Constituting the Center
From Center for Friction Stir Processing Guide
Contents |
CONSTITUTING THE CENTER
Establishing a Center Vision and Mission
The I/UCRC Program was begun in 1973 to develop long-term partnerships among industry, universities, and government. A Center is composed of one or more institutions with multiple industry and government sponsors with a single Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) reviewing all the researchers’ activities. The proposal to create a center starts with a letter of intent sent to NSF. If this is approved by the program director, a planning grant proposal and then a center proposal are prepared by the center and sent to NSF. [Complete information about the proposal process can be found at the NSF web site, http://www.nsf.gov/eng/iip/iucrc/]
The mission of the CFSP is to advance, develop, and promote research into the principles and technology of Friction Stir Processing science and engineering through research, development, education, and technology exchange among academic, industry, and government entities. It is also the mission of the center to increase the quantity and quality of the professionals prepared to work in the area; to involve the faculty of the University(s) in research in areas of common interest to Sponsors and the University(s); and to perform research which will allow global Friction Stir Processing facilities to be competitive in the world economy. [1]
Identifying Technology Development Needs of the Sponsors
During the I/UCRC planning grant phase, it is essential to identify those focused technology needs of the potential industrial and government sponsors – both near term and long term – which are compatible with the research resources of each of the site universities. To accomplish this, a planning grant “kick-off” meeting was held between the university Site Directors to define the focused research areas, or “area of expertise”, to be associated with each university site. These research areas relate directly to the stated research objectives of the CFSP.
Shortly thereafter an interim Industrial Advisory Board was established with representatives of the leading industry and government researchers in the field of friction stir processing. Also during the planning grant phase, this interim IAB met with the site universities in Salt Lake City to identify and discuss the research and development needs of these potential center members. At this meeting, a list of IAB research and development needs, and identified gaps in the science and understanding of the FSP processes was compiled.
This initial IAB needs list, referred to the “Salt Lake City List”, is one metric against which the growth, progress, and success, of the CFSP is measured.
Throughout the year, the Center Director, Site Directors, Project Investigators, and student researchers keep in close contact with the IAB technology representative to evaluate the relevancy of the “list”. These discussions often lead to new research directions that are carefully focused to solve current problems for the sponsors.
The Chairman of the IAB conducts a session during the semi-annual IAB meetings to review the “Salt Lake City List” and update as necessary to meet IAB member’s current needs. Also, the Annual NSF Evaluators Report (See Appendix P) gives sponsors an additional opportunity to make their research needs known, and, allows an independent view-point of the Centers ability to document, communicate, and implement research programs responsive to the sponsor’s needs.
Preparing a Long-Term Technology Development Roadmap
It is interesting to note that not all the Technology Development needs of the “Salt Lake City” list reflect a need for in-depth fundamental science developments. It becomes a challenge for the Center Director, Site Directors, and Project Investigators to develop research projects that, while meeting the sponsor’s needs, are of sufficient detail in the science and technology to qualify as graduate research resulting in a thesis and journal grade publications. To facilitate the development of these research projects, a long term technology development roadmap is prepared for the CFSP.
From page 122, chapter 5, of Gray and Walters:
“Most centers will find goals and objectives adequate for planning, but some centers prefer more detail …. They create a roadmap in block diagram form of the current state of science and technology, the vision of the future, and road blocks and research activities to resolve them. The power of the technical roadmap is not only its visual appeal, but also the ability to identify the order of action, such as which research activities and questions are on the critical path for another set of questions, and thereby ought to be addressed first. Unfortunately, technical roadmaps may sometimes serve as an obstacle to attempts to revise or re-invent a research area.”
The fundamental underlying issues associated with the IAB “Salt Lake City” list were evaluated and broken into a series of basic research, applied research, technology demonstration, and industrial implementation issues. Several overriding issues acting as barriers to more extensive industrial implementation of the technology are also identified. From this analysis, the CFSP technology development roadmap was prepared in block form. Note that this roadmap is updated at the IAB meetings as the industry research needs change.
Identifying the Focus Research Areas For Each University Site
Each CFSP university Site Director identifies its specific focused research areas it wishes to pursue based on their current resources and research interests. These are evaluated against the “Salt Lake City” list and the Technology Development Roadmap to ensure compliance with IAB needs. Projects that are outside of these research guidelines are given specific scrutiny by the IAB and may be rejected. Care is taken to ensure that overlap in identified research areas between sites is avoided to maximize the distribution of efforts and maximize the membership investment. Research collaborations between university sites are, however, emphasized.
