Projects

Term 2 PAF Applications are now open! All project applications will be due on January 31st, 2025. If you have any questions or would like feedback on your PAF Term 2 application, you can book office hours through this link.

There are 2 types of PAF Projects:

Design Projects (reserved for registered Engineering Design Teams)
PD Opportunities (open to all, but commonly used by clubs)

Applications for Projects are reviewed twice per year: once in September and once in January. The PAF Funding Committee will adjudicate these applications and recommend funding allocations to the PAF Governance Committee.

Funding for Projects is awarded by a student-faculty committee (PAF Funding Committee), based on the restrictions outlined in the PAF Mandate. The committee may modify requests as they see fit. The committee may also request additional information as required.

Groups can only receive funding for a combined total of 5 Projects and/or PD Opportunities. The definition of separate projects is explained below. Decisions will be communicated to applicants no later than 30 business days following the application deadlines.

Submission Procedures for PAF 2024-25

PAF Projects Applications (EDT Projects and PD Opportunities) are administered twice in the year - in Term 1 and Term 2.

SuperApp and PAF:
If your student group is required to complete the Super Application and would like to apply for PAF Term 1 Projects, your PAF application will automatically be pulled from your SuperApp files. You should use PAF Projects - Budget and Roster funding spreadsheet and upload it to the Super Application webform as your submission.

If you are ONLY applying to PAF (your group is not required to submit the SuperApp):
Please follow the instructions below to submit your PAF Projects Application.

PAF Term 2 submission deadline: Friday, January 31st, 2025 at 11.59pm PDT
Most PAF Projects applicants use the same application template throughout both the terms. This includes but is not limited to E-IDEAS (EDI Affinity) Groups, Program and Departmental Clubs as well as Industry and Professional Chapters.
Term 1 - Design Teams (EDTs) submit PAF along with the Super Application to avoid redundant information. You do NOT need to submit your funding spreadsheet here, as we will retrieve it from your Super Application submission.
Term 2 - EDTs applying for PAF Projects will need to resubmit using the PAF form below.

If you are looking for templates for the Project Overview Form or the Super Application templates, please go to this page.

Submit your PAF Projects Term 2 - 2024/25

PAF Projects Categories

The Project category encompasses everything that falls outside of Travel and Conferences. Please read through each sub-section to determine which type of project you are conducting. All Projects must meet the funding criteria outlined below. Design Projects have additional funding criteria.

Design Projects design-projects

Design Project PAF funding is intended for registered Engineering Design Teams. Official Design Teams must be approved by the Engineering Design Team Advisory Council.

Eligibility criteria:

All of the general PAF eligibility criteria
Applicants must be registered as an Applied Science Engineering Design Team.
There must be clear external or internal goals to measure the success of the project.
A team may not apply to both Travel and Conference Funding and Design Project Funding.
Design Teams may apply for multiple Design Projects; however, each Design Project must be demonstrably separate. Separate projects aim to create distinct physical items. The items cannot be part of a final larger piece. For example:

Separate Projects:

Two separate cars
Respiratory rate monitor and a phototherapy monitor
Two separate experiments contributing to different research projects

Not Separate Projects:

A brake system and a chassis
Subsystems of the same vehicle
Bacteria culture and research paper based on findings from the experiment

Faculty Advisor Approvals:

PAF requires faculty advisors to review and approve all Design Project applications. Applicants will need to submit a PDF document or screenshot that indicates their Faculty Advisor’s written approval of their Project application(s). The submission should also include the Faculty Advisor’s email, send date of the email, as well as the Project application’s name/high-level information.

Faculty Advisors will review each Project application to ensure that the Design Project is connected to core missions of the Engineering Design Team, project goals/outcomes are robust and that Project budgets are fiscally responsible.

PAF only requires one Faculty Advisor approval per year per project. In the event of resubmission, the PAF Committee has the discretion to request a resubmission of Faculty Advisor approval.

Provide at least 10 business days for Faculty Advisors to review, discuss (if necessary) and approve completed Project applications.

Funding calculation:

A team cannot receive more than $23,000 from PAF in one fiscal cycle and cannot receive funding for more than 5 projects.
A contingency of up to 10% is automatically included in your application. The 10% contingency will only take into consideration PAF-eligible expenses. Non-PAF expenses such as Capital Purchases will not be considered.
PAF Funding shall not exceed the lesser of 50% of the project’s budget or the total cap listed below.
The Project and Competition cap amounts are based off their respective budgets, not the overall expense amount.
- It is required that at least 50% of funding comes from sources other than PAF.

	< 15 members	≥ 15 members
		< $35,000 budget	≥ $35,000 budget
Project	$2,850	$5,700	$8,000
Competition	$2,850	$2,850	$2,850
Total Cap	$5,700	$8,550	$10,850

Additional notes:

Please ensure that clickable links or photos are included with the application to provide clarity and detail.
PAF will not cover per diems during travel, food and drink, or alcohol-related expenses. These costs will be removed from your budget when considering the application.
Project Expenses Categories:
- Prototype: Prototype-related expenses (e.g. buying M3 screws for Project 1 Component)
- Competition: Competition-specific expenses (Prototype shipping fees, accommodation, transportation, competition fee, insurance)
Administrative or Marketing costs:
- Administrative expenses are any costs associated with Design Team management and processes (e.g., website domains, team uniforms/shirts, marketing materials).
- PAF will not cover these fees. Applicants can put these costs under the “Administrative” expense category in their budgets, they will be automatically removed from funding calculations.
Consumables
- Consumables are goods that must be replaced regularly because they wear out or are used up on a regular basis
- Examples include: printer filament, raw materials, PPE, scissors
Capital Purchases
- PAF will generally not fund capital purchases such as investments in equipment. Exceptions require a specific description and plan, and pre-approval for the capital purchase through APSC PD.
- Applications must demonstrate that this request cannot be fulfilled through any of the equipment or software presently available to your group or its members.
- A capital purchase can be defined as:
  - A purchase greater than $750 CAD (excluding tax and shipping), OR
  - A piece of equipment that has a multi-year lifespan AND that will not fit in a team’s designated design space, OR
  - A software or software licenses
- These are NOT considered capital purchases:
  - Consumables
  - A part of your prototype (for example: mold purchase, frames, etc.)

Submission Procedures for PAF 2024-25

If you are looking for templates for the Project Overview Form or the Super Application templates, please go to this page.

PAF Term 2 - All Student Groups

PAF Projects Categories

Design Projects design-projects

Eligibility criteria:

Faculty Advisor Approvals:

Funding calculation:

Additional notes:

Professional Development Opportunities pro-dev-ops

Eligibility criteria:

Funding calculation:

Other notes:

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