Request for Proposals for the 2017 UTC-IASE Sponsored Projects

 

 

AWARD INFORMATION

UTC-IASE sponsors research conducted jointly by UConn faculty and UTC engineers and scientists in areas of high priority to UTC, the UTC-IASE and UConn. Recently, the UTC-IASE governance has formed a Research Roadmap Advisory Committee (RRAC) to guide research with topics, priorities, gaps, plans and targets that will enable the sustainability of the UTC-IASE. The RRAC has emphasized the need for research projects to promote the growth of the UTC-IASE and leverage exposure to UTC technology gaps, as well as UTC and UTRC talent and show potential to establish a larger funding portfolio. Proposals will be evaluated by the RRAC, composed of experts in the fields of systems engineering of cyber-physical systems, UTC Business Units experts, UTRC researchers and UConn faculty.

For 2017, multiple awards are anticipated. The UTC-IASE Governing Committee and the RRAC reserve the right to negotiate only portions of proposals for award. Multi-disciplinary collaborative efforts/teaming are encouraged. Multi-year proposals will be considered with subsequent year funding, depending on the progress made during prior year(s). The applicant’s (team’s) record of prior funding through the UTC-IASE and relevant scholarly productivity will be considered as factors in judging the applicant’s qualifications. The RRAC considering input from the UTC-IASE faculty defined the following areas of high priority for the 2017 funding:

  1. Robust/resilient control for prognostics and diagnostics
  2. Formal methods for verification
  3. System design for Cyber security
  4. Big Data analytics
  5. Multiscale and multiphysics simulations and data-driven modeling
  6. Reference architectures for IOT

The prioritization of these research areas, example applications and specialization provided by UTC Business Units and UTC BU contact information for the PIs to initiate discussions about their proposals are provided in the Appendix of this document.

 

PROPOSAL FORMAT

Proposals should be written in 11-12 point font (Arial, Times new Roman, Palatino Linotype, and Computer Modern are acceptable), single spaced text, letter page with 1” margins. Proposals should contain the following sections.

 

Cover Page:

  • RFP Title
  • Lead Investigator Submitting the proposal
  • Other team members
  • Proposal title
  • Technical point of contact where correspondence will be received, and email
  • Administrative point of contact to include: salutation, last name, first name, street address, city, state, zip code, telephone, fax, electronic mail
  • Total funds requested and the period of performance.

Technical Description of Project:

The technical description of the research proposals shall consist of the sections described below. Pages allocated to each section are shown in {}. Proposals shall not exceed these limits. Note that there exist different requirements for new proposals and ongoing project extensions as indicated in the following.

 

  1. New Proposals (projects not currently funded by the UTC-IASE)

 

  1. IMPACT {1}
  • What is the UTC-relevant problem this project will address?
  • If this concept is successful, will it matter? Quantify how this concept will make a positive impact on UTC business units. Include a statement of how the research is of practical relevance to the United Technologies Corporation. This section should include identification of a specific value proposition for the proposed research, requirements identified to deliver this value, as well as plans to meet these requirements. This section shall define the objectives and scope of partnerships with specific entities within the United Technologies Corporation.
  1. STATE OF THE ART {1}
  • What solution is practiced today? What other competing technologies exist?
  • Why is the current technology insufficient or undesirable?
  1. INNOVATION {4}
  • What is the new idea or information that will be obtained?
  • How does it work? Describe in detail how the new concept works. Use diagrams as needed.
  • Has this concept been tried before? If so, what new developments will enable a working concept or overcome past failures?
  • If successful, how would the proposed technology/work advance the state of the art? To the extent possible, provide quantitative metrics in a table that compares the proposed technology to commercial and other competing technologies.
  1. RISKS AND CHALLENGES {1}
  • What makes the proposed technology/work a significant challenge? What are the technical risks for the proposed concept?
  • Does the approach require one or more entirely new innovations to be successful? (e.g.; a never-before‑demonstrated optimization method, advanced in computing performance, etc.).
  • What is the specific technology transfer plan?
  1. PROJECT PLAN & BUDGET {1}
  • What will be accomplished by the end of the project? What are the objectives and performance characteristics of the proposed effort? Indicate the technical goals and anticipated results using appropriate metrics for the project.
  • What work will be associated with the proposed effort? (e.g.; algorithm development, prototyping, modeling and simulation, architecture definition, study, etc.).
  • Cost, schedule and milestones for the proposed research. Include estimates of cost for each task in each year of the effort delineated by performers, if applicable. Requirements from partners within the United Technologies Corporation should be clearly identified.
  1. TEAM {}
  • Who are the key team members on the proposed effort? For each key team member, include name, position, institution, and 1-2 sentences about the skills or experience that make them ideally suited for the proposed effort.
  • Include an NSF-type biosketch for each PI and co-PI of the proposed project at the end of the proposal.
  1. UTC SUPPORT{}
  • All proposals are required to include a letter from a UTC Business Unit stating their support.

