From: Victor Zykov <vzykov@mstfoundation.org>
Date: March 27, 2013 9:20:35 PM GMT+01:00
To: Etienne Gernez <etienne@opensailing.net>
Cc: proposals@mstfoundation.org
Subject: Re: Reminder - Call for Expressions of Interest Deadline Approaching

Dear Etienne,
 
MSTF received many more expressions of interest last fall than we anticipated.  Unfortunately, this caused long processing delays as we tried to maintain quality, confidentiality, and impartiality of the large number of reviews.  Below, please find the confidential feedback and resolution for the expression of interest entitled "PROTEI: Open Source, shape shifting, sailing drone to explore and clean the oceans" that we received from you:

Reviewer 1 Comments: Design an open-sourced sailing marine surface vessel based on shape-shifting technology. By shape shifting, they mean a body that can articulate. Some demonstrated small scale prototypes, though only at the 1 meter scale. Vessels of this size do not do well in open ocean (where they want to go). Their thrust to drag is hampered by the fact that the waves are large and the wind in the boundary layer next the water is slow. Team is somewhat mixed.
Reviewer 1 Grade: Good (C+)

Reviewer 2 Comments:
     Merits of the proposed research:  The proposed effort involves the development of an autonomous sailboat, which in general could be very beneficial for oceanographic research at the air-sea interface, as well as, environmental monitoring applications. The fields of research to be addressed under the proposed effort are listed as multifunction sensors for in-situ monitoring of the marine environment, surface layer sampling and collaborative clean up. Unfortunately, the specific tasks to be performed in relation to these topics are not explicitly stated. The main plan seems to be to design the autonomous sailboat by soliciting design suggestions and assistance through a GNU software foundation approach. However, it is unclear who will ultimately be responsible for the design and how/where it will be fabricated, integrated and tested. 
     Alignment with the strategic interests of MSTF: The specific goals of putting an ocean exploring technology into the hands of many to raise awareness and promote education to ocean sciences and technology; and to collect open-access data made available to all are well-aligned with the strategic interests of the MSTF.
     Qualifications of the research team: The lead PI is an industrial designer; E. Gernez is a marine engineer specializing in the area of ship hydrodynamics and stability; Gabriella Levine is an interactive artist and open-source hardware designer; Peter Keen is an oceanographer and ocean engineer. While the research team appears to have a broad based background, it does not seem to include anyone (who would be accountable as a PI/co-PI) with a strong background in autonomous guidance, navigation and control for marine vehicles. 
     Other pertinent aspects: It seems that funding for the proposed effort would be leveraged from a 2012 Savannah Ocean Exchange Gulfstream Navigator Award. Existing institutional and industrial support is not mentioned. The requested support is $100K for one year – it is not clear how the proposed 2014-2016 (beta product release) efforts will be funded.
Reviewer 2 Grade: Fair (D)

Reviewer 3 Comments: This project proposed by Goldsmiths University in cooperation with Protei is related to the development of an open source sailing drone for a (very) general purpose (surface sampling, radioactive monitoring) of ocean exploration and cleaning. Several prototypes from 1 (one remotely controlled and one autonomous) to 6 m (autonomous) length are forecasted. The team is composed of the Protei startup involved since 2010 is sailing drone, with several references (10 prototypes already built and several prizes won). The prototypes would be based on open source hardware and self-resistant marine design, to ocean constraints. Objective is to open the technologies to education and a large set of users and professional or non-professional designer. The solution would be 20 times cheaper than a wave glider. The applications in marine oil spills or plastic debris monitoring are well known, with several Protei demos, but specific applications are unclear in that proposal. The budget requested is limited, and very reasonable, the open source approach is smart. Not enough details of the final objectives and in particular it‟s unclear how the three proposed prototypes would be tested (where, for what kind of applications, with what kind of payloads). The lack of objectives details is a problem for the evaluation, but the key idea is interesting- adding some perspective to the applications (radioactive mapping in japan? 6th plastic debris continent???), deployment from Falkor in a proposed cruise??, would get a B or a B+.
Reviewer 3 Grade: Good (C+)

Average Grade: 2.389 out of 4.833 - Good (C)
Rank: 56 out of 59.

