Company Profile Abr. NA

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Presentation at the NSF CAREER Proposal Writing
Workshop November 13, 2004
Z.J. Pei Dept of Industrial and Manufacturing
Systems Engineering Kansas State
University Manhattan, KS 66506
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Presentation Outline

1. About me
2. About my CAREER proposal
3. What I would and wouldnt do If I started over

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About me

• Got BS from ZIT and MS from BIT, China
• Received Ph.D. in 1995 from University of
  Illinois
• Worked in industry for 4 years
• Joined K-State in 2000

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Presentation Outline

1. About me
2. About my CAREER proposal
3. What I would and wouldnt do If I started over

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History of My CAREER Proposal
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Comments from a Reviewer (1)
I want to spend a moment to share what insight I
have on the workings of NSF panels. As a member
of an NSF panel you are typically asked to review
about 10 proposals prior to convening at NSF with
the other panelists. At NSF you and the other
panelists pool the reviews of perhaps 20-25
proposals, from which perhaps 2-4 are selected
for funding.
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Comments from a Reviewer (2)
My experience has been that for a proposal to
surface during such a process, it must have some
extremely novel character. Regardless of the
solid work presented in a proposal or the high
likelihood of a successful outcome that responds
to industry needs, what appears to jump out to a
reviewer is the innovativeness of the proposal.
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Comments from a Reviewer (3)
What this means is that if a PI appears to be
following along a path that builds upon his PhD
work, or that logically follows from industrial
experience, then the burden is high to
demonstrate novelty. In other words, the
reviewers are often looking for totally new areas
that the proposer is seeking to establish.
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Presentation Outline

1. About me
2. About my CAREER proposal
3. What I would and wouldnt do If I started over

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One Month Summer Salary

• Two months or one month ?
• The PI proposes to take two months of summer
  support out of the award. This should be reduced
  to one month. -- Reviewer

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Grantees Conference Learning the Rules

• CAREER sessions
• The minimum award for the NSF CAREER is 400k,
  and it is also the maximum for DMII. Program
  Director

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Grantees Conference Talking with Program
Directors

• Comments and advice
• What is the research?
• NSF funds research, not development,
  application, or optimization.

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Grantees Conference Learning from Awardees

• Importance of proposal title
• CAREER Innovative Laser-Based Stress/Strain
  Measurement Techniques to Solve Challenging
  Fundamental and Applied Research Problems
• CAREER Fundamental Research on Silicon Wafer
  Fine Grinding to Foster a Quantum Leap in
  Manufacturing of Silicon Wafers

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Which Title Impresses You?

• CAREER Analysis of Fine Grinding of Silicon
  Wafers
• CAREER Fundamental Research on Silicon Wafer
  Fine Grinding to Foster a Quantum Leap in
  Manufacturing of Silicon Wafers

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Study Successful CAREER Proposals

• Copies of awarded proposals are available upon
  request. Personal and proprietary information
  will be removed from the proposal documents
  before they are released.
• Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
• foia_at_nsf.gov, [phone]

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Share Proposal with Colleagues

• Career Development Workshop (3/2003) sponsored by
  the Chemical and Transport Systems (CTS) Division
  of NSF
• Professor Tim Anderson, Chemical Engineering
  Department, University of Florida
• Shared proposal and received peer reviews

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Support Letters

• Letters of commitment can be included in Section
  J
• No letters of recommendation

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Quotation from Dr. Bradley Kramer

• Getting tenured should not be the goal. It is a
  by-product of the success in your academic
  career. Bradley Kramer
• Getting the CAREER Award should not be the goal
  either.
• CAREER program recognizes and supports those
  faculty members who are most likely to become the
  academic leaders of the 21st century.

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For Your Attention