I don't know who I should ask for this, so I'm asking here. I started a robotics team at my school. We're going to be competing in the FIRST robotics competition. This is a big international competition. I'm sure you've heard of it. Now we're going to be needing to make 3D models and animations of the robot in 3DsMax. However, the best computer in my school has a 2.4GHz P4B, 512MB DDR333, and a AIW Radeon 8500DV. We definitely need a faster graphics card for 3DSMax. However, the robotics team already needs thousands of dollars (estimated $18000 in total expenses) for other stuff. So I'm wondering if ATI sponsors educational projects like this. Do you think they'd let us borrow a FireGL XL or Radeon 9800 Pro if we have their logo on our team uniforms, robot, and website? There is a good chance we might be on TV so that's air time for them too. It's like cheap advertisement. Has anybody done something like this before?

I wouldn't mind getting sponsored by nVidia, but since we're a Canadian school and ATI is Canadian, I thought I'd try there first. Any suggestions would be welcome. Please don't close this thread, I don't know where else to post this, and I would greatly appreciate a response.