FAQs
These Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Award Frequently Asked Questions should provide the answers needed to register and compete in this program. If you don't find the information you need here, ask us a question.
What is the Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Award
An innovative design competition for teams of high school students. Teams must create their own science and technology related business products or concepts in various fields.
Who can compete in the Conrad Awards?
Teams of up to 5 high school students are eligible to compete. Each team must have one adult advisor (over the age of 18).
Are home schoolers or out-of-school groups allowed to register a team?
Yes, any student can register a team so long as they are no older than 18 years old by January 9th, 2009. Home school students must be in the equivalent of 9th - 12th grade.
What are the competition Categories?
1) Create an innovative concept for personal use in spaceflight.
2) Create an entrepreneurial enterprise for lunar exploration.
3) Create a new, clean, carbon-free way of using renewable energy to change everyday life.
How do I register my team?
You must register on this website. On the Home page the left hand login section has a button to register a new team. When you click on this you'll be able to register your team's information. After successfully registering you'll have access to the "Ask an Expert" section and other resources.
What is a "Sponsoring Organization?"
When you are first registering your team, you must list at least 1 sponsoring organization. This can be your school, science club, after school group, or another organization like a 4-H or civil air patrol group. The sponsoring organizations you list will share in any prize money the team receives from the competition. Each Sponsoring organization should be a group in which the student team members actively participate.
What are the prizes?
Through the Spirit of Innovation Awards program, students are competing for both monetary and intangible awards. Over $120,000 will be given away in the 2008-2009 competition. In each category minimum awards will be granted of $10,000 to the first place teams, $6,000 to the second place teams, and $4,000 to the third place teams. Teams selected as finalists will also be supplied with $2000 travel stipends to assist with the cost of attending the final Innovation Summit. Additional funds for finalists will also be supplied through public donations to the teams. The competition is setup so that each finalist team will have an online profile for members of the public to support the team's future work on their concept.
In addition to the monetary awards, all finalists will be given the opportunity to connect with leading scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs who will provide guidance on taking the team project to the next phase of development.
How many members can a team have?
Teams can be comprized of 1 to 5 students.
Where can teams find information regarding technical or business expertise?
Teams can ask our panel of Experts any questions regarding their submissions using our "Ask an Expert" forum on this website. Our experts are leading scientists, engineers, professors, and entrepreneurs who will help registered teams get the information they need to create the best concepts.
Students should also check back on the "Resources" page of this website for additional information and tools that may help in developing their concepts.
Will there be other competition categories added?
Future Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Awards will include additional competition categories in all areas of science and technology. The 2008-2009 competition will only include the three categories currently announced.
Can multiple teams from the same high school enter the competition?
Yes, each school or organization can have as many teams as they would like. However, individual students may only participate on 1 team in each competition category.
Are international students allowed to compete?
Yes, students from any country can compete in the Conrad Awards. Students must be in the equivalent of high school in their respective country and still meet the age requirment of being 18 years old or younger by January 9th, 2009. All submission documents must be written in English.
How many years has the competition been going on?
This is the second year of the Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Awards. The 2007 competition included only a personal spaceflight category with the final competition being conducted at the X PRIZE Cup, in New Mexico. Team Michael and Talia from Milken High School in Los Angeles, California won the competition.
Are college students allowed to participate?
Unfortunately, we do not yet have a college version of the Conrad Awards.
What do I do to compete?
Your initial submissions consist of three written documents describing the product or concept you would create in one of the three competition categories. You must describe your product in a technical document, business plan, and graphical representation and submit these documents online after logging in to your team page.
When do participants find out if they have made the finals or not, and how many team make the finals?
Finalists will be Announced February 1st. All finalist teams will be notifed at that time. An exact number of finalist teams has not been determined. This will be up to the judges to see how many teams meet the minimum requirement to be selected as a finalist.