Hi Folks-<div><br>Thanks to the many of you that provided letters of support for our VTK maintenance proposal! We are on our last week of preparation, there is still time to send us one if you'd like.</div><div><br></div>
<div>Cheers,</div><div>W<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, May 20, 2011 at 8:12 AM, Will Schroeder <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:will.schroeder@kitware.com">will.schroeder@kitware.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">Dear VTK Community-<div style="background-color:transparent;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:medium"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);background-color:transparent;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br>
</span></div><div style="background-color:transparent">Kitware is submitting a software maintenance grant to the NIH in early June and we’d like you to send us a letter of support. This five year proposal aims to make significant improvements to VTK including rendering architecture enhancements (mobile and web platforms), large data additions targeted at biomedical data, improved interaction capabilities, community support (improving the software and contribution process, documentation), and outreach to five leading medical research institutions (UNC, JHU, UH, Stanford, Brigham).</div>
<div style="background-color:transparent"><br>We are very excited about the proposal since it will make a very positive impact on VTK and its associated community, as well as the many affiliated applications that use VTK. However, we can really use your help. Part of the strategy of our proposal is to demonstrate to the reviewers that VTK plays a critical part in medical innovation. Along this line we are including many “formal” letters of support from leaders in biomedical research, however, and probably more importantly, we want to hear from the developers and users of VTK.</div>
<div style="background-color:transparent"><br>If you’d like to help, we have included a brief example letter which you can use verbatim, or modify as necessary to fit your circumstances. Place this text on your letterhead, sign it, and then send it (a scanned pdf is fine) directly to me by June 1. The letter in no way obligates you or your employer, it simply states “VTK is great and important to my work.” Also, don’t worry if you are not doing biomedical research, we want to hear from everybody. Note that this information (i.e., the names of endorsers) is considered private, only the writers of the VTK proposal and the NIH review team will see this information.</div>
<div style="background-color:transparent"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent;font-size:11pt;background-color:transparent"></span><br>
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me directly. Thanks and we hope to hear from you (by June 1).<br><br>Sincerely,<br>Will Schroeder</div><div style="background-color:transparent"><br></div>
---------------------- Sample Letter of Support ---------------------<br><br>Dr. William J Schroeder, President and CEO<br>Kitware, Inc.<br>28 Corporate Drive<br>Clifton Park, NY 12065, USA<br><br><br>Dear Dr. Schroeder-<br>
<br>I enthusiastically endorse your proposed effort to improve VTK. I use this open source software in my work and have found it extremely helpful as we create new technological solutions. VTK fills a vital role in the international community’s scientific computing infrastructure; additional developments along the lines that you propose will certainly accelerate innovation.<br>
<br>Sincerely,<br><br>Helpful VTK Community Member<div><br></div><font color="#888888"><div><br>-- <br>William J. Schroeder, PhD<br>Kitware, Inc.<br>28 Corporate Drive<br>Clifton Park, NY 12065<br><a href="mailto:will.schroeder@kitware.com" target="_blank">will.schroeder@kitware.com</a><br>
<a href="http://www.kitware.com" target="_blank">http://www.kitware.com</a><br><a href="tel:%28518%29%20881-4902" value="+15188814902" target="_blank">(518) 881-4902</a><br>
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</font></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>William J. Schroeder, PhD<br>Kitware, Inc.<br>28 Corporate Drive<br>Clifton Park, NY 12065<br><a href="mailto:will.schroeder@kitware.com">will.schroeder@kitware.com</a><br>
<a href="http://www.kitware.com">http://www.kitware.com</a><br>(518) 881-4902<br>
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