SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- Watt Balance Support Services
- Notice Date
- 5/31/2012
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541330
— Engineering Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Acquisition Management Division, 100 Bureau Drive, Building 301, Room B129, Mail Stop 1640, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20899-1640
- ZIP Code
- 20899-1640
- Solicitation Number
- AMD-12-SS31
- Archive Date
- 6/29/2012
- Point of Contact
- Paula Wilkison, Phone: 301-975-8448, Patrick Staines, Phone: (301)975-6335
- E-Mail Address
-
paula.wilkison@nist.gov, patrick.staines@nist.gov
(paula.wilkison@nist.gov, patrick.staines@nist.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- The National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) seeks information on commercial vendors that are capable of watt balance support services for an existing moving coil watt balance instrument. The U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) watt balance experiment is used to measure the Planck constant as part of a worldwide research effort aimed at revising the International System of Units, so that ultimately the kilogram can be realized using a watt balance. The immediate goal is for NIST to establish a value and uncertainty for this fundamental constant and to reconcile the result with other international teams. To achieve this goal NIST needs highly specialized support work to be completed quickly, safely, and correctly so that NIST's one-of-a-kind, moving coil watt balance instrument known as NIST-3 can continue to operate, and so that the development of NIST-3 as a realization of the kilogram can be completed by June 2013. NIST-3 is one of two, highly-custom, operational watt balances in the world. Among these two, NIST-3 is unique in that it uses a custom designed, two story tall, cryogenically cooled, superconducting magnet that requires daily maintenance during balance operation. The balance mechanics and optics of this instrument are also unique, having been designed and refined for over two decades by NIST scientists for the express purpose of making the most accurate determination of the Planck constant in the world. The balance mechanics and optics require continual maintenance checks of their alignment and performance. These "routine" adjustments require detailed knowledge of the instrument, its custom alignment fixtures, and its custom precision optical and electrical measurement systems. The electrical measurements performed using the NIST-3 instrument are built around a highly customized, cryogenically cooled, programmable Josephson voltage standard that must be meticulously maintained in order to achieve the necessary precision. The tasks performed to support and maintain the operation of the NIST-3 balance are general (handling of cryogens, optical alignment, precision electrical measurements, etc.), however, the variety of systems and level of precision associated with executing these tasks using such highly customized equipment is a challenge that cannot be safely (without damage to personnel or equipment) attempted without considerable training on the specific custom equipment. After results of this market research are obtained and analyzed and specifications are developed for the watt balance service, NIST may conduct a competitive procurement and subsequently award a Purchase Order. If at least two qualified small businesses are identified during this market research stage, then any competitive procurement that resulted would be conducted as a small business set-aside. NIST is seeking responses from all responsible sources, including large, foreign, and small businesses. Small businesses are defined under the associated NAICS code for this effort, 541330, as those domestic sources with annual revenues of $14.0M or less. Please include your company's size classification in any response to this notice. Companies capable of providing watt balance services are requested to email a detailed report describing their capabilities to paula.wilkison@nist.gov no later than the response date for this sources sought notice. Also, the following information is requested to be provided as part of the response to this sources sought notice: 1. Name of the company that provides the services for which specifications are provided. 2. Name of company(ies) that are authorized to provide the services, their addresses, and a point of contact for the company (name, phone number, fax number and email address). 3. Indication of number of days, after receipt of order that is typical for delivery of such services. 4. Indication of whether the service for which specifications are sent to paula.wilkison@nist.gov is currently on one or more GSA Federal Supply Schedule contracts and, if so, the GSA FSS contract number(s). 5. Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider in developing its minimum specifications and finalizing its market research. Point of Contact Paula Wilkison, Contracting Specialist, Phone (301) 975-8448, Email paula.wilkison@nist.gov
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOC/NIST/AcAsD/AMD-12-SS31/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: NIST, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20899, United States
- Zip Code: 20899
- Zip Code: 20899
- Record
- SN02762723-W 20120602/120531235916-8cc57ecd2d10ee3d5d9c0aa1f693a58f (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |