NSF CAREER Proposal Writing Workshop

1. NSF CAREER Proposal Writing Workshop Keys to CAREER Award Success Part 2 Linda C. Schmidt Associate Professor Mechanical Engineering Department University of Maryland (August 1995 to Present)

2. Baby Assistant Professor Schmidt • Hired in with 5 other new professors • 4th woman hired in department – 1 already gone • Very competitive environment with no real mentoring – I just talked to the other women who were Assistant Professors too • No department aid in writing proposals • I did not even know about the CAREER Award until towardsend of 1995 academic year Reflection: I was clueless and stuck to teaching because those guidelines were clear and it filled my time. Someone else earned CAREER Award and it was all over the Department. Pressure started to build about getting money, money, money. People said, “You need to apply for a CAREER GRANT”

3. Baby Assistant Professor Schmidt (2) • Late summer early 1996 at UMD • CAREER Award pressure increases • Experienced my first panic attack • 1996 -- Chickened out • Told department chair I would go for an NSF Planning Grant ($18K) • He agreed that it was good idea (Why wasn’t I pushed to submit?) • Received planning grant – started on grammar work at UMD • 1997 – Submitted CAREER Proposal • Did not have any readers (too worried that it sucked) • Did not look at any other CAREER proposals Reflection: I was “toughing it out” – a strategy that worked well for me in my past (except for the panic attack).

4. Baby Assistant Professor Schmidt (3) • Spring 1997 • Colleagues hired with me won CAREER Awards – Big Hoopla • I did not • Reviewers were unkind to my proposal – Grammar based generative design – As I recall • One wrote that everything that could be done was already done • One said there would be no good results in design from grammars • One actually put it writing that I “…should find another research topic” because this one was no good. (I will never forget this review) Reflection: This was hard to take, but it spurred me into action (after I recovered from the hit).

5. Bruised Assistant Professor Schmidt • Summer 1997 • Colleagues suggested I do the really, scary thing – GO TO SEE YOUR NSF PROGRAM MANAGER and talk about the failed proposal • It felt like going to the principal’s office for a “talk” • It felt like admitting “I was bad” • I sucked it up and did it. • George Hazelrigg Meeting • We chatted about my proposal and the reviews • He checked his records and said “This was a good panel.” • He said, “Find another area of work, or tell the story better.” • I decided I could tell the story better. Reflection: Learning to “suck it up” and ask for help is more useful than “toughing it out” alone.

6. Triumphant Assistant Professor Schmidt • Fall 1997 submitted CAREER Proposal again • Fall 1997 submitted unsolicited proposal on grammar-based design also. (I got advice that I could use this strategy.) • January-ish 1998 • George H. found me at an NSF sponsored event. • Both proposals reviewed well. I should withdraw the unsolicited proposal. • … short time later … • SCHMIDT WINS CAREER AWARD • It was a much bigger win than I thought • Many faculty members sent congratulatory emails – some I had nevereven spoken to before. Reflection: This event was a springboard for my success. It was meaningful for me because I knew there was potential in grammars for design and I continued to work on the topic.

7. Triumphant Assistant Professor Schmidt • CAREER Awards in the “olden days” • Provisions for extra funding with industry partner work. • I knew I didn’t have that link so it wasn’t worth thinking about. • Early 2000 …. I started thinking about the end of the award • I realized that I did have some industry contact with Black & Decker through a design course I was teaching. • I asked a more senior colleague if this relationship could be fashioned into a matching industry collaboration piece of the grant. • I earned some matching funds to the CAREER Award through this industry tie-in Reflection: It was great that I kept reading the fine print of the award. It was greater that I asked someone more experienced about the relationship I had with an industrial partner.

8. Schmidt Up for Promotion • CAREER Award Success was a Foundation for Tenure (1998-2002) • Excellent acknowledgement of research potential • Funding to turn potential into a reality • By 2000 the women who started before me in the department had been denied tenure • Summer 2000 Putting together promotion package • I was able to trace my contributions to generative design approaches and show my specific contributions • I asked for some help in putting together the package but not a lot • I had my first chest pains ….. (turned out to be stress) Reflection: The tenure process is painful, in every way. Everyone will give you advice. You need to get a lot of advice and then filter out what is useful for you at your institution at your promotion time.

