Dr. Harry Dankowicz

Thursday Afternoon (June 9) Special Sessions

Getting Funded by NSF: Proposal Preparation and the Merit Review Process
Organizers: Dr. Irina Dolinskaya, Dr. Harry Dankowicz
4:00-6:00pm

Abstract: So, you think you have a great research idea, now how do you get funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to do the work? A well-scoped and written proposal is instrumental to successful submission. This session targets junior faculty and researchers who might be new to NSF and describes detailed guidelines and practical advice  for proposal preparation. The presenters will go over NSF review process and Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts criteria, as well as share most common mistakes made by the Primary Investigators when submitting a proposal. A question-and-answer session will follow the presentation.

Dr. Bonnie Ferri

Wednesday Noon (June 8) Special Sessions

Student Professional Development Session
1:00pm-2:00pm

This one-hour session is an interactive workshop for developing communication skills needed for being effective in research and in careers. The focus will be perfecting short research descriptions, otherwise known as “elevator pitches”, and sharpening networking skills. Both skills are very effective in helping students to present their work, obtain jobs, and make connections with potential sponsors, colleagues, and collaborators.

Dr. Fahmida N. Chowdhury

Wednesday Noon (June 8) Special Sessions

Funding Programs in the NSF Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE)
1:00pm-2:00pm

In this interactive special session, the main presenter (Fahmida N. Chowdhury, Program Director, NSF Office of International Science and Engineering, OISE) will present the funding

programs currently available in this office. All these programs require international collaboration and are open to all fields of science and engineering that are supported by NSF. The goal of the session is to create awareness in the control systems community about these funding opportunities, which may not be as well-known as the main disciplinary programs at NSF. Given that the controls community is international and multidisciplinary, it is possible that many researchers attending the American Control Conference will find these funding opportunities attractive and interesting. The main presentation will be followed by two other presentations: one by a PI funded by one of these programs, and the other, by his international collaborators who participated in the project. Finally, there will be a questions and answers session where the three speakers will answer audience questions.

Dr. Irina Dolinskaya

Wednesday Noon (June 8) Special Sessions

An Overview of NSF Programs
Dr. Jordan M. Berg, Dr. Irina Dolinskaya
11:30pm-1:00pm

The National Science Foundation (NSF) offers a number of funding opportunities for investigators working in the field of controls, both within the disciplinary programs in Engineering and other directorates, and through cross-cutting initiatives that are foundation-wide. This presentation will describe opportunities that are relevant to the robotics, dynamics and controls communities. The presentation will also describe programs targeted toward junior investigators, as well as guidelines for proposal preparation and NSF’s Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts criteria. A question-and-answer session will follow the presentation.

Thursday Afternoon (June 9) Special Sessions

Getting Funded by NSF: Proposal Preparation and the Merit Review Process
Organizers: Dr. Irina Dolinskaya, Dr. Harry Dankowicz
4:00-6:00pm

So, you think you have a great research idea, now how do you get funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to do the work? A well-scoped and written proposal is instrumental to successful submission. This session targets junior faculty and researchers who might be new to NSF and describes detailed guidelines and practical advice  for proposal preparation. The presenters will go over NSF review process and Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts criteria, as well as share most common mistakes made by the Primary Investigators when submitting a proposal. A question-and-answer session will follow the presentation.

Dr. Jordan M. Berg

Wednesday Noon (June 8) Special Sessions

An Overview of NSF Programs
Dr. Jordan M. Berg, Dr. Irina Dolinskaya
11:30pm-1:00pm

The National Science Foundation (NSF) offers a number of funding opportunities for investigators working in the field of controls, both within the disciplinary programs in Engineering and other directorates, and through cross-cutting initiatives that are foundation-wide. This presentation will describe opportunities that are relevant to the robotics, dynamics and controls communities. The presentation will also describe programs targeted toward junior investigators, as well as guidelines for proposal preparation and NSF’s Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts criteria. A question-and-answer session will follow the presentation.

Dr. Daniel Abramovitch

Monday Evening (June 6) Special Sessions

Local Industry Interaction
6:30pm-8:00pm

This special session is to allow local industry/government/related area folks the opportunity to meet live (in person or remotely) with members of the controls community for a question and answer panel based on the material that has been shared with them online.

Friday Noon (June 10) Special Sessions

Workshop for Middle and High School Teachers: Adding Feedback Principles and Understanding to Teaching Robotics, Programming, and Other STEM Classes
11:30am-2:00pm

This special session aims at outreach to middle and high school teachers. We are aiming this workshop at teachers as schools in Atlanta will have been out of session for two weeks at the time of ACC 2022. Past experience shows that it can become difficult to recruit students at this point in their summer break, and this can be exacerbated by the continuing Covid-19 pandemic. However, it seems that we might be able to do effective outreach to the teachers in these areas. In particular we take the approach that many teachers are already involved in teaching students hands-on activities such as programming and robotics. This leads to the question, “Can we show teachers how to add an understanding of feedback principles to things that the students are already engaged with?” We will also renew our effort to reach teachers of under-served communities. Georgia Tech has an office of engagement with local STEM teachers and we will coordinate with them.