Resolution: Following these pre-proposal reviews, Marine Science and Technology Foundation was expecting to invite only ~15-20 full R&D proposals.  Unfortunately, we will have to pass on several very interesting projects due to objective budgetary and review process constraints relative to the breadth of promising R&D opportunities that were expressed in the expressions of interest.  Marine Science and Technology Foundation will not be soliciting a full proposal for this project due to that several other Expressions of Interest have been comparatively evaluated more favorably than this preliminary proposal.

Please let me know if I can provide any additional information or address any related questions.

Victor Zykov, Ph.D.
Director of Research
Marine Science & Technology Foundation
Office/Cell: 510.214.4924

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On Mon, Oct 15, 2012 at 12:21 PM, Etienne Gernez <etienne@opensailing.net> wrote:
Dear Victor, Dear Lisa
Please find in attachment the proposal with the final edits, in DOC and PDF.
Thanks for your support and let me know if there is any question / further info you might need.

Best,
Etienne
----------------------------
Etienne Gernez [Norway]
Academic coordinator
http://protei.org
+47 468 10 718 
Skype: el_tieno

On Oct 15, 2012, at 5:54 PM, Etienne Gernez wrote:

Dear Victor,
Thanks very much for the feedback! 
I´ll massage the application and send it before sun sets - time is on my side as I´m in the East...
Looking forward to continuing the discussion,

Etienne.
----------------------------
Etienne Gernez [Norway]
Academic coordinator
http://protei.org
+47 468 10 718 
Skype: el_tieno

On Oct 15, 2012, at 9:25 AM, Victor Zykov wrote:

Dear Etienne,

I hope this message finds you well, as I realize you may only have small amount of time left for further edits of your pre-proposal: please find my responses inline below.

Kind regards,
Victor

Victor Zykov, Ph.D.
Director of Research
Marine Science & Technology Foundation
Office/Cell: 510.214.4924

This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you have received it in error, please advise the sender by reply email and delete the message and any attachments. Thank you.

On Sat, Oct 13, 2012 at 2:20 AM, Etienne Gernez <etienne@opensailing.net> wrote:
Hi dear Lisa and Victor,
Thanks very much for the reminder! 
I put up a first document - see attachment.
I have a few questions for you if I may:
- is it what you are expecting wrt to format and content?  I should first mention that the pre-proposals will be evaluated by independent non-conflicted experts in the pertinent fields of oceanographic research and technology development, so I cannot promise that any my suggestions will be very helpful.  With this disclaimer in mind, my immediate reaction is that I'd suggest providing more specific details regarding what oceanographic technology innovation this collaboration between Protei and MSTF will aim to achieve and how it will be different from or better than any alternatives in ocean research technology. 
- in addition to be aligned with the Mission and Values of the Foundation, is there any emphasis on a specific type of technology, application, or proposition of collaboration at this early stage of the application? The emphasis that you have on openness of Protei technology is excellent, as the goal of MSTF is to foster openness in ocean research and development of oceanographic technologies.  Other than that, MSTF aims to support technology innovation that would contribute to a broad spectrum of oceanographic applications by enabling less expensive, pervasive, and more simple oceanographic data collection.
- what kind of "order of magnitude" of funding would be available? For what duration?  The range of requests that we received in the past is quite broad in both these dimensions.  All requests are evaluated for how reasonable and realistic they are by independent R&D experts in pertinent fields.  The requested project duration ranged between 3 months and 3 years, mean being excess of one, and mean funding request is on the same order of magnitude as yours.  Yours is in fact in good range, because requests over 100k require more complicated approval process.
 
I´ll send the official proposal on monday, hoping to be able to include your feedback in it.   Good luck!
Thank you in advance and have a wonderful week end!

On behalf of the Protei team,
Etienne.
----------------------------
Etienne Gernez [Norway]
Academic coordinator
http://protei.org
+47 468 10 718 
Skype: el_tieno

On Oct 11, 2012, at 8:19 PM, Lisa Pereira wrote:

 
 
Dear Colleagues,
 
Schmidt Ocean Institute and Marine Science & Technology Foundation are accepting Expressions of Interest in collaborative oceanographic research and technology development through October 15, 2012.  Please find the submission instructions at the following web pages:
  
http://www.schmidtocean.org/story/show/846
 
http://mstfoundation.org/story/Call+for+Expressions+of+Interest
  
Sincerely,
 
Lisa M. Pereira
Program Coordinator
On Behalf Of:
Victor Zykov
Director of Science Operations

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This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information.  Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited.  If you have received it in error, please advise the sender by reply email and delete the message and any attachments.  Thank you.