Continued development of CFSP research programs requires continuous communication between the university Site Directors and Project Investigators. The Site Directors use their contacts within their university to develop faculty and student researchers. Telecon, web-based meetings, and conference attendance are extensively used to develop and expand the research into new areas.
The Center Director also contacts other research organizations to solicit potential new university sites able to contribute to accomplishing the objects and goals of the technology Development Roadmap and “Salt Lake City” list. The key feature here is the extensive, personal communication between the IAB Members, Center Director, Site Directors, Project Investigators, and student researchers to identify, unique, focused research areas for each site.
Identification and Selection of Multi-Year Projects
Article VIII of the bylaws (Appendix B) outlines the selection process for projects. During the first year of CFSP operations, the Center Director, Site Directors, and the interim IAB selected and approved the center start-up projects. Currently, sites report on the status of ongoing projects and propose new projects during the semi-annual meetings of the IAB. During these meetings, the IAB votes on which projects to fund.
Project ideas may originate at either a sponsor or a university and are refined during discussions between the two. To facilitate the process of identification and selection of projects, the Site Directors and Project Investigators at each university site enter into extensive and continuous discussions with the IAB Members (see Meetings - Section 4).
Throughout the year, the IAB Members may submit statements of work (SOW) to the university sites to help define their particular research needs. The Site Directors then seek and solicit faculty involvement representing the required resources to perform the research. Generally these new project proposals are presented to the IAB for “authorization to proceed” at the Spring IAB Meeting and research efforts commence during the summer months and progress is reviewed at the Summer Midterm meeting.
A detailed review of the research progress is done at the Fall IAB meeting where a “scope change”, “authorization to continue” or “termination of research” recommendation is given by the IAB using the LIFE Forms (Section 4.2.2).
Bylaws
The bylaws (Appendix B) were adopted at the first meeting of the interim IAB during the planning grant phase and are continuously updated as the needs arise. They specify the purpose of the center, sponsorship rules, and how the center is to be run. Details of the CFSP organization, administration, reporting, meetings, research projects proposals and selection, and how new members are added to the center. The bylaws also include rules on publicity, publication of research, benefits to sponsors, and center outreach.
The bylaws define the formal CFSP Policy, Procedures and Practices (P3) and become a contractually agreed upon document between the Site Universities and the IAB Members. The CFSP bylaws were initially approved by the legal consul at each of the participating universities to ensure compliance with university policy. The bylaws are a “living” document. It is important to keep the document current to reflect the actual operations of the center.
At the CFSP, revisions to the bylaws are proposed and discussed at the Spring and Fall IAB meetings. The bylaws can be amended by a two thirds vote of the IAB. Changes to the bylaws are not resubmitted to the university legal consul for review unless major changes to policy are being proposed. The bylaws extend the membership agreement, and are superseded by the membership agreement, if inconsistencies between the two documents exist. Current copies of the CFSP bylaws are made available for Site University and IAB member review behind the secured Sections of the CFSP web site (http://cfsp.sdsmt.edu/ )
Procedures for Acceptance of New University Sites
Article 12 of the bylaws (Appendix B) describes the process for acceptance of new university sites into the CFSP. First, the new university must obtain consent from the Center Director, the Site Directors at the current university sites, and the NSF I/UCRC Program Manager. The proposed new university site must present a non-overlapping focused research area along the lines of the CFSP statement of objectives, and, agree to comply with the CFSP Policies, Procedures, and Practices (P3).
Preliminary research projects that are collaborative and non-competing with the current Technology Development Roadmap and current research projects of the CFSP are proposed by the new university site. Evidence that the new university site can bring new industry membership to the CFSP must be demonstrated. It is understood that these new sites will not encourage existing IAB Members to leave their current affiliated university site to join the new site, but, will encourage these IAB Members to take additional memberships at the new site if desired.
The prospective new university site submits a letter of intent to join the CFSP to the Center Director. Once the CFSP Site Universities agree to accept the new university site, the Center Director will send a “CFSP Letter of Support” to the NSF I/UCRC Program manager indicating that the university sites agree to the new site. During the Spring or Fall IAB meeting, the Center Director informs the IAB of the proposed new university site and emphasizes how the new site adds to the CFSP research capabilities and directions to meet the IAB needs.
