Program Improvement

ChE Undergraduate Seed Grant Program Request for Proposals: Exploratory projects to improve the chemical engineering undergraduate program

Purpose and scope of activities supported

This announcement invites proposals for pilot, exploratory or seed projects to improve the chemical engineering undergraduate program. Chemical engineering students, faculty and staff are all eligible to submit proposals. Submissions should propose new, innovative activities that because of their size, exploratory nature or discipline-specific focus are not likely to be supported by other mechanisms (such as CRLT). The amount of funds allocated to a successful proposal will vary according to the activity proposed. Up to $7,500 is available for grants this year. Because this program is designed to support pilot, exploratory or seed activities, recurring events are not eligible for funding. By accepting funding, grantees agree to execute the work and ideas of their proposal, as well as submit a short report at the end of the project that summarizes project results. To illustrate the scope of the program, some examples of potential projects as well as previously supported grants are listed.

Requested format and deadline

Requests should be no more than 3 pages long. The proposal should include the following sections:

1. project summary
2. description of the impact of the activities on the chemical engineering program
3. proposed work plan and project outcomes
4. description of how the project performance will be evaluated
5. budget request.

Submit your proposal to ChE Undergraduate Program Committee Chair, Dr. Montgomery, at smontgom@umich.edu. The committee will accept applications throughout the academic year until all funds have been awarded.

Evaluation

Proposals will be evaluated by the Undergraduate Program Committee according to the following criteria:

1. What is the educational merit of the proposed exploratory or pilot activities?
2. What is the expected impact of the activities on the chemical engineering undergraduate program? (Undergraduate program committee members will recuse themselves from evaluations in any cycle in which they submit a proposal.)

Example projects

Note: This list is meant to be illustrative – it is neither exhaustive nor a list of priorities.

• Professional workshops aimed at students, focusing on such areas as ethics or 6-sigma.
• Novel social events that bring together students, faculty and staff.
• Class field trips or guest speakers.
• Innovative use of ASPEN projects in core ChE UG courses
• Incorporation of safety into the ChE core UG courses
• Special design/project experience in a class.
• GSI appointment or part-time UG student assistance to develop new educational materials.

Sample previous awardees

1. “Chemical Engineering Product Design and Development.” PI: Barry Barkel.
2. “AIChE Mentorship program.” PI: AIChE Officer Board.
3. “Introducing critical evaluation of assumptions, modern examples and topic integration into chemical engineering separations” PI: Prof. Mike Solomon
4. “Development of instructor’s manual for training new GSIs as plant managers and proctors to weekly student presentation sessions in ChE 460.” PI: Andreas Sophocleous.

Funds awarded 2013-2014

1. Proposal to establish the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers student chapter – Davin Rautiola
2. Proposal to establish a Food Industry Student Association – Eric Giuffrida, Jacob Fratkin, Mark Adamaszek