The American Iron and Steel Institute and the Association for Iron and Steel Technology Foundation have joined together to create the Ferrous Metallurgy Education Today (FeMET) Initiative to increase the number of students studying metallurgy and materials science in North America, and to increase the number of such students electing to pursue careers in the iron and steel industry upon graduation.  The Design Grant Program is one component of the FeMET Initiative.

Call for Proposals:  The Design Grant Program challenges North American university teams (students and professors) to submit proposals for grant funding in the theme area selected by the steel industry.  The proposal should indicate how each team of professors and undergraduate students will approach the problem, including budget and schedule requirements.  The maximum allowable time for the project is one year beginning in the fall of 2007.  Universities may submit more than one proposal; however each must be an entirely separate submission and will be evaluated independently.  The number of awards granted depends on the funds availability; the maximum grant per award will be $50,000.

Design Theme:  The theme for 2008 is “Technologies for Welding of New Generation Steels.”  Teams should quantify the benefits arising out of the proposed technique/s and the study.  Data will be provided, where available, from AISI to the selected teams.  Other data will have to be determined by investigation during the study.  Teams may propose to perform one or more comparative studies as long as they remain within the budget parameters outlined in the proposal instructions.

Proposal Content:  Please follow the instructions carefully for submitting proposals.  The information is also available on AISI home page at www.steel.org.  Proposals should be no more than 10 pages in length and contain the following sections:

• Proposal Summary Page including budget and duration (refer to attached template).
• Executive Summary, which clearly defines proposed design/solution and how it fits the Design Theme.
• Detailed description of the work and project deliverables such as potential models.
• Description of the team that will work on the project.  Please include the names of the professors and identify the number of students who will be on the team and their respective majors.
• Project schedule including a list of anticipated project tasks and milestones.
• Estimated distribution of total project cost.

Evaluation Criteria:  It is the responsibility of the submitter to assure that sufficient information is contained in the proposal for reviewers to evaluate the proposal according to the following criteria:

Technical Approach/Relation to the Theme (35 points) – The proposal will be evaluated on the quality of the technical approach, its fit to the project theme, the deliverables and overall quality of communication in the proposal.  This will be based on the clarity, completeness and adequacy of the statement of work.

• Probability of Success/Benefit Potential (35 Points) – The methodology used to approach the topic will be evaluated.  This will also include its widespread applicability in the steel industry and the thoroughness of the evaluation made by the submitting team.
• Qualifications (30 Points) – The expertise and capabilities of the team to bring the project to a meaningful on-time completion will be evaluated.  Other factors considered under this criterion are project schedule including milestones, decision points and overall cost.

Questions about the grant and/or application process should be directed to BV Lakshminarayana at blakshmi@steel.org or 202-452-7143.