Broad(er) impacts of the NSF CAREER
proposal
Tony L. Schmitz, Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Broader impacts
If you are thinking about writing your CAREER proposal, then you’ve been
studying the Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) and are familiar with…
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf11001/gpg_3.jsp#IIIA2
Broader impacts
I’m not actually going to talk about NSF proposal merit review criteria, however.
I’d like to tell you about the broad(er) impact that the NSF CAREER program
has had on my academic career.
Agenda
 Introduction
 CAREER proposal broad(er) impacts
 Writing your CAREER proposal
 Conclusions
Agenda
 Introduction
 CAREER proposal broad(er) impacts
 Writing your CAREER proposal
 Conclusions
Introduction
 Education
1990
BS Temple University 1993
MS University of Florida 1996
PhD University of Florida 1999
1995
 Appointments
Assistant football coach, Fort Scott Community College, Fort Scott, KS,
1993
Engineer, Acme Foundry, Coffeyville, KS, 1994
Guest researcher, LLNL, Livermore, CA, 1996
2000
NRC post-doctoral research associate, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD, 19992002
Lecturer, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 2000-2002
Assistant Professor, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 2002-2007
Associate Professor, University of Florida, 2007-2011
Associate Professor, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2011present
2005
Defensive coordinator, Weddington HS, Weddington, NC, 2011-present
 CAREER proposal
Submitted July, 2002. Awarded March, 2003.
2010
Agenda
 Introduction
 CAREER proposal broad(er) impacts
 Writing your CAREER proposal
 Conclusions
CAREER proposal broad(er) impacts
That very special (award) telephone call from your program manager (George
Hazelrigg for me) has a few effects:
• it reduces the tremendous pressure you (probably) feel as a new
faculty member
• it means you get to/need to hire students
• you now have to actually do the work that you proposed!
CAREER proposal broad(er) impacts
In my case:
• I proposed an approach to predict the tool point dynamics for toolholder-spindle-machine assemblies
• purpose was to enable pre-process selection of optimal machining
parameters
• CAREER funds enabled me to:
1. hire students (one is now a professor at Valparaiso University,
another is a professor at Penn State Altoona, REU student later
completed his PhD and is now post-doc at NIST, another REU
student is in medical school)
2. equip my laboratory (Machine Tool Research Center at UF)
•
infrastructure enabled new projects to be pursued
•
improved student recruitment
•
developed sustainable research program
3. travel (conferences and industrial research partners)
•
ASPE – annual conference chairman, board of directors
•
NAMRC – best paper award, scientific committee
CAREER proposal broad(er) impacts
• CAREER funds enabled me to:
4. develop courses
•
Structural Dynamics of Production Machining – co-authored textbook with
Dr. Scott Smith, UNC Charlotte
•
Mechanical Vibrations – co-authored textbook with Dr. Scott Smith
5. pursue patents based on research activities
•
Flexure-Based Dynamometer for Cutting Force Measurement, D. Burton,
T. Schmitz, G.S. Duncan, and J. Ziegert, US Patent No. 7,536,924
•
Variable Tuned Holder for Machine Tools, T. Schmitz, B. Mann, and K.S.
Smith, US Patent No. 7,730,813 B2
•
System and Method for Tool Point Prediction Using Multi-Component
Receptance Coupling Substructure Analysis, T. Schmitz and G.S. Duncan
(allowed)
Chip off the old block
6. perform local outreach activities
•
SSTP – mentored HS student who later graduated with BS in ME
•
hosted student visits to laboratory
•
completed laboratory service projects
CAREER proposal broad(er) impacts
• CAREER funds enabled me to:
7. develop educational videos
•
Pigskin Professor – series of videos that describe engineering
fundamentals in the language of football. This was a collaboration with the
Digital Worlds Institute at the University of Florida and was funded by my
NSF CAREER award.
http://www.digitalworlds.ufl.edu/news/pigskin/media.asp#
•
The Science of NFL Football – I served as the science advisor (on George
Hazelrigg’s recommendation) for the Emmy award winning “Science of
NFL Football” video series, a collaboration between the National Science
Foundation, NBC Learn, and the National Football League (NFL). This 10part video series: 1) explored concepts from physics, biology,
mathematics, chemistry, and engineering; and 2) demonstrated how these
concepts are integral to football.
http://www.nbclearn.com/portal/site/learn/science-of-nfl-football
8. help commercialize the research
•
Manufacturing Laboratories, Inc. recently received a DARPA Phase II
SBIR for the Machine Tool Genome Project
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtJ_OuwqueY&NR=1
CAREER proposal broad(er) impacts
Machine Tool Genome Project
Milling models enable pre-process parameter selection and optimization, but can be
challenging to implement on the shop floor.
