Advanced Technical English
Lecture 4
Proposals
What is a proposal?
A proposal is document which outlines a
problem and proposes a detailed plan to
solve it. The goal of a proposal is to
persuade readers that the job needs doing
and that you are the one to do it, so be sure
to include all the benefits as well as the
limitations of your solution. Try to foresee
and counter any arguments against the
solution.
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Overview
A proposal is a strategy for solving a problem.
 Proposals range from 1 pg report to 1000 pg form.
 Two types:
 Solicited
 Unsolicited
 Proposal purposes are to persuade not inform.
 The writing involves individual as well as teams.

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TWO MAIN TYPES OF FUNDED
RESEARCH
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1.
Research you really want to do:
Find sponsor!
2.
Topics some sponsor wants to see done:
Respond to RFP
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What should the proposal accomplish?
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1.
FOR SCIENTIFIC AGENCIES:
Need to convince reviewers of scientific merit, and
of your qualifications and ability to successfully
make an important contribution to the state-of-theart.
2.
FOR SPECIFIC TOPIC RFP’s:
Need to convince sponsoring agency that you
understand the problem, that you have a realistic
approach that is likely to succeed, that could be
implemented, and that you will deliver results that
will make them look good.
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Dr. Basil Hamed
Solicited Proposal
Company or agency advertises that it desires the
solution to a problem.
 Most cases, this company or agency sends out a
request for proposals, often called an RFP, that
presents a problem which needs addressing
For example, if the Department of Energy desires
research on reducing nitrogen oxide emissions from
diesel engines, then the Department announces its
request, often in periodicals such as the Commerce
Business Daily.

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Dr. Basil Hamed
Unsolicited Proposal
There is no request. Instead, an engineer on his or
her own initiative recognizes a client's problem,
writes a proposal that first makes the client aware of
the problem, and then presents a plan for solving
that problem.
 Often occur within a company.
For example, an engineer or scientist may write a
proposal to his or her division supervisor suggesting
a new computer system to handle that division's
work

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Audiences of Proposals
includes both managers and engineers. These
audiences view proposals in different ways.
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
Managers review proposals to see if the plan for
solving the problem is cost effective.

Engineers and scientists, on the other hand, review
proposals to see if the plan is technically feasible.
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Dr. Basil Hamed
Proposal Writing
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Make sure your proposal is letter perfect and in full
compliance with the application guidelines.
Use the active, not the passive voice wherever
possible.
Write clear, concise sentences.
Use tables, charts, and side-headings to
divide/organize/format your text.
Find both expert readers in your field, and
professionals who will critically review your drafts.
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Format Of Proposal
 Headings
 Body
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Heading
Subject: The subject of your proposal
To: Name of your advisor
From: Your name
Date: date of submission
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Example Of Heading
A PROPOSAL
Research the Storage Facility
for Spent Nuclear Fuel at Yucca Mountain
Prepared for
Walter E. Foerster, Jr.
President of New England Etching
23 Spring Street
Holyoke, MA 01040
By
Holohan Consulting 72 Triangle Street
Amherst MA 01002
December 12, 1996
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Body
Divide your body to sections:
I.
Introduction
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
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Statement of the problem
Proposed project and purpose
Plan of activities with deadlines
Evaluation
References
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I.
Introduction
Summarize your project
 Explain why you are proposing it

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Example of Introduction
Nuclear power plants produce more than 20 percent of the electricity
used in the United States [Murray, 1989]. Unfortunately, nuclear
fission, the process used to create this large amount energy, creates
significant amounts of high level radioactive waste. More than 30,000
metric tons of nuclear waste have arisen from U.S. commercial
reactors as well as high level nuclear weapons waste, such as
uranium and plutonium [Roush, 1995]. Because of the build-up of
this waste, some power plants will be forced to shut down. To avoid
losing an important source of energy, a safe and economical place to
keep this waste is necessary. This document proposes a literature
review of whether Yucca Mountain is a suitable site for a nuclear
waste repository. The proposed review will discuss the economical
and environmental aspects of a national storage facility. This
proposal includes my methods for gathering information, a schedule
for completing the review, and my qualifications.
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II.
Statement of the Problem
What is The need or problem?
 Why do you want to address this problem?
 Why is it significant?
 What is current state of technology?
 Who should care and why?


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Provide examples and/ or supporting evidence Including
references
Briefly review current work
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III. Proposed project and purpose
 State
your proposed project
 Its goals
 Your approach
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IV.
Plan of Activities with deadlines
List your major activities
 Make a schedule for your work
 List specific items you will produce as part of
your project
device, test report, instructions, or
running computer programs

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A schedule for your work
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A schedule for your work
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V.
Evaluation
Proposals will be evaluated in two ways: from
a management perspective and from a
technical perspective
Also considered in the evaluation of the
proposal will be the quality of the writing
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Management Evaluation
Is the review worth doing?
 Does
the proposal either show an
important problem that needs addressing or
arouse the reader's curiosity in the topic?
 Does the proposal show what readers will be
interested in the review?
 Does the proposal show objectivity?

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Technical Evaluation
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Are the boundaries of the review logical?
Does the review take on too much or too little?
Are the limitations clear?
Is there something unique about the proposal's
perspective?
Does the writer convince the proposal reviewers that
he or she can gather the information?
Is the schedule believable?
Does the writer justify himself or herself as the one
to perform the review?
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VI.
References
List all your references
 Glossary If any

Acronym/Abbreviation
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Definition
dpi
Dots per inch
GHz
Gigahertz
GB
Gigabyte
HD
Hard drive
ppm
Pages per minute
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Recommendations
For a proposal to succeed, you need a
good idea. No amount of crafted writing
can make up for a weak idea.
 If you have a strong idea, then crafting the
writing of that idea to meet the constraints
will improve your proposal's chances for
acceptance.

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Recommendations
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
What is it that you have that will allow you to
succeed where others may have failed, or
to make a unique contribution that others
could not attain within the same time frame?

Be constructive (diplomatic) in reviewing
others’ work; don’t blast all previous work,
don’t be dismissive and definitely don’t
single out anyone with scorn. Chances are
they are reviewing your proposal.
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Dr. Basil Hamed
Be constructive
BAD:
All previous studies are worthless because they failed
to recognize the effect of X on Y. Chen and Smith (1998)
tried but their approach was simply wrong. Ours is the first
study to address this question correctly.
BETTER:
Previous studies have made important
contributions to this challenging problem, however none of
the published studies appear to have completely accounted
for the effect of X on Y. A pioneering effort in this direction
is described by Chen and Smith (1998), highlighting the
need for additional investigation of the system properties
when the full set of interacting factors are incorporated in
the model.
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Dr. Basil Hamed
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Are You Ready For Your Next
Assignment (# 3)
Write a proposal for your formal
report
Due next Sunday at class time
Good luck
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Dr. Basil Hamed