WEBVTT

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Hi, my name is Vin. I am an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical

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and Aerospace

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Engineering at Michigan Technological University. I've been at Michigan Tech

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for four years

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now. I started the WIS investor program about three and a half years, so I kind

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of just

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finished it. Overall, the program helped me because I did a lot of research.

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That was

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a bit more applied, and oftentimes in more applied research, the review process

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, you

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already kind of know what the person is looking for. I wanted to try to see if

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I could do

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more fundamental research, have a stronger basis. The WIS investor program

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really helped

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me in presenting my research in a way that is more relatable for kind of more

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fundamental

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research and also more peer reviewed research, as opposed to a singular program

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officer-based

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research where the process is more consensus-based. The program also helped me

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because it also

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kind of made me do more regular outreach through LinkedIn and program officer

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context. I think

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that was really good. The program kind of helped push me to do that, and then

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also kind of

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helped me maintain a momentum in my outreach, as opposed to just doing it on a

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needs-based

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basis, right? So, program helps make me prepared for when opportunities come,

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kind of chasing

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different opportunities. This program seems fairly different from other faculty

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trainings.

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I've only been at the ones at my own university. My own university, they're not

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really focused

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on funding. They're more general because we have both research and

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instructional faculty.

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So this program is very focused on research. It's a very, very hands-on. The

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coach that

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I had was very hands-on, very helpful, and also really looked into my proposal,

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helped

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to write a second pair of eyes and really helped improve it. So I think the

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program is different

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because it definitely focuses more on singular faculty, and it also helps with

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a much more

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hands-on approach to proposal development, as opposed to just giving you a

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proposal after

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you read it. I would recommend the program to others because it's a really good

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way to

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get you to look at what you're doing and your strategy for research success. I

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think sometimes

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when we start our research journey, we don't really think about how to strateg

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ize or what

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the best plans are, and I think this program really helps in formalizing those

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strategies.

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Thank you.