Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

The visit began with a pre-meeting at Jenny’s At the Wharf (668 Water St SW, Washington, DC 20024) at 11:30 am. The attending members discussed the goal of meeting with NIFA national program leaders. The goal of the NIFA meetings was to communicate with NIFA program leaders on how best S-1054 multistate cooperative research project could align with the funding areas in FY 2017.

 1. The 1^st meeting with Dr. Daniel Schmoldt was held in room 3211 in NIFA building at 12:30 – 2:00 pm. Dan is the national program leader in the Division of Agricultural systems. Notes from the meeting are as below.

1. Daniel Schmoldt engages land-grant universities, national laboratories, industrial partners, and other federal agencies to mine sensor and instrumentation technology advancements along with decision support systems for processing of agricultural/forest products, precision agriculture/forestry, and environmental quality.
2. Dan welcomed the group. The meeting began with a brief introduction around the table. Suraj shared the slides from the member who were not present in the meeting. Dan asked the group what college each member’s home department belongs to at their respective schools.
3. Some of the members shared more details of the ongoing research. Anil introduced his green chemistry research. His work focuses on transforming agricultural waste materials into fiber-reinforced composites. Majid did too, and also commented that textile related research was used to be one of major focused areas of USDA funding in the past, but it seemed not any more recently. Some experiences with HATCH funds he had in recent years suggested the proposals didn’t get passed through first screening in the evaluation review process as long as “textiles” was read in keywords of the proposals, although they were considered as competitive proposals.
4. Dan was positive about the research work carried in the group. With more details of the failed proposals, Dan responded and suggested to rephrase the keywords possibly used in proposals. He followed with more details about the programs he oversees, including bio-based and bio-engineered products and processes. “Bio” related work is highly supported at USDA and NIFA in current as well as FY2017 budgets. We are encouraged to rephrase and focus on bio related products and processes when writing a proposal.
5. The average success rate in his program is 10%. One area/keyword recommended by Dan is nanotechnology. He suggested us to discuss depth in our next week with Dr. Hongda Chen.
6. Some focused areas in his programs include bio-based products and processes, sustainable processes, nanotechnology, and nano-sensors. Other than technical development that he is interested, he is also interested in the studies of social aspects, such as social acceptance of bio-based products and processes and consumer perception of these new technologies.
7. Dan confirmed that “textiles” is not a red flag, but recommended to rephrase keywords to better fit in the mainstream of USDA/NIFA funding areas. Four challenges in FY2017 USDA/NIFA research interest are energy (efficiency), food, robot, and water.
8. Sergiy asked if nanotechnology is one of focus area, which was positively confirmed by Dan.
9. Vivian asked if multi-PIs were encouraged on proposal writing. Dan encouraged multi-PIs proposals. 3-5 PIs are typical and collaboration cross the states is encouraged.
10. Dan also recommended the group to look at some grants on planning multi-PI proposals, such as conference grant, with a goal of planning complex multistate research project.

 2. The 2^nd meeting with Dr. Hongda Chen was held in room 2411 in NIFA building at 2:10 – 3:30 pm. Hongda is the national program leader in the Division of Food Safety. Notes from the meeting are as below.

1. Hongda Chen provides national leadership to develop nanoscale science, engineering, and technology for agriculture and food systems, and provides national leadership in engineering approaches for research, development, education and extension in food quality, safety and nutritional value.
2. Hongda welcomed the group. The meeting began with a brief introduction around the table. Suraj shared the slides from the member who were not present in the meeting. Hongda also gave a detailed his background, his expertise and responsibilities at NIFA. Dr. Chen received his Ph.D. in engineering from University of California, Davis, and served as a professor of food engineering at the University of Verment for more than 10 years before joining USDA/NIFA in 2000. He has been on committee of nanoscale science, engineering and technology since 2001. He was appointed as a Co-Chair of the 2010 national nanotechnology initiative strategic planning committee.
3. Hongda first ensured that nanotechnology related research still attract funding budget in US administration level, potentially with $700M in FY2017, which is double compared with the budget in FY 2016. USDA/NIFA has determined three focus areas in FY 2017: food, energy, and water. Some specific areas of interest: bio-based materials, global food production, food safety, food security, nutrition, quality and quantity of food, climate change, water quality and treatment (usable and nonusable).
4. When asked if textile and fiber research still falls in the scope of funding areas, Hongda commented that it is critical to address if any specific textile and fiber research can potentially help the main challenges (food, energy, and water) that USDA/NIFA wants to support. If textile and fiber research has the potential to help in these areas, USDA/NIFA is interested in funding it.
5. When asked if nanocellulose research is of interest, Hongda was very positive. He specifically pointed out that it is critical to investigate the interaction of nanoparticles with microbial, bacteria, and pathogens.
6. Hongda also commented on what makes a successful proposal at NIFA. A successful proposal composes of good work plan, clear objectives, feasible outcome, and good management of data as well as team.

3. The 3^rd meeting with Dr. Daniel Cassidy was held in room 3111 in NIFA building at 3:40 – 4:50 pm. Daniel is the national program leader in the Division of Bioenergy. Notes from the meeting are as below.  

1. Daniel Cassidy provides national leadership for forest management, forest-based bioenergy initiatives, and renewable energy and conservation research-education-extension activities.
2. Daniel welcomed the group. The meeting began with a brief introduction around the table. Suraj shared the slides from the member who were not present in the meeting. Daniel also gave the group a self-introduction. His expertise is in woody biomass and bio-products. He introduced Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI) program in the past years. The BRDI program essentially focuses on advanced biofuels, bioproducts, and biobased chemicals. The FY2017 solicitation is not yet available, with a target release date in April, 2017.
3. Daniel also commented on Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI). The FY 2016 AFRI focused on bio-manufacturing and creation of product from organic matters. The funded proposals could be $10M/year for 5 years. The FY2017 AFRI is not yet released.
4. Daniel talked about SBIR grants (phase I and phase II). Depending on the year of submission, the successful rate could be high (30%).
5. A couple of keys points were mentioned by Daniel to make a successful proposal, including research impact (scientific) as well as job creation.
6. The group was encouraged to look into FY2017 RFAs, which might be soon released in April. Potential multi-state (PIs) proposals were encouraged.

After having had NIFA meetings, the group had a wrap-up discussion on next steps. A couple of members showed interest in applying from conference grant, which may help us brainstorm research ideas and shape multi-PIs proposals.

Respectfully submitted,

Yan Vivian Li

(Secretary)