 

  1. Ongoing Project currently funded by the UTC-IASE)

 

  1. CURRENT IMPACT {3}
  • UTC Benefit: Did the project to lead to a new method and technology transfer to a UTC product line? Is there a viable Method Maturity Level (or equivalent) plan in the effort?
  • Talent Creation: How many students (PhD, MS, Undergraduates) are engaged in and trained by the project? Did the project generate UTC interns, job offers, or jobs? What is the impact of the project on the career development of the faculty involved? What is the professional involvement of the faculty with UTC Business Units as a derivative of the project?
  • Funding Impact: What is the concomitant productivity in extramurally funded proposals (and projects) stemming from this project?
  • Excellence Artifacts: Is the research proposed “cutting edge?” Has it led to scientific papers, conference presentations and invited lectures? (list scholarly products that acknowledge the sponsoring of the UTC-IASE in an Appendix)
  • IP Products: Has the proposed research led to shared new IP? (list IP derivatives of the project in an Appendix)
  • Curriculum Enhancement: Has the project led to enhancements in the UTC-IASE curriculum (MEng and Certificates). (list courses taught or co-taught in an Appendix)

In addition to this document, PIs should provide the most recent Phase Gate (or interim) review presentations with the meeting minutes, in which the feedback from the participating BU in regards to the benefit, talent creation, publications and IP will be explicitly discussed. The RRAC will evaluate these documents in addition to the impact reported in the proposal.

  1. INNOVATION {2}
  • What is new in the project extension proposed?
  • If successful, how would the proposed technology/work advance ongoing work and the state of the art? To the extent possible, provide quantitative metrics in a table that compares the proposed technology to commercial and other competing technologies.
  1. RISKS AND CHALLENGES {1}
  • What makes the proposed technology/work a significant challenge? What are the technical risks for the proposed concept?
  • What is the specific technology transfer plan?
  1. PROJECT PLAN & BUDGET {1}
  • What will be accomplished by the end of the project? What are the objectives and performance characteristics of the proposed effort? Indicate the technical goals and anticipated results using appropriate metrics for the project.
  • What work will be associated with the proposed effort? (e.g.; algorithm development, prototyping, modeling and simulation, architecture definition, study, etc.).
  • Cost, schedule and milestones for the proposed research. Include estimates of cost for each task in each year of the effort delineated by performers, if applicable. Requirements from partners within the United Technologies Corporation should be clearly identified.
  1. TEAM {}
  • Who are the key team members on the proposed effort? For each key team member, include name, position, institution, and 1-2 sentences about the skills or experience that make them ideally suited for the proposed effort.
  • Include an NSF-type biosketch for each PI and co-PI of the proposed project at the end of the proposal.

 

PROPOSAL DEADLINE

Proposals need to be routed to all required signatories (e.g., department head, the Institute, Office of Sponsored Programs). Proposals may be submitted via email to utc-iase@uconn.edu. The deadline for submission of proposals is 5PM, Friday, November 18, 2016.

 

EVALUATION CRITERIA

The proposals will be evaluated by the UTC-IASE RRAC according to the following criteria:

  • UTC Potential: What is the potential of a project to lead to a new method and technology transfer to a UTC product line? Is there a viable MML (or equivalent) plan in the proposed effort?
  • Talent Potential: How many students (PhD, MS, Undergraduates) will be engaged in and trained by the project? What is the impact of the project on the career development in the MBSE field of the faculty involved?
  • Funding Potential: What is the potential of the proposed project to lead to a larger federally (or extramurally) funded proposal (and project)?
  • Excellence Potential: Is the research proposed “novel and cutting edge?” Can it lead to a plethora of high-quality scientific papers, conference presentations and invited lectures?
  • IP Potential: Can the proposed research lead to shared new IP?
  • Curriculum Potential: Can the project lead to enhancements in the UTC-IASE curriculum (MEng and Certificates)?

 

LEVEL OF FUNDING

Funding of $500,000 is available for UTC-IASE sponsored research in 2017. The UTC-IASE anticipates to fund up to 4 research projects. The ceiling for the research funding proposed shall be at $150,000, not including fellowship and other matching funds. Research projects can be matched with UTC-IASE fellowships, as long as UTC-IASE fellows are clearly announced and remain the same for the entirety of the 2017 calendar year.

 

ANNOUNCEMENT OF AWARDS

December 15, 2016 for January 1, 2017 start date

CONTACT: Michelle Morse at (860) 486-3355 or utc-iase@uconn.edu.