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). 
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. 

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.

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
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 (Note: We recommend using these documents as reference material,  rather than attempting to read  them front-to-back.)
   1. TSD U/F/C User Manual
   2. FSM User Manual
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. 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

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, 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.§552: 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:
       • 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.