Open / Close Advertisement

AIST Foundation Offers Inaugural Junior Faculty Award

01/17/2013 - The AIST Foundation has issued a call for proposals for the 2013-2014 inaugural recipient of the AIST Foundation Junior Faculty Award. The purpose of the award is to increase the number of younger engineering professors with a vested interest in the iron and steel industry.

The AIST Foundation has issued a call for proposals for the 2013-2014 inaugural recipient of the AIST Foundation Junior Faculty Award.
Objective:
The purpose of this award is to increase the number of younger engineering professors with a vested interest in the iron and steel industry.  The award, open to all technical engineering disciplines, will assist junior faculty in building their research and professional service activities towards obtaining tenure.
The award will provide funding to encourage the following activities:
  1. Become better informed about the steel industry.
  2. Encourage students to pursue careers in the iron and steel industry.
  3. Provide seed money for steel-related research projects.
  4. Develop relationships between university and industry personnel.
Award:
It is the intent to give one award every year to faculty in year one to five of initial tenure-track. The number of awards granted depends on fund availability, the number of proposals received, and the quality of proposals received; at the discretion of the selection committee. The maximum grant per award will be $35,000 per year renewable for a maximum allowable time of three years.  An annual report must be submitted for award continuation. Each new award will begin in August. The award will be considered discretionary, allowing the professor to work on behalf of the industry in the manner he or she deems best achieving the award objective.
Mentor:
To assist the recipients in forging steel industry networks (access, connections, relationships), applicants are requested to suggest two mentors: one with an established professor active in AIST and one with a steel industry representative currently employed with a steel producing company.  Both mentors should be in the appropriate area of expertise for the award candidate.  AIST will assist in providing mentors if needed.
Related Activities:
The selected professor is encouraged to attend AIST programs such as training courses, member chapter events, AISTech, etc. during the award period.  With pre-approval, registration fees and travel expenses will be reimbursed by the AIST Foundation for up to two qualifying events per calendar year.
Call for Proposals:
Proposals will be solicited from tenure-track professors of technical engineering disciplines at universities in North America.  The proposal should include a three-year plan and indicate how the professor would approach the task of fulfilling the award objective, including:
  1. Specific activities toward building connections with a steel company or supplier to the steel industry
  2. Specific activities toward building student interest in the steel industry
  3. Plans for a steel related student campus event and other programs to obtain direct student contact with the steel industry
  4. Resume and present position, and years of tenure-track
  5. Estimated distribution of total cost by year
  6. Names and contact information of suggested mentors
  7. Letter of support from university department head and letter of support from academia or industry
Evaluation Criteria:
It is the responsibility of the submitter to assure sufficient information is contained in the proposal for reviewers to evaluate according to the following criteria:
  1. Direct benefits through the innovation, creativity and application of the proposed research (40%)
  2. Potential to increase the number of students planning a career in the steel industry by student involvement in events, courses and research (40%)
  3. The capabilities of the Professor to fulfill the program objectives (20%)
Overhead Costs:
The AIST Foundation is a Pennsylvania-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation organized for charitable, education and scientific purposes that seeks to attract technology-oriented professionals to the steel industry by educating the public about the high-tech, diverse and rewarding nature of careers in modern steelmaking.  The Foundation receives contributions from industry corporations and individual members of AIST. To ensure the grants funded by the Foundation go directly to the intended purpose, it is the policy of the AIST Foundation to not allow overhead costs.  The AIST Foundation reserves the right to assess grants on a case by case basis to determine the application of this policy.