Adding new university sites is intended to expand the research resources of the CFSP to meet the IAB Membership needs. When a new site is approved, the NSF Planning Grant Process commences according to NSF procedures. The prospective site should include a copy of the CFSP Letter of Support to their I/UCRC Letter of Intent.
Most recently, this process was followed by the Missouri University of Science and Technology (MUST) in 2005 and by the Wichita State University (WSU) in 2006 to join the CFSP as participating university sites.
Procedures For Acceptance Of New Industry Memberships
Continued growth of the CFSP is indicated by the addition and retention of new industry and government members. This implies a strong marketing program is essential to the success and growth of the I/UCRC. Article 12 of the bylaws (Appendix B) describes the process for acceptance of new sponsors into the CFSP. New sponsors must sign the existing membership agreement, abide by the current bylaws, and pay a non-prorated annual membership fee. The legal departments of new member organizations oftentimes desire to change the membership agreement to meet their standard formats- within the CFSP, this is not allowed since all members must sign and agree to the same Membership Agreement (Appendix A).
While this insistence on a common membership agreement can constitute a nuisance during membership negotiations, it is often useful to stress to the industry legal departments that their company most probably has entered into similar agreements with other I/UCRC centers and university research organizations. It is also useful to point out that the agreement follows the recommendations of the NSF I/UCRC Program Office and has been used for many years in essentially the same form without any legal ramifications.
The CFSP allows new members to join, or affiliate, with a single, or multiple participating, university sites. A graduated membership fee scale is provided whereby the initial membership fee is $35,000 per year and the secondary memberships are billed at an annual fee of $30,000. While not included in the CFSP P3, a progressively increasing membership fee scale should be considered which increases at the same rate as the inflation in faculty and student salaries.
During the initial year of membership, the sponsor may direct its fee to an existing project at a university site, or, may request that a new, interim project be initiated. If this is the case, the CFSP Center Director, Site Director, and IAB Chairman may authorize this interim project and fund it with the new members’ fees. This interim project is subject to review and approval at the next upcoming IAB meeting according to the established CFSP IAB project approval procedures.
Additionally, “in-kind” support can be substituted for cash payments. A detailed listing of the materials and equipment dollar value to be contributed to the CFSP university site as “in-kind” is presented at the semi-annual IAB meetings. The IAB must then approve all “in-kind” membership fees before a sponsor is allowed to join under these provisions. It is noted that “services” is generally not accepted as an in-kind contribution since these are hard to quantify into a specific dollar value. Also noted is that the CFSP does not have a special membership fee structure for small and disadvantaged business as do other I/UCRC centers and that “in-kind” fees have been generally applied in this case.
Membership Agreements
The Membership Agreement (Appendix A) specifies the terms and conditions under which the CFSP operates and is the formal agreement between the site university and industry sponsor. (Note that government sponsors of the CFSP are not required to sign the membership agreement) The same membership agreement is used by all sites to ensure consistency of expectations from the sponsors. The provisions cover the overall organization of the CFSP, the membership fee, a reference to the bylaws, and intellectual property rights. The Membership Agreement is signed by the appropriate representative of the sponsor and the university affiliate that the sponsor is supporting. The Membership Agreement supersedes the bylaws in any case where there is a conflict between the two.
The CFSP Members Agreements is patterned after that recommended by the NSF I/UCRC Program Office. Initially, during the planning grant phase of the CFSP, the agreement was reviewed and coordinated between the legal consuls of the participating universities. Thereafter, changes to the membership agreement are reviewed and approved at the semi-annual IAB meetings according to the procedures defined in the bylaws. These changes are not re-submitted to the university consul for approval unless major changes to the documents are incorporated. Current copies of the CFSP Membership Agreement are made available for Site University and IAB member review behind the secured portals of the CFSP web site (http://cfsp.sdsmt.edu/ )
Intellectual Property Agreements
The Intellectual property (IP) rights of the university and sponsors are specified in the membership agreement (Appendix A). In general, each university holds title to any IP generated through research activities conducted at that CFSP I/UCRC Site -any patents that are derived from center research are held by the university member that generated the invention. IP generated by more than one CFSP University Site is titled equally between those sites. Application for IP protection is conducted using the established site university procedures. CFSP IAB Members can obtain royalty-free rights to such patents by paying their share of the costs of obtaining and maintaining the patent.
