NSF CAREER Proposal Writing Workshop at the 2014 ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences; Buffalo, New York, 19 August 2014

The on-going expansion of research in systems engineering and design makes the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) International Design and Engineering Technical Conferences one of the largest conferences organized by ASME. Every year, many doctoral students and junior faculty attend the conference with the aim of presenting their work and establishing themselves in the community. However, there is a need at these types of conferences to further develop and attract new scholars within the design community. Currently, the main focus of such conferences is on presenting papers, rather than on nurturing advanced doctoral students to successfully transition into design research scholarship positions in academia or in industry. By supporting a career development workshop, this award provides conference participants with information on how to develop a strategic plan for their lifetime and career goals. It will enable graduate students and junior faculty to make a smooth transition into a meaningful career by helping them discover the crucial components of career development and self-representation. In addition, it will increase the enthusiasm of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty toward their future positions, and teach them significant technical skills as well as communication and leadership skills. Finally, the workshop will continue to foster lines of communication for the Design Engineering community at the national level. To ensure the continuity and further development of the design engineering community, an NSF CAREER Proposal Writing Workshop will be held at the 2014 ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences. In addition to focusing on career development skills, choices, and practices, this workshop will present information about how to develop an effective "CAREER development grant," bringing together a pool of graduate students and leading faculty investigators interested in becoming independent scholars. The workshop is integrated with the Design for Manufacturing and Life Cycle Technical Conference schedule, and will provide participants the opportunity to meet distinguished researchers and educators from a diverse array of interrelated fields within the design community.