| |
As director of ARPA
in the 1970’s
George H. Heilmeier
developed a set of questions that he expected every proposal for a new research
program to answer.
He referred to them
as the "Heilmeier Catechism".
These questions still survive at DARPA and provide high level guidance for
what information a proposal should provide.
It's important
to answer these questions for any individual research project, both for
yourself and for communicating to others what you hope to accomplish. These questions are:
- What
are you trying to do? Articulate
your objectives using absolutely no jargon.
What is the problem?
Why is it hard?
- How is it done today, and what are the limits of
current practice?
- What's new in your approach and why do you think it
will be successful?
- Who cares?
- If you're successful, what difference will it make?
What impact will success have?
How will it be measured?
- What are the risks and the payoffs?
- How much will it cost?
- How long will it take?
- What are the midterm and final "exams" to
check for success?
How will progress be measured?
The
IEEE Spectrum
magazine published a profile of
Dr. Heilmeier in the June 1994 issue:
George H. Heilmeier
by Joshua Shapiro
IEEE Spectrum, Volume 31, Issue 6, June 1994, Pages 56 - 59
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/6.284787
Summary: The head of one of the foremost research organisations in the
United States -- Bell Communications Research Inc. -- is guided by the
traditional values he learned as a boy. The author describes how these
values have guided George Heilmeier through four distinguished careers
on the frontier of high-technology development.
Last updated
9:32:36 AM PST, Sunday, November 22, 2009
|