Preparing a Proposal

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Preparing a Proposal

• EE 494
• Capstone Group Design Project
• Prof. DCHopkins
• DCHopkins_at_Eng.Buffalo.Edu

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Proposal Requirements

• A proposal provides sufficient information to
  persuade the reviewer that the proposed work
  represents an innovative and profitable approach
  to an important engineering problem.
• The proposal will be evaluated on
• the technical approach having a reasonable chance
  of meeting the topic objective,
• the approach being innovative, not routine,
• the proposers capability to implement the
  technical approach, i.e. has or can obtain people
  and equipment suitable for the task.

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Proposal Table of Contents

• Cover page
• Abstract
• Technical Content
• Identification and Significance of Problem
• Technical Background
• Technical Objectives
• Work Plan
• Statement of Work, Time Line and Deliverables
• Related Work
• Commercialization Strategy (EE402 optional)
• Key personnel
• Facilities and Equipment
• Subcontractors and Consultants
• Cost Proposal (Budget)

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Proposal Format

• Proposal Cover Sheet
• Title of project
• Date proposed
• Label it as a Proposal
• Submitted to name, address, phone, fax, e-mail
• Submitted by (as above)
• Abstract
• Give an abstract of the proposed project. Discuss
  anticipated benefits, potential for commercial
  applications and profit. The Abstract is often
  the first cut in selecting proposals for funding

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Proposal Format (cond)

• Layout and Format
• Use 1 margins all around
• Place name of group in header left
• Title in header right
• Page number in footer center
• Date in footer right
• Use Arial 10 pt or Times 12 point
• Number all pages consecutively.
• The technical proposal begins on page 2 or 3.
• Submit softcopy in MSWord (.doc) or Adobe (.pdf)

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Technical Content

• Identification and Significance of Problem or
  Opportunity
• Define the specific technical problem or
  opportunity addressed and its importance to the
  company, customer, government, etc.(Know your
  audience.)
• Do Not include the solution in the problem
  statement
• Technical Background (optional)
• Provide a short technical primer if you think the
  readers requires such
• Technical Objectives
• List your objectives to solve the problem
• Distinguish between goals, objectives and tasks
• Include questions the work will try to answer

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Technical Content (cond)

• Work Plan
• This is a substantial portion of the total
  proposal.
• Give short overview of what is planned and work
  approach
• Provide an explicit, step-by-step description of
  the approach
• Statement of Work (SOW)
• provide hierarchical detailed list of tasks
• Time Line
• Show estimated start and stop times for Tasks
• Only show the first and second levels of Tasks
• Numbering follows the SOW tasks
• see following examples
• Describe how and where the work will be carried
  out
• Use the SOW and time line for weekly/monthly
  updates.

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Example Task List (SOW)

• 1.0.   Circuit partitioning for power and control
• 1.1.      Evaluate present company ballast
  designs for Sub-Miniature Dimming Ballast (SMDB)
• 1.1.1.      Establish benchmark and
  performance parameters for lower power operation.
• 1.1.2.      Investigate separating starter
  and continuous-power lamp drive functions.
• 1.2.      Develop alternate electrical and
  packaging approaches (include power and signal
  ASICs)
• 1.2.1.      Evaluate resonant transition,
  hard switching and class-E electrical topologies
• 1.2.2.      Evaluate higher frequency effects
  on substrate technologies
• 1.3.      Evaluate Digital Communications
• 1.3.1.      Evaluate IR transmit/receive size
  reduced circuits for applications to CFL
• 2.0.   Select SMDB product approach
• 2.1.      Develop SMDB product profile
• 2.1.1.      Review present fixtures forms
• 2.1.2.      Determine fixture constraints on
  physical SMDB product form
• 2.2.      Assess which topology would be the
  best for this market place.
• 2.2.1.      Perform electrical and physical
  modeling, design and simulation with proprietary
  tools
• 2.2.1.1.    Determine optimum inductor /
  transformer specifications
• 2.2.2.      Perform thermal design and
  simulation
• 2.2.3.      Perform cost tradeoff analysis to
  determine least expensive approach
• 2.3.      Documentation

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Example Time Line
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Technical Content (cond)

• Deliverables
• Describe expected outcomes of the proposed work
  or what product(s) will be delivered
• This is often one of the most important sections
• (Think big picture and value of your deliverable)
• Related Work
• Describe significant activities by group members
  directly related to the proposed effort and how
  these activities interface with the proposed
  project
• Describe the state-of-the-art and compare the
  proposed effort. The reviewer must be persuaded
  of the proposer's awareness of the
  state-of-the-art in the specific topic.
• End Technical Content Section

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Commercialization Strategy (optional)

• Describe your strategy for potential
  commercialization of the deliverable(s)
• Provide information on the market need the
  product will address and the size of the market.
• What is the first application of your product?
• Who will be your customers
• What is your estimate of the market size (mkt
  sales /year)?
• How much money will you need to bring the product
  to market
• Who are your competitors
• What is your advantage over your competitors?

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Key Personnel

• Identify key personnel who will be involved
• Include information on directly related education
  and experience.
• A concise resume of the primary contributors

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Facilities and Equipment

• Describe available instrumentation and physical
  facilities necessary to carry out the effort.
• Items of equipment to be purchased (as detailed
  in the cost proposal) shall be justified
• State whether or not the facilities need
  modifications to meet environmental laws and
  regulations of federal, state, and local
  Governments for, but not limited to, the
  following groupings airborne emissions,
  waterborne effluents, external radiation levels,
  outdoor noise, solid and bulk waste disposal
  practices, and handling and storage of toxic and
  hazardous materials. (For EE402 assume they no
  modifications are needed)

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Subcontractors and Consultants

• Involvement of subcontractors or consultants may
  be appropriate
• If such involvement is intended, it should be
  described in detail and identified in the cost
  proposal.
• A minimum of two-thirds of the effort, as
  measured by direct and indirect costs, must be
  carried out by the proposing group, unless
  otherwise approved

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Cost Proposal

• (See Example Budget Form)
• Sufficient information should be provided to
  understand how the proposer plans to use the
  requested funds
• List all key personnel by name and number of
  hours dedicated to the project as direct labor.
• Justify special tooling, test equipment and
  materials
• Cost for travel funds must be justified and
  related to the needs of the project.
• Cost sharing is permitted.

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Example Budget Form
From New York State Energy Research and
Development Authority (NYSERDA) proposal
requirements. See http//www.nyserda.org/791attd.p
df
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End of Preparing a Proposal