9. Associate Professor Schmidt • August 2001 Schmidt is 1st Female Associate Professor in the UMD Mechanical Engineering Department • Getting tenure is an accolade and a relief • Having tenure is great because you enter a new level of community in your department and maturity in your work • You have articulated your past work and thought about a plan for the future Reflection: Placing your research strands into a cohesive relationship helps form your identity as a researcher and guide your work. I don’t do this enough

10. Design Theory • Generative Design • Mechanism Synthesis Schmidt ResearchMap • Design optimization- SPC Annealing • Epicyclic Gear Train (EGT) Grammar • Design as Decision Making • EGT Grammar Change – New EGTs • Open Workshop on DBD • Team Aspects of Design Process • BESTEAMS Faculty Training

11. Associate Professor Schmidt • Emboldened in my proposal writing • Realized nearly every paper could be a proposal and vice versa • Branched out into other NSF programs from other divisionsbecause of the natural direction of my research • Identified gaps in my personal research fieldthat led to new proposal opportunities • Identified areas for collaborators – within and across disciplines. Reflection: Placing your research strands into a cohesive relationship helps form your identity as a researcher and guide your work. I don’t do this enough

12. Design Theory • Generative Design • TRIZ & Cognitive Aspects of Methods • Relational Reasoning in TRIZ • Mechanism Synthesis Gap: What methods generate designs and why do they work? Schmidt ResearchMap Decision making Strategies in Design • Design optimization- SPC Annealing Decision Production Systems • Epicyclic Gear Train (EGT) Grammar • Design as Decision Making • EGT Grammar Change – New EGTs • Open Workshop on DBD • Team Aspects of Design Process • BESTEAMS Faculty Training

13. Schmidt’s Grammar Based Design Work • Grammar based design research worked well • I pushed the work forward for several years. • Then I stopped • Graph isomorphism detection is huge computational challenge with graph grammar generation • Computational limitations led to a wall • I moved on to other areas of research, keeping an eye out for new opportunities Reflection: The CAREER Award sustained my long enough to get my grammar based research going and I did good work on it. However, sometimes you need to know when to move on. Reflection: You also need to know when to recognize a new opportunity. Yesterday….

14. Suggestions for CAREER Award Success • Choose an idea that you can champion • Generate some pilot results whenever possible • Talk to a Program Director about the idea (once you have fleshed out some research questions and your approach) • Read the literature – look to international community too • Read successful proposals thoughtfully • Don’t take them as a recipe • All Panels are Different • You need a CONVERT on the panel during the review • Be sure you are clear on where you research idea fits in the NSF universe and where your research can lead

15. Suggestions for CAREER Award Success (2) • Start early and plan the tasks • What is your department’s process on the grant paperwork? – Everyone “CAREER” eligible with use the system at the same time • What are the standard NSF requirements (schedule early because they take time) • Determine if you can use meaningful letters of support, target people, request letters with a draft attached. • Use readers to give you feedback on drafts • Identify a reader that you really trust (in or outside of your institution) • Identify an internal mentor to be a reader (politics)

16. Suggestions for CAREER Award Success (3) • Write, write, write, write • My average is 1 hour per paragraph • …AFTER I have done all the reading and have made notes on what points I want to make • 1 hour per figure or table • Use the 15 pages of “real estate” wisely. (e.g., 1 page of background and 12 pages of your approach seems unbalanced) • Don’t wait for big blocks of time to write • You can use 30 minute blocks, when… • You leave a note for yourself on the next task to do before you finish each writing session.

17. Advice For Winners • Be gracious in your success • Offer to be readers to others • Don’t fall into the old foggies’ trap … Wishing you ALL success in your CAREER and in your career! Back in my day, the CAREER Award was only $200K and no one had seminars on how to write an award and program directors and sharpened teeth and you had to impact 3000 students…. And you had to walk to NSF to deliver the proposal…. And it was always snowing…