Loren Data's SAM Daily™

FBO DAILY ISSUE OF FEBRUARY 25, 2012 FBO #3745
SOURCES SOUGHT

A -- REQUEST FOR INFORMATION SEEKING POTENTIAL INTEREST AND USE OF NASA LANGLEYRESEARCH CENTER UNIQUE CAPABILITIES IN STRUCTURES AND MATERIALS

Notice Date

2/23/2012
 

Notice Type

Sources Sought
 

NAICS

541712 — Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
 

Contracting Office

NASA/Langley Research Center, Mail Stop 12, Industry Assistance Office, Hampton,VA 23681-0001
 

ZIP Code

23681-0001
 

Solicitation Number

RFI-LARC-RLC-01
 

Response Due

3/23/2012
 

Archive Date

2/23/2013
 

Point of Contact

Richard J. Siebels, Contracting Officer, Phone 757-864-2418, Fax 757-864-6131, Email Richard.J.Siebels@nasa.gov
 

E-Mail Address

Richard J. Siebels
(Richard.J.Siebels@nasa.gov)
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Description

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION SEEKING POTENTIAL INTEREST AND USE OF NASA LANGLEY RESEARCHCENTER UNIQUE CAPABILITIES IN STRUCTURES AND MATERIALS 1-PURPOSE OF THIS NOTICE AND REQUEST: NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) seeks to enhance the use of the Centers distinctivelab and facility capabilities to support government and commercial aerospace activities. We believe the extraordinary resources available at NASA Langley, including facilities,labs and human capital, can be of great benefit to the nation and enhance technologydevelopment and infusion. The purpose of this RFI is to engage partners in dialogueleading to collaborative R&D efforts that enhance utilization of NASA Langleycapabilities by industry, universities and other government agencies. The expectation isthat NASA LaRC will be reimbursed for all costs incurred. Our first step inaccomplishing this purpose will be to assess interest regarding the LaRC labs andfacilities that have the greatest opportunities to expand partnerships, customer base andeconomic opportunities consistent with the NASA mission.We seek responses from organizations outlining potential collaborative efforts on areimbursable basis to utilize the Center expertise, labs and facilities, hereafterreferred to as capabilities in the area of Structures and Materials.It is this areaof R&D where Langley leads NASA efforts in its various mission areas, especially indevelopment of advanced aircraft and space systems and vehicles. This capability hasbroad application within the aerospace industry, but also potentially in many other areasof commerce. 2-UNIQUE NASA CAPABILITIESLangleys Structures and Materials capabilities include a full range of aerospacematerials and structures research and development activities. These capabilitiesinclude: -developing game changing new materials at the molecular level;-research into understanding the material properties; - integration of those materials into novel new structural designs such as inflatablestructures;- design of subsystems and complete systems for aircraft and space flight vehicles; -research and development of new advanced manufacturing techniques; - rapid prototyping and fabrication of components and systems for aircraft andspaceflight vehicles; -structural, thermal vacuum and environmental testing of those components and vehicles;-development of tools and techniques such as methods for advanced nondestructiveevaluation and health monitoring of flight systems during missions. The core capabilities/competencies managed at the Center that are essential to Structuresand Materials are: 2.1. Advanced materials synthesis and processing the full range of materialsdevelopment, from developing revolutionary new multifunctional materials with superiorproperties to developing and employing new high tech manufacturing capabilities2.2. Analytical and computational methods advanced new capabilities to design andanalyze materials and structures2.3. Concept behavior, durability, damage tolerance, and validation developingnew structural concepts, understanding structural mechanics and material propertiesthrough analysis and testing2.4. Nondestructive evaluation and health monitoring sensors developing newtechniques for diagnostics and prognostics for aerospace systems and components throughnoninvasive measurement techniques and physics-based models of measurement methodologies)2.5. Structural, impact, and landing dynamics loads and dynamics of aerospacesystems from launch/takeoff to landing2.6. Aeroelasticity and unsteady aerodynamics understanding the inflight effectsof air flow on the structural aerospace systems2.7. Systems engineering and Integration (SE&I) - All aspects of SE&I such asrequirements definition, design, structural and thermal analysis, fabrication,integration, and environmental testing for ground and flight validation of advancedtechnologies and vehicle systems. Major physical assets and equipment required to provide Structures and Materials corecapabilities and services to meet mission requirements are: James H. Starnes Structures and Material LabMaterials Research LabThermal Structure LabSubscale Impact Dynamics LabStructural Dynamics LabLanding and Impact Research (LandIR) FacilityCombined Loads Test System (COLTS) FacilityNondestructive Evaluation Sciences LabsMultiparameter LabLight Alloy LabComposites Processing LabComposites and Polymer LabEnvironmental Test Facilities (Clean Rooms, Thermal-Vac Chambers, VibrationTables, and Electromagnetic Interference and Compatibility)Fabrication FacilitiesMid Range Computing Facilities More details of each Structures and Material Capability are described in the NASALangley Research Center Capabilities of Structures, Materials, and Non-DestructiveEvaluation Facilities and Laboratories documents which are available at http://procurement.larc.nasa.gov/RFI.htmlOur intent is to engage with potential partners to make available, on a reimbursablebasis, NASA LaRCs facilities and expert NASA Science and Engineering staff tocollaboratively conduct work. We will jointly define potential R&D efforts, developmutually agreed to statements of work, cost, and schedule as defined in a reimbursableSpace Act Agreement (SAA). See Section 4 for a description of Space Act Agreements.We anticipate some respondents may be interested in only one area or sub-area whileothers may be interested in broad efforts requiring more than one capability.Someorganizations may want to partner because of their direct needs, or there may berespondents who wish to utilize LaRC support to meet needs of third parties. Suchactivities can be accommodated utilizing the SAA vehicle, either for a single project(SAA) or for a group of projects (umbrella SAA), consistent with the NASA missionBased on the type and quality of responses, NASA Langley expects to engage selectedorganization(s) in further discussions regarding expanded partnerships, customer base and economic opportunities consistent with the NASA mission. Although no site visits arecurrently planned, LaRC may consider scheduling a site visit to NASA LaRC Structures andMaterials related labs and facilities to foster additional dialog pertaining to anyproposed partnerships. 