CAES Proposal Writing Series Resumes August 11 with Post Award Review

CAES is pleased to announce the last in a series of webinars on proposal writing that have taken place this summer. The third webinar, Post Award Review – What other opportunities can I pursue if my proposal is not selected for funding?, is set for 10 am MT on August 11 and will feature a panel discussion with representatives from the CAES universities and INL. Steve Hartenstein, chief science officer for the National & Homeland Security directorate, will serve as moderator as the panelists address a range of alternative paths for funding of innovative research concepts… . These webinars are open to the CAES community and address a range of topics, including best practices for writing, team building, capturing ideas and following other pathways for what’s next.

The panelists include:

  • Lisa Aldrich, INL proposals management manager
  • Jonathan Cook, licensing and commercialization manager in INL's Technology Deployment Department
  • Mary Lou Dunzik-Gougar, associate professor and dean for Idaho State University's College of Science and Engineering and for CAES
  • Dave Estrada, CAES associate director for Boise State University
  • Brianne Miller, director of Government Affairs for INL
  • Catherine Riddle, senior research scientist with INL's Nuclear Science and Technology directorate
  • Natalie Summers, innovation projects analyst at INL

Go here to join the August 11 webinar
Or call in: (208) 901-7635
Phone Conference ID: 394 528 272

Recordings of two previous webinars in this series
A recording of Responding to Funding Opportunity Announcements, which took place in late June and featured presentations from KB Science, a consulting firm specializing in proposal development, enhancement and refinement, and representatives from the CAES universities and INL can be found here.
And a recording of Developing and Funding a Center, which took place in late July and featured a presentation from KB Science and a robust Q & A session is available here.

Bios of the panelists and moderator for the August 11 webinar:
Lisa Aldrich is the INL proposals management manager supporting lab-wide initiatives with university and industry engagement activities in proposal development, strategy, preparation, authorization, and submittal. Lisa has 25 years of experience providing proposal strategy coordination, process and change management, agreement coordination and development, writing and document development, and post-award support.

Jon Cook is a senior commercialization manager within the Technology Deployment Department at INL. He is the commercialization manager for the National & Homeland Security (N&HS) research directorate, executing marketing and licensing efforts and managing the N&HS intellectual property portfolio. He also provides business intelligence and intellectual property research for laboratory technologies for intellectual asset valuation. Before joining INL, he worked for five years at the University of Wisconsin System technology transfer office as a licensing executive and program manager for University of Wisconsin System Applied Research Grant Program. He holds a bachelor's degree in life science communication from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is a Licensing Executives Society Certified Licensing Professional.

Mary Lou Dunzik-Gougar, PhD is associate dean of the College of Science and Engineering at Idaho State University. She has a doctorate in nuclear engineering, a master’s degree in environmental engineering from Penn State University and a bachelor’s in chemistry from Cedar Crest College. Her nuclear career spans 25 years, during which time she has performed research in various aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle, including waste form development, spent fuel pyroprocessing, spent particle fuel qualification for disposal, fuel and material development and characterization (pre- and post-irradiation), development of a waste minimization plan for a next generation nuclear reactor design, and fuel cycle modeling. Dunzik-Gougar's research has led to national and international collaborations, including a year-long position with PBMR Ltd in South Africa and a consulting contract with EDF energy of France. She has served as consultant/ subject matter expert for subsequent projects coordinated by the European Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency. She has led multi-institutional teams of researchers at Idaho National Laboratory and through Idaho State University. To share her expertise with a new generation of researchers, Dunzik-Gougar developed and teaches several senior/graduate level courses on the nuclear fuel cycle and radioactive waste management. Before going to graduate school she taught high school science and mathematics for seven years in the U.S. and the U.K. In addition to her scholarly and technical activities, she has been a contributing member of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) at local and national levels for 25 years. In 2019, she was elected to serve as Vice-President/President Elect for ANS and she completed her term as President in June 2021.

David Estrada, PhD received his doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2013 before joining the faculty at Boise State University. In addition to his role as CAES Associate Director for Boise State, Estrada is an associate professor in the Micron School of Materials Science and Engineering and holds a joint appointment with INL as the deputy director of Advanced Manufacturing for Academic Research. He is the recipient of the NSF and NDSEG Graduate Fellowships. His work has been recognized with several awards, including the NSF CAREER Award, the National TRiO Achievers award, and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Innovator of the year award. He is a Senior Member of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers and his research interests are in the areas of emergent semiconductor nanomaterials and bionanotechnology.

Steven D. Hartenstein, PhD is the chief science officer for INL’s National & Homeland Security directorate. Hartenstein focuses his efforts on enhancing the research environment to assist scientists and engineers in applying their scientific discoveries and engineering concept toward solutions for the Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security. He recently served as the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy Cybersecurity R&D Program's National Technical Director. Hartenstein's current emphases on for the advancement of science and technology includes: advancing security solutions that prevent, detect, and counter nuclear and radiological threats; developing innovative solutions for security and resilience of critical infrastructure; enabling defense, intelligence, and public safety organizations with next generation protective technologies; and mentoring researchers and leaders for the advancement of their careers and innovations.

Catherine Riddle, PhD is a senior research scientist at INL and has 22 years' experience in the area of radiochemistry and radiochemical separations. Her research involves multiple areas and disciplines including; actinide separations and speciation in the investigation of actinides and lanthanides for the expansion of new technologies for used nuclear fuel recycling and nuclear national security. Riddle has lent expertise to the Department of Homeland Security chemical weapons and high explosives identification work and continues to design new technology in areas such as oil and heavy metal remediation, advanced neutron/antineutrino detection scintillators, rapid actinide chemical detection for first responders and other technologies geared at making the world a safer, better place. Riddle has 10 patents/patents pending and her work has received numerous awards including a 2020 R&D 100 award for CoDeAc (Colorimetric Detection of Actinides) which is currently in commercial development.