By Keith Quinn, Universal Technology Corporation The Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), Inc., named for the late U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice, was established in 1987 and represents 47 public historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) located in 22 states with over 232,000 students. TMCF provides scholarships as well as internship programs for students in HBCUs. In the spring of 2008, Shineaca Moore (Associate Director of Programs for TMCF) contacted AFRL about possible summer research programs where TMCF-sponsored engineering students would use AFRL facilities and hardware to work on AFRL research projects. Gus Vu, the Air Force Technology Transfer Program Manager, met with several of the Office of Research and Technology Applications (ORTA) managers and they agreed that it would be too time-consuming and complicated to develop and approve a single AFRL Education Partnership Agreement (EPA) for all 12 students and the five directorates. In order to reduce the workload for TMCF and simplify the approval and coordination process, the Propulsion Directorate (RZ) would develop a template for the EPA and provide it to all directorates. After meeting with Dr. Edmund Moore (AFRL/XPA) to gather pertinent information, a draft template was prepared for the TMCF EPA. The RZ template was shared with the Human Effectiveness (RH), Information (RI), Munitions (RW), and Sensors (RY) directorates for their inputs/modifications. Each directorate modified the basic agreement and attached a list of their students, mentors, and a brief work description. In less than 60 days, the EPAs were signed and in place for the first students to report for their internships. Vu stated, "This is a great example of teaming together and getting the job done. It's a wonderful opportunity not only for the students, but for the directorates to work with promising engineering students and possible future employees."
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