3-INFORMATION REQUESTED FROM RESPONDENTSGiven the description of capabilities defined in the area of Structures and Materials, weare seeking information on potential partnership opportunities. As expressed earlier, weanticipate a range of responses from limited use to extensive use, and short duration tolong term use of NASA facilities and staff. In either case, please provide summaries ofyour interest(s), assuming details would be further refined through discussions with NASAmanagers/technical staff. Interested parties shall submit statements of interest electronically, via e-mail, to theRFI General Point of Contact (POC) listed below. The statement of interest should notexceed two (2) pages. Responses should use a minimum font size of 12. To facilitate aprompt review, the statement of interest should clearly identify the specific LaRCcapability of interest and the following four (4) elements:1. Provide a summary of your proposed R&D effort, including areas of capability needed.2. Outline the responsibilities of each party (NASA and partners). If you are proposinga broad use or long term use of capabilities, or work to satisfy third party needs,describe the volume of work (work years) expected and for whom, if 3rd parties areinvolved. If multiple projects are proposed, estimate the work volume per project (workyears) and the number of projects per year. 3. Provide your desired schedule in terms of start date and duration of work.4. Identify that you are a U.S. domestic entity. If not, identify the country in whichyour company or organization is incorporated or legally formed or organized. 4- NASAs REIMBURSABLE AGREEMENTS PROCESSUnder the authority of the National Aeronautics and Space Act (Space Act), 51 USC20113(e), NASA is authorized to enter into and perform contracts, leases cooperativeagreements or other transactions necessary in the conduct of its work on such terms asit deems appropriate.NASA engages in reimbursable work using Space Act Agreements(SAAs). This authority is implemented by NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 1050.1 (availableat http://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov/displayDir.cfm?t=NPD&c=1050&s=1I), Authority to Enterinto Space Act Agreements, which identifies organizational responsibilities, mandatorylegal provisions, delegation of signatory authority and other requirements. It can befound on the NASA website. In addition, NASA Advisory Implementing Instruction (NAII)1050.1, Space Act Agreement Guide (available athttp://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov/NPD_attachments/NAII_1050_1B.doc, contains detailedinstructions and clauses to be used in various types of SAAs, depending on the type ofpartner entering into the agreement with NASA, and the work to be performed. It also islocated on the NASA website. Generally, work under an SAA needs to align with the NASAmission unless the facilities being used are underutilized NASA resources. In thosecases NASA goods, services and facilities that are not being fully used to accomplishmission requirements may be used by private firms. However, such use is subordinate toNASA mission work, but that can usually be accommodated through scheduling. In addition,it is Government policy that any private use of NASA resources will not compete withreasonably available U.S. private sector resources. Work is performed on a reasonableefforts basis. Each agreement will contain clear milestones, have defined financialcommitments, allocate intellectual property rights and address liability and risk ofloss, as well as containing a dispute resolution mechanism and a fixed end date for theSAA. Agreements generally cannot exceed five years in duration. They may be singleundertakings covering a specific task, or they may be Umbrella Agreements which spell outthe terms that will apply to Annexes. Annexes address specific tasks to be performedthat are within the scope of the Umbrella SAA.If you desire to utilize NASA resources ona reimbursable basis, NASA assigns a point of contact to understand the work to beperformed and the schedule. NASA will generate an estimate of the cost to be reimbursed,which is included in the SAA. Payments are made in advance of work because NASA cannotperform reimbursable work in advance of funding. The point of contact will generate theSAA document which will be provided to the partner for its review and comment.Onceagreement is reached, the agreement is signed by authorized personnel for NASA and thepartner. An agreements manager at LaRC retains the executed document for NASAs records,and the partner also retains a copy. 5- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: No solicitation exists; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. The purposeof this RFI is to determine industrys level of interest in the LaRC capabilitiesaddressed above. Additional information, if forthcoming, will be synopsized in the NASAAcquisition Internet Service (NAIS) and FedBizOps. It is the responsibility of potentialusers to monitor NAIS for the release of any additional information or synopsis. This RFIis not to be construed as a commitment by the Government nor will the Government pay forany information solicited. Since this is a RFI, no evaluation letters and/or results willbe issued to the respondents. 6- RESPONSE DATE:Responses are required no later than COB on the response date specified above. Information received after this date will only be considered if deemed in theGovernments best interest. Please reference this RFI, RFI-LARC-RLC-01, in anyresponse. Respondents are cautioned to mark any information confidential if it is to betreated as proprietary. All electronic responses should be sent to the RFI POC,identified below, with the message line 'Response to RFI-LARC-RLC-01.' 7- Points of ContactQuestions of a general nature should be directed to Richard Siebels. Questions relatedto Reimbursable rates or financial questions should be directed to MichelleCohoon-Lawson.Questions of a technical nature should be directed to Mike Marcolini. RFI General Point of Contact:Richard J. Siebelsrichard.j.siebels@nasa.govRFI Financial/Reimbursable Point of Contact:Michelle Cohoon-Lawsonapril.m.cohoon-lawson@nasa.gov RFI Technical Point of Contact:michael.a.marcolini@nasa.gov
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/NASA/LaRC/OPDC20220/RFI-LARC-RLC-01/listing.html)
 

Record

SN02681694-W 20120225/120223235100-f99fef6359207034655055ceffda2944 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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