Seminar: ARO's Role & Best Practices for Engagement

Abstract: In this talk, Dr. Bakas will outline the role and goals of the Army Research Office, the Materials Science Division, and the Synthesis and Processing Program in particular. Having been on both sides of the interaction, he will offer tips and insights on how to successfully interact with program managers, sharing the common best practices he has observed from successful principal investigators. It is his intention that the information in this talk can help new and aspiring faculty learn best practices for approaching and talking with program managers, and communicating their research concepts in a way that will be favorably received by both the program manager and the research community.

Bio: Michael Bakas is the program manager for Army Research Office’s Synthesis and Processing program, which funds basic scientific research to advance the field of structural materials processing in areas of interest to the Army. Dr. Michael Bakas obtained his PhD in 2006 in Ceramic & Materials Science Engineering from Rutgers University. The focus on his PhD work was in studying the impact of processing related flaws on the ballistic performance of silicon carbide armor tiles. He continued studying armor materials and their processing at the Idaho National Laboratory, working with transparent ceramics, carbides, and steels. His work there generated four patents. In 2015, Dr. Bakas took a position serving as a contractor supporting the management of the Army Research Office’s Synthesis and Processing Program, and in 2017 was installed as the Synthesis and Processing program manager. In addition to funding research from the core program, Dr. Bakas’s responsibilities include generating new research opportunities by developing Multidisciplinary University Research Initiatives (MURI), and Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) topics.