R&D Contracting Directorate, Bldg 7, 2530 C Street, WPAFB, OH 45433-7607

A -- HYBRID EVOLUTIONARY LEARNING FOR PATTERN RECOGNITION SOL PRDA No. 98-04-SNK DUE 090998 POC Contact Alan Struckman, Contract Negotiator, (937) 255-2902, or Vicki A. Fry, Contracting Officer, (937) 255-6908 WEB: Click here to view the R&D Contracting home page, http://www.wrs.afrl.af.mil/contract/. INTRODUCTION: The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is interested in receiving proposals (technical and cost) on the research effort described below. Proposals in response to this PRDA shall be received by 9 September 1998, 1500 hours Eastern Time, addressed to AFRL, Directorate of R&D Contracting, Building 7, Area B, Attn: (Mr. Alan Struckman, AFRL/SNKR) Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433-7607. This is an unrestricted solicitation. Small businesses are encouraged to propose on all or any part of this solicitation. Proposals submitted shall be in accordance with this announcement. Proposal receipt after the cutoff date and time specified herein shall be treated in accordance with restrictions of FAR 52.215-1, Instructions to Offerors -- Competitive Acquisition (Oct 1997); a copy of this provision may be obtained from the contracting point of contact. There will be no other solicitation issued in regard to this requirement. Offerors should be alert for any PRDA amendments that may permit subsequent submission of proposal dates. Offerors should review the WL Guide titled, "PRDA and BAA Guide for Industry," dated 29 March 1996. This guide was specifically designed to assist offerors in understanding the PRDA/BAA proposal process. The Guide can be downloaded from the AFRL Wright Research Site at http://www.wrs.afrl.af.mil/contract/. Copies also may be requested from the contracting point of contact cited herein. B -- REQUIREMENTS: (1) Technical Description: The purpose of this effort is to develop the technology necessary to demonstrate automated design and synthesis of pattern recognition solutions that would otherwise be manually developed by human experts. Research in this area should demonstrate a strong potential to enhance Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) weapons systems, reduce costs and development time, and reduce the need for human expertise. Soft computing techniques such as neural networks, fuzzy sets, and evolutionary computing techniques (genetic algorithms (GA), genetic programming (GP), and evolutionary programming (EP)) have aided human designers in optimizing fixed designs and in constructing associative maps. Recent experiments have demonstrated how to bootstrap the design of classical pattern recognition systems by combining multiple evolutionary computer techniques and a neural network by using three interrelated design phases: (a) individual feature detectors, (b) detector sets, and (c) pattern classifier. The methodology incorporated feedback mechanisms for recursive elaboration of features from simple to complex and addressed basic modeling problems that characterize automatic design systems: (a) establishment of performance measures for driving the various stages of the evolutionary design process, (b) integration of multiple evolutionary design strategies, and (c) resource allocation for these different processes. The overall goal is to develop and demonstrate advanced automatic design systems that combine and layer multiple evolutionary techniques with emphasis on synthesizing, rather than just optimizing, computational networks or complex algorithms for image and signal recognition tasks. This effort will implement an evolving HELPR test-bed with annual demonstrations using 2-d High Range Resolution (HRR) radar signatures and 3-d ATR problems in the SAR and optical image domains. HELPR evaluations will compare savings in manpower requirements and performance improvements in machine-generated solutions. Research results will be published and technical reports will contain complete mathematical descriptions of developed software. (2) Deliverable Items: The following deliverable data items shall be proposed: (a) Status Report, DI-MGMT-80368/T, (b) Project Planning Chart, DI-MGMT-80507A/T monthly; (c) Presentation Material, DI-ADMN-81373/T, as required; (d) Scientific and Technical Reports, Contractor's Billing Voucher, DI-MISC-80711/T, monthly; (e) Scientific and Technical Reports Final Report, DI-MISC-80711/T, (Draft and Reproducible Final); and (f) Funds and Man-Hour Expenditure Report, DI-FNCL-80331/T, monthly. (3) Security Requirements: Unclassified. C -- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: (1) Anticipated Period of Performance: The Government anticipates awarding two contracts or grants, each with a total length of the technical effort estimated to be 48 months. The contractor shall provide for an additional four months for processing/completion of the final report. The Government desires an option for an additional year of effort. (2) Expected Award Date: 1998 September. (3) Government Estimate: The Government total funding profile for all awards is estimated to be as follows: FY 98: $1K; FY 99: $175K; FY00: $175K; FY01: $175K; FY02: $225K; TOTAL $751K. The funding profile is an estimate only and is not a promise for funding as all funding is subject to Government discretion and availability. (4) Type of contract: Cost sharing is encouraged. Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) or Cost (no fee) also will be considered. Any grants or cooperative agreements awarded will be cost (no fee). (5) Government Furnished Property: None (6) Size Status: For the purpose of this acquisition, the size standard is 500 employees (SIC 8731). (7) Notice to Foreign-Owned Firms: Such firms are asked to immediately notify the Air Force point cited below upon deciding to respond to this announcement. Foreign contractors should be aware that restrictions may apply which could preclude their participating in this acquisition. The basic research is unclassified and not subject to ITAR. D -- PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS: (1) General Instructions: Offerors should apply the restrictive notice prescribed in the provision at FAR 52.215-1, Instructions to Offerors -- Competitive Acquisitions (Oct 1997), to trade secrets or privileged commercial and financial information contained in their proposals. Proposal questions should be directed to one of the points of contact listed elsewhere herein. Offerors should consider instructions contained in the WL PRDA and BAA Guide for Industry referenced in Section A of this announcement. Technical and cost proposals, submitted in separate volumes, are required and must be valid for 180 days. Proposals must reference the above PRDA number. In an effort to move toward paperless contracting, you are encouraged to submit your cost and technical proposals via electronic means on computer disk. Please note that classified information shall NOT be submitted on disk. If proposals are not submitted on computer disk, they shall be submitted in an original and five copies. If proposals will be submitted by electronic means, they shall be submitted in two paper copies and two electronic copies. The disks shall be 3 1/2 inch high-density disks. Any technical and cost (spreadsheet calculations) proposals submitted electronically shall be readable by Microsoft Word 6.0 for Windows, Excel 5.0 for Windows, and/or Powerpoint 4.0 for Windows. All responsible sources may submit a proposal which shall be considered against the criteria set forth herein. Offerors are advised that only contracting officers are legally authorized to contractually bind or otherwise commit the government. (2) Cost Proposal: Adequate Price Competition is anticipated. The accompanying cost proposal/price breakdown shall be supplied on an SF 1448 or equivalent, together with supporting schedules, and shall contain a person-hour breakdown per task. A suggested cost/price format is available from the contracting point of contact. (3) Technical Proposal: The technical proposal shall include a discussion of the nature and scope of the research and the technical approach. Additional information on prior work in this area, descriptions of available equipment, data and facilities, and resumes of personnel who will be participating in this effort should also be included as attachments to the technical proposal. The technical proposal shall include a Statement of Work (SOW) detailing the technical tasks proposed to be accomplished under the proposed effort and suitable for contract incorporation. Offerors should refer to the WL Guide referencedin Section A to assist in SOW preparation. PL 98-94 applies. Any questions concerning the technical proposal or SOW preparation shall be referred to the Technical Point of Contact cited in this announcement. (4) Page Limitations: The technical proposal shall be limited to 50 pages (12 pitch or larger type) including SOW and attachments, double spaced, single-sided, 8.5 by 11 inches. The page limitation includes all information, i.e. indexes, photographs, foldouts, appendices, attachments, etc. Pages in excess of this limitation will not be considered by the government. Cost proposals have no limitations; however, offerors are requested to keep cost proposals to 25 pages as a goal. (5) Preparation Cost: This announcement does not commit the Government to pay for any response preparation cost. The cost of preparing proposals in response to this PRDA is not considered an allowable direct charge to any resulting contract or for any other contract. However, it may be an allowable expense to the normal bid and proposal indirect cost as specified in FAR 31.205-18. E -- BASIS FOR AWARD: The Air Force anticipates two awards. The selection of one or more sources for award will be based on an evaluation of an offeror's response (both technical and cost aspects) to determine the overall merit of the proposal in response to the announcement. The technical aspect, which is ranked as the first order of priority, shall be evaluated based on the following criteria which are of equal importance: (a) new and creative solutions; (b) the offeror's understanding of