Center for Innovative Sintered Products

Fundamental and Applied R&D in Sintered Materials


CISP By-Laws

CISP Policies Regarding Membership Qualifications and Other Procedural Matters

  1. Membership Qualifications

    Membership in CISP is by invitation of CISP staff. It is CISP’s policy to accept any company, organization, or national laboratory meeting the following criteria.

    1. Any entity, which manufactures finished refractory and hard materials for use in products manufactured by the entity, or manufactures equipment and/or materials for use by the refractory and hard materials community, or has interest in these areas, and which has its principal place of manufacture located in the United States or within the area designated as the NAFTA Free Trade Zone, shall be eligible to be a Member of CISP.
    2. Any entity, which manufactures refractory and hard materials, purchases refractory and hard materials for use in products manufactured by the entity, or manufactures equipment and/or materials for use by the refractory and hard materials community, or has interest in these areas, and which has its place of manufacture located outside of the United States or outside the area designated as the NAFTA Free Trade Zone, shall be eligible to be a Member of CISP, if access to similar cooperative efforts in the country of the entity’s principle place of manufacture is freely granted to CISP members from the United States and NAFTA. Furthermore, a potential company in this category interested in CISP must be approved by vote of the CISP Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) prior to a membership invitation being extended.

  2. Membership Privileges and Benefits

    The purpose and goals of CISP and the privileges and benefits to CISP Members are described in available materials. All CISP members have equal rights to license any inventions funded by CISP. The IAB retains the right to revoke membership in CISP under exceptional circumstances that may include: transfer of privileged information gained as a CISP member to non-member entities; change of entity ownership such that the membership qualifications as described in Section (1) are not met; and conduct deemed contrary to the best interests of CISP.

  3. Industrial Advisory Board

    The IAB will be composed of three representatives of the full member companies, with each representative being from a different company, and one representative from the associate members. These representatives and the IAB chair will be elected annually by all paying CISP members. The Director of CISP will be an ex-officio member of the Board.

  4. Industrial Advisory Board Voting Procedures

    On matters requiring the approval of the IAB, the following voting procedure should be employed:

    1. Quorum – At any meeting where 75% of the IAB members are present, a vote may be taken, whereupon each IAB member will have 1 vote, and polling may be done by any convenient method. For votes with two possible outcomes, a simple majority (>50% votes) will be required. For votes with 3 or more possible outcomes, the choice gaining the greatest number of votes will be carried. The IAB chair and the directors will be notified of the results upon completion of the vote. New project selection voting is excluded from these restrictions.
    2. At IAB meetings where a quorum is not obtained, a vote may be carried out after the meeting by email. CISP staff members will be responsible for distributing the ballot and tabulating the results. The outcome will be evaluated as stated in Section 4a. The IAB chair and the directors will be notified of the results upon completion of the vote.

  5. New Research Project Voting Procedures

    New research projects will be approved by vote as funds are made available. These projects will be based on member recommendations and will be voted on by all paying CISP members. Full members will have three votes and associate members will have 1 vote. The final decision on the proposed projects will rest with the IAB. CISP staff members will be responsible for distributing the ballot via email and tabulating the results.

  6. Center Expenditures

    University-prepared expenditure summary sheets related to the Membership funding will be presented at the annual meeting.

  7. Cost of Membership

    1. Full Membership (more than $100M/annual sales) — $30,000/year
    2. Associate Membership (less than $100M/annual sales) — $10,000/year

  8. CISP Operations

    Feedback from CISP Members on CISP operations and staff will follow the procedures outlined in Sections 8a and 8b.

    1. At each IAB meeting, CISP members, in the absence of the CISP staff, will review CISP leadership and operations, and provide a verbal report to the CISP Director. Following the CISP Director’s response to the verbal report, the IAB will submit written comments for the IAB meeting minutes.
    2. If IAB recommendations are not addressed in a timely fashion, or are beyond the control of the CISP Director, the IAB chair, at the request of a majority of the IAB members, may communicate with the Engineering Science and Mechanics Department Head, who has direct oversight of CISP and reports to the Dean of Engineering at Penn State.