At the SDSMT CFSP site, when new IP is anticipated, the invention is disclosed internally and confidentially to both the University Office of Technology Transfer and the CFSP IAB at the next scheduled meeting. According to the Membership Agreement, the IAB or a subgroup of that IAB has the right to secure a non-exclusive license to the disclosed invention if it pays all expenses incurred during the process of securing patent protection and creating a license agreement.
If the IAB Membership, or, a participating subgroup of that membership, instructs the CFSP Center Director and Site Director to pursue the appropriate Intellectual Property protection, the university will process the appropriate patent application according to established university policy using established legal venues. Upon completion of the patenting process, the CFSP IAB participating membership will reimburse the site university for all expenses incurred in executing the patent application, regardless of whether or not a patent was issued. Additionally, the CFSP IAB Members will reimburse the costs associated with securing a license agreement with the participating CFSP Membership.
Should the CFSP IAB opt to decline pursuit of a patent on the disclosed invention, the university will not initiate Intellectual Property protection process unless the CFSP Site Director makes a compelling case to the university to secure IP on the disclosed invention. If the Site Director does not choose to make a compelling case to pursue IP on the invention in question, the university will notify the Site Director of their intention not to pursue and will provide a formal release of any claim to the any rights to the IP in question. At that time, the inventors involved must make a personal decision as to how, or if, to secure IP protection.
Also, consistent with the existing agreements and policies, the CFSP IAB has the right to request a delay, for a prescribed period, on public disclosure or publication of information on the disclosed invention. Similarly, universities shall hold the copyright to any software developed through center research. Corporate members will have the right to request royalty-free internal use of any such software and can negotiate with the developing university the right to sell such software.
Protection of Proprietary Information
The results of research programs being conducted under the CFSP I/UCRC are available equally to all IAB Members in good standing. From time to time, however, confidential and proprietary information may be provided by a sponsor to a university site in the course of specific research projects. This has continued to be a point of discussion among the CFSP IAB since corporate members may have several internal levels of confidentiality and sensitivity of information, and, it is not always clear how these map into center business.
This is especially true for applications-related projects. Under these conditions, this information may be provided under the protection of an independent confidentiality agreement between the sponsor and the appropriate university. (See Section 2.4.3) The restrictions on use of information critical to a specific research project shall not, however, be unduly restricted from the other IAB Membership if it is critical to the understanding of the science and technology underlying the research. Universities are allowed to publish results of center research after corporate members have read the proposed papers.
The official CFSP website (http://cfsp.sdsmt.edu/) includes a section behind the secured log-in portal where the Site Director and Project Investigator upload the paper to be published in essentially final form. The IAB Membership is notified by email that the paper is ready for review and can be downloaded from the website. The IAB Members then notify the Center Director that approval to publish is granted or that a period of time is requested before publication. Corporate members can delay publication for up to 90 days by making such a request within 30 days of receiving the draft publication.
This provision may be applied to graduate student theses in that publication of a thesis can be delayed, but defense of a thesis will not be unreasonably delayed. If a longer delay is requested, the Project Investigator and Site Director determine a reasonable period of time to withhold publication to meet the IAB member’s needs. Note that withholding publication for longer periods is generally requested only in the case where company proprietary information is involved or to allow time for the patent process to initiate.
Protection of ITAR/EAR Restricted Information
Since foreign nationals may be used in various aspects of the CFSP programs, it is a goal of the center to limit the scope of the research programs to “Fundamental Research” and not targeted to a specific EAR/ITAR restricted technology (ITAR/EAR Regulations are found at www.bis.doc.gov). Per Paragraph 734.3.b.3 (ii) of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) “Fundamental Research” is not subject to regulation (with certain restrictions).
Nondisclosure Agreements
The use of Nondisclosure Agreements for control of company sensitive or proprietary information is not specified by the CFSP membership agreement or the bylaws. Any nondisclosure agreement that needs to be negotiated between the sponsor and a university site is done independently of the CFSP. Most universities have a standard non-disclosure agreement that they prefer to use. The SDSMT Site of the CFSP uses the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) shown in Appendix C.
From time to time, non IAB Members may be invited to attend the semi-annual IAB meeting, or visit a laboratory where CFSP research is being conducted. To protect the information that these persons may view, a personal non-disclosure agreement (Appendix D) may be used. Non-CFSP member government employees are not required to a sign a personal NDA.
