The Ceramic and Glass Industry Foundation (CGIF) was created to attract, inspire, and train the next generation of ceramic and glass professionals. The CGIF’s mission is to help the industry attract and train the highest quality talent available to work with engineered systems and products that utilize ceramic and glass materials.
The CGIF seeks to provide financial support for projects and activities that help fulfill the CGIF mission. Such projects must be directly related to introducing students to ceramic and glass science. Funding for such external grants will be allocated based on availability of funds and determined by the Foundation’s Board of Trustees.
It is expected that grants will allow proposers to seed or extend existing efforts to grow the base of ceramic and glass education, training, or outreach. Applications are encouraged which leverage other funding sources (i.e., local or internal funding, industry match, tangible in-kind support, etc.) and/or link to national efforts in ceramics, glass, or materials societies.
Requests for support must be made using the CGIF Call for Proposals, as other informal requests will not be considered. Completed applications for support should be submitted electronically to Belinda Raines, Outreach Manager, at braines@ceramics.org. The submission deadline is August 31, 2018. Be sure to thoroughly read the application instructions prior to completing your proposal.
The Ceramic and Glass Industry Foundation prefers to fund project costs that can be specifically and easily identified with a particular outreach project or instructional activity. The CGIF does not typically provide funding for costs that are incurred for common or joint objectives, and cannot be easily and specifically identified with a particular sponsored project or instructional activity.
The Spring 2018 grant recipients were:
Tampere University of Technology: Awarded $4,225 to organize a 2-day workshop on glass science; lectures to be included are Introduction to Glass Science, Lecture on Glasses for Biomedical Applications, and Lecture on Glasses for Photonics. The workshop will also include a lab tour and glass melting demo and a visit to a glass museum.
University of California, San Diego: Awarded $5,000 to partially support two of the 130 students who will participate in the ENLACE 2018 program. The program is binational, meaning that there is participation of students from Baja California, Mexico and San Diego. The students are matched in pairs, one from each side of the border, and work together in research laboratories across the UCSD campus. The program aims to encourage participation of high school and undergraduate students in research in the sciences and engineering, while promoting cross-border friendships between Mexico and the US.
University of Michigan, Materials Science Graduate Council: Awarded $3,000 plus two Materials Science Classroom Kits to travel to select middle and high schools multiple times a year, on a monthly schedule, in order to educate students and foster student interest in materials science and ceramics research.
Ursinus College: Awarded $5,000 plus 10 Materials Science Classroom Kits for a project entitled, “GAMES: Glass And Materials Science to Engage Students”. The project is comprised of 3 parts: 1. Video and Undergraduate Camp Organizer: design, build, and implement a 2-week summer materials science outreach program aimed at local high school students. 2. Materials Science Outreach Camp: Each of the summer students from Ursinus College Society of Physics Students (SPS) will teach materials science to a select group of local high school students. 3. Classroom Demonstrations: Ursinus College Society of Physics Students will travel during the school year to local middle and high schools and use the Materials Science Classroom Kits to introduce students to materials, glass, and ceramic science.
