RAS E-News May 2007

Volume 5, Number 5

Welcome to RASeNews, the IEEE RAS email newsletter. RASeNews is limited to short announcements of RAS Conferences, RAS society 'action items', breaking news, and time-sensitive issues. Send comments, queries and news items to r.g.snyder@ieee.org.

 

1. IEEE-RAS New Initiatives--Proposals Due June 1!

May 23, 2007 Less than two weeks to submit RAS New Initiatives proposals !! (2nd CALL) As a result of a new IEEE policy that, for the first time, allows the Robotics and Automation Society to use some of the unspent funds from 2006 in 2007, we are able to consider funding a modest number of initiatives that would benefit society members in general, providing that the initiative can be completed and the funds spent in calendar 2007. Approximately $100,000 in total is available. We hope to be able to fund several initiatives.

Members are invited to submit proposals for initiative to the RAS administrator Rosalyn Snyder r.g.snyder@ieee.org.

In accord with our Business Plan, requests are to be reviewed by one of the following major Boards of the Society, which, except for EPSB, are chaired by their respective vice presidents:

• Conference Activities Board is Chaired by T.J. Tarn
• Industrial Activities Board is Chaired by Sukhan Lee
• Member Activities Board is Chaired by Antonio Bicchi
• Publications Activities Board is Chaired by Bill Hamel
• Technical Activities Board is Chaired by Ken Goldberg
• EPSB is Chaired by Stefano Stramigioli.

The Boards will prioritize the requests and send them to the Financial Activities Board, which will review them and forward them to the AdCom, which will make the ultimate funding decisions.

In order to allow time in 2007 for conduct of the initiatives, proposals must be received by June 1, 2007. We hope to obtain AdCom approval in time for a July 1 start date for successful proposals.

2. Submissions of 2007 New Initiative Proposals

Proposals must be submitted in plain text (no attachments!) and less than 1000 words total. Proposals must include, in the following order:

• Most relevant RAS Board (Membership, Industry, ...) who will Evaluate
• Proposed Title of New Initiative
• List of PIs with contact info
• Short description of idea and impact on members
• Short plan for sustainability beyond initial seed funding
• Total funding requested in US Dollars
• Sources of matching funds (if any)
• Proposed use of funds*
• Proposed timeline for project (funds must be spent in 2007!)
• Short plan for administration of funds by proposers

*Note that IEEE is a volunteer organization and funding cannot be used to pay members fees or salaries.

All proposals and related questions should be directed to:
Rosalyn Graham Snyder
Administrator
IEEE Robotics and Automation Society
http://www.ieee-ras.org
rgsnyder@nc.rr.com
T +1 919 851 3603< br> F + 1 919 882 9734

3. Evaluation Criteria for RAS New Initiative Proposals

Priorities on which proposals will be preferred for funding will be conducted according to the following criteria:

High priority characteristics:

• highest priority for those that directly impact members
• those that seed self-sustaining activities
• those that impact more members than just a few
• those with cost sharing
• those that leverage volunteer efforts
• those that have high impact to cost ratio
• those that provide travel or meeting support in a program area
• programs providing student support
• workshops in emerging areas
• potential to increase membership or involvement in RAS activities
• those that develop RAS activities in emerging regions or technical areas
• those providing service to the R&A community
• those that have a strong vision for the future
• those that clearly identify one of the boards to administer, develop and evaluate the program.

Low priority characteristics:

• those whose activities are of peripheral interest to society
• those for funding to individuals
• those restricted to a geographic region, especially not an emerging region
• those for funding of technical research
• those containing extensive funding of staff salaries
• ong term activities
• those with low impact to cost ratio
• those particularly complex to execute