NSF CAREER Proposal Writing Workshop Keys to CAREER

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)

Baby Assistant Professor Schmidt n Hired in with 5 other new professors n n 4 th 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 towards end 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. People said, “You need to apply for a CAREER GRANT” 2

Baby Assistant Professor Schmidt (2) n Late summer early 1996 at UMD q q n 1996 -- Chickened out q q q n CAREER Award pressure increases Experienced my first panic attack Reflection: I was “toughing it out” – a strategy that worked well for me in my past (except for the panic attack). Told department chair I would go for an NSF Planning Grant ($18 K) 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 q q Did not have any readers (too worried that it sucked) Did not look at any other CAREER proposals 3

Baby Assistant Professor Schmidt (3) n Spring 1997 q q n 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 q q q 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). 4

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

Triumphant Assistant Professor Schmidt n n n 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 Reflection: This event was a q George H. found me at an NSF sponsored event. springboard for my success. It q Both proposals reviewed well. I should withdraw the unsolicited was meaningful for me because proposal. I knew there was potential in grammars for design and I … short time later … continued to work on the topic. SCHMIDT WINS CAREER AWARD q q It was a much bigger win than I thought Many faculty members sent congratulatory emails – some I had never even spoken to before. 6

Triumphant Assistant Professor Schmidt n CAREER Awards in the “olden days” q q n 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. Reflection: teaching. It was great that I kept q I asked a more senior colleague if this relationship be It reading the fine print of could the award. fashioned into a matching industry collaboration piece of the grant. was greater that I asked someone moreto experienced about Award the I earned some matching funds the CAREER through relationship I had with an industrial this industry tie-in partner. q n 7

Schmidt Up for Promotion n CAREER Award Success was a Foundation for Tenure (19982002) q q n n 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 Reflection: The tenure process is painful, in every way. Everyone will Summer 2000 Putting together promotion package q q q give you advice. You need to get a I was able to trace my contributions to generative design approaches lot of advice and then filter out what and show my specific contributions is useful for you at your institution at I asked for some help in putting together thetime. package but not a lot your promotion I had my first chest pains …. . (turned out to be stress) 8

Associate Professor Schmidt n August 2001 Schmidt is 1 st Female Associate Professor in the UMD Mechanical Engineering Department q q q 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 9

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

Associate Professor Schmidt n Emboldened in my proposal writing q q n n Realized nearly every paper could be a proposal and vice versa Branched out into other NSF programs from other divisions because of the natural direction of my research Identified gaps in my personal research field that 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 11

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

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

Suggestions for CAREER Award Success n n n 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 q q 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 14

Suggestions for CAREER Award Success (2) n Start early and plan the tasks q q q n 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 q q Identify a reader that you really trust (in or outside of your institution) Identify an internal mentor to be a reader (politics) 15

Suggestions for CAREER Award Success (3) n Write, write, write My average is 1 hour per paragraph q …AFTER I have done all the reading and have made notes on what points I want to make q 1 hour per figure or table q 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 q You can use 30 minute blocks, when… q You leave a note for yourself on the next task to do before you finish each writing session. q n 16

Advice For Winners n n n 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 $200 K 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… 17