MHIA, CICMHE Call for Research Proposals

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—The Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) and the College Industry Council on Material Handling Education (CICMHE) are soliciting and will be funding research proposals beginning this year.

MHIA and CICMHE have allocated $100,000 in 2008 to fund two or more research projects focused on material handling and facility logistics and conducted by academic institutions. Emphasis is on graduate student work to build tomorrow’s material handling and facility logistics faculty.

Proposals must clearly identify significant involvement of one or more graduate students working with principal investigators. The lead institution and principal investigators must be in the U.S. or Canada. Collaborative proposals involving two or more separate academic institutions are also welcome.

Consideration will only be given to proposals that demonstrate how they address one or more of the themes/initiatives identified at the 2007 Material Handling Logistics Summit (see www.mhia.org/summit2007).

MHIA says that anyone interested in submitting a proposal should request a copy of the proposal preparation guidelines and forms, which can be found at www.mhia.org/CICMHE/researchfunding.

An academic panel will review the proposals and recommend a short list for consideration. Then, a panel of MHIA industry members will review the recommended short list of proposals and determine which proposals will be funded and at what level. Funding decisions should be announced by Aug. 1. Proposals must be received by May 15.