For example, stability lobe diagrams offer selection of chatter-free process
parameters. How are they computed?
Depth
Vibration response at the tool point
(frequency response function, or FRF)
Spindle speed
The FRF for each machine-spindle-holder-tool combination is required. Impact
testing is the typical experimental choice.
CAREER proposal broad(er) impacts
Why is this a problem?
• There are 3053 models of CNC machining centers from 229 builders1.
• Milling tools from 110 manufacturers and milling tool holders from 72
manufacturers are available1.
• Assuming an average of 500 stock keeping units (SKUs) from each cutting tool
manufacturer and 100 SKUs from each tool holder company, there are over
1.21012 potential tool-holder-machine-material combinations, where each toolholder-machine assembly has its own unique tool point FRF.
This scenario calls for an approach that can predict the tool point FRF for arbitrary
tool-holder-spindle-machine combinations using minimum input information.
1,200,000,000,000 dynamic
“fingerprints”
1http://www.techspex.com,
accessed June 2, 2010.
CAREER proposal broad(er) impacts
This problem is analogous to the Human Genome Project:
• international scientific research effort
• determine the sequence of chemical base pairs which make up DNA
• identifying and mapping the 20,000 to 25,000 genes of the human genome
• launched in 1990
• completed in 20032,3.
In the Machine Tool Genome Project:
• the “genes” are the tool, holder, and spindle-machine
• the “mapping” is performed using Receptance Coupling Substructure Analysis
(RCSA) to predict the tool point frequency response, i.e., the “body
characteristic”.
• the spindle-machine “genes” are measured once and archived
• the desired tool and holder “genes” are modeled.
Based on the predicted tool point FRF, preferred operating parameters are
selected which respect the limitations imposed by the process dynamics.
2Barnhart,
3DeLisi,
B.J., 1989, DOE Human Genome Program, Human Genome Quarterly, 1:1.
C., 2001, Genomes: 15 Years Later A Perspective by Charles DeLisi, HGP Pioneer, Human Genome News 11:3-4.
CAREER proposal broad(er) impacts
1. Determine spindle-machine FRF using standard holder4.
F
Archive spindlemachine FRF.
+
X
Gene
2. Model tool and holder.
+
+
+
=
Gene
3. Couple tool-holder model to spindle response and predict tool point FRF.
Mapping
Body characteristic
+
4. Use tool point FRF to predict milling process behavior and optimize process.
4Schmitz,
T., and Duncan, G.S., 2005, Three-Component Receptance Coupling Substructure Analysis for Tool Point Dynamics
Prediction, Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, 127/4: 781-790.
Agenda
 Introduction
 CAREER proposal broad(er) impacts
 Writing your CAREER proposal
 Conclusions
Writing your CAREER proposal
You’ll want to communicate your research/education
vision.
This will include leaving reviewers with a clear idea of
your vision after reading your proposal. They will be
able to answer the following questions.
1. Why are you going to carry out this research?
2. How will the research results be applied?
3. What makes your research objectives unique?
A first question you’ll want to answer before you begin writing is ‘Why am I going
to carry out this research?’.
The purpose of the CAREER proposal is to jump-start your career.
A best answer is probably not ‘so I can get funded and hopefully get tenured
some day’.
Writing your CAREER proposal
Why clearly communicating your vision is important…
I’ve reviewed and read proposals for colleagues that were good, but didn’t leave
me too excited about their plans. Given the competitive nature of the
CAREER proposal, “good” proposals are not always funded.
Your job is to convince the panel of reviewers that your research will improve the
state-of-the-art and will have broader impacts.
How do you do this? Tell a compelling story…
Lead the reviewers down your path. Be
the pied piper…
Writing your CAREER proposal
Be a story teller.
Remember, this is not a research paper. You’ll want to do more than
just ‘report the facts’.
Provide compelling justification for why your selected research area is
important (e.g., can you provide a sound economic justification for
your plans?).
•
Do your homework. Report previous efforts.
•
Talk to people in the industry (more on collaborators later).
Ensure that those not familiar with your research area can follow your
story.
•
Don’t be too quick to jump to the “equation section”. Of course you’ll
want to demonstrate the scientific/mathematical rigor or your
proposed research, but…
•
if the reviewers are not clear about why you are proposing this work,
they may not give the technical section the attention it deserves.
Writing your CAREER proposal
Make sure your proposal is not a bed-time story!
You’ll want your story to generate some excitement
among the reviewers.
Successful proposals often leave the reviewers saying ‘Gee, I wish I’d have
thought of that’ when they are finished reading.
How do you do this?
Be brave:
• propose significant leaps in the state-of-the-art
• I have a hard time describing research that I’m not exactly sure that I can
complete…
• however, a comprehensive research plan will give reviewers confidence in
your objective.
Writing your CAREER proposal
A strong research plan:
•
establishes a logical, chronological plan of activities that will
lead you to your research objectives. I separated my
proposed research into stages that corresponded to
particular years of the five-year plan.
•
identifies clear success metrics. Let the reviewers know how
you will decide if your research is on the right track.
•
identifies major questions that must be answered. Don’t be
afraid to say ‘What if x doesn’t work?’, but provide a plan of
action if this occurs.
•
defines relevant collaboration.
Writing your CAREER proposal
Collaborators:
• identify relevant collaborating organizations
• get the right person on the phone
• make your pitch.
If you can convince him/her that they should get on board your
“research train”, then maybe you will probably convince the
reviewers also.
If you can get the collaborators to provide some support, reviewers will be
impressed. You will have established credibility for your research. Examples
include:
• materials and supplies
• equipment (great to go after – hard to get this money)
• engineering support.
Writing your CAREER proposal
Don’t leave your education plan as an afterthought. It is a critical component of
your CAREER proposal.
It is best if your education plan takes a unique approach to outreach in
education and is integrated with your research plan (not completely
separate).
While the following activities are natural for faculty members:
•
offering a new graduate course
•
teaching undergraduate courses x, y, and z
•
participation in undergraduate engineering societies
an excellent education plan is also part of your proposal vision and may
include components outside these traditional activities.
What interests you?
What are your talents?
How can you apply them to innovative education?
Writing your CAREER proposal
Prior to CAREER submission, a NIST colleague critiqued my
proposal and said:
There is nothing exciting in your education plan. You will not get
funded.
Not fun to hear, but it set me to thinking.
What do I like?
•
football
•
engineering.
This led to the Pigskin Professor video concept – presented
engineering concepts in the language of football at the 2003 UF
home games.
Writing your CAREER proposal
Reviewers must evaluate your proposal based on two main criteria:
• Intellectual merit
• Broader impacts.
Spend some time thinking about how you can uniquely address these criteria.
In addition, there are particular questions the reviewer must address. For example,
reviewers are asked to:
evaluate the scientific quality and importance of the proposed research and
education activities, the objectives and significance of these activities, and the
capability of the applicant to make an integrative contribution in both education
and research.
It is helpful to reviewers if you don’t make them search for answers to these
questions.
It is also important to proofread. Don’t let grammatical, style, or formatting errors
obscure your great ideas. You might as a non-technical colleague to edit for
these errors.
It is also help to include relevant, high-quality graphics. Use figures to support your
story.
Agenda
 Introduction
 CAREER proposal broad(er) impacts
 Writing your CAREER proposal
 Conclusions
Conclusions
Winning the CAREER award can have “broad impacts” on your faculty career.
It is worth the effort required to write an excellent proposal.
An excellent CAREER proposal tells the reviewers about you as a complete
package. This includes your:
•
research plan
•
education plan
•
prior experience and future potential.
The reviewers’ task is to predict your chances for future success and your
ability to make an impact in your field. Give them the ammunition they need
to enthusiastically support your proposal.
To summarize:
1. have a vision
2. tell your story
3. be innovative in your combined research and education plan.
Good luck!
Contact information
Tony Schmitz
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Email: tony.schmitz@uncc.edu
Telephone: (704) 687-8421
Web site: http://coefs.uncc.edu/tschmit4/