SS552: 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: o 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. 2. 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] 3. 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." 20. In addition, each line or paragraph containing trade secrets or commercial or financial information that is privileged or confidential must be enclosed in brackets. 21. 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 a FAA FOIA Coordinator prior to the release of materials; 22. The Prize Administrator is the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA). The Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), is the Federal Agency sponsor of the prize; 23. Federal grantees may not use Federal funds to develop submissions; 24. Federal contractors may not use Federal funds from a contract to develop submissions or to fund efforts in support of a submission; and 25. Teams must include all the required submission elements. The Prize Administrator 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. The Prize Administrator may give teams an opportunity to fix non-substantive mistakes or errors in their submission packages. 26. The FAA retains sole discretion to select the winning team. The FAA reserves the right not to award the prize if the Steering Committee believes that no submission demonstrates sufficient innovation, potential and/or achievement. 27. 1. FAA-TFM-AID Challenge FAA Traffic Flow Management - Application Integration Design Challenge * Home * Challenge Details * FAQs * About Us The FAA TFM-AID Challenge is managed by the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) on behalf of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). [Matt-Sanders-Rectangle-Squ]Matthew Sanders Federal Aviation Administration - Flow Management Data and Services (FMDS) FAA TFM-AID Challenge Chairman --------------------------------------------------------------------- Matt Sanders is the implementation lead for the Flow Management Data and Services (FMDS) Program. He joined the FAA in 2020 and has 18 years of program management, system implementation, operations and maintenance, investment analysis, and risk management for the FAA. His experience includes directly deploying capabilities to the field: implementing the Surveillance and Broadcast Services (SBS) ground infrastructure and integrating it with all deployed surface surveillance systems, realizing operational Automatic Dependent Surveillance- Broadcast (ADS-B) Out capability on airport surface vehicles, and completing the NAS-wide deployment of the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) to FAA and contract air traffic facilities. His current responsibilities include the planning and executing the large-scale system implementation of FMDS to replace the FAA's Traffic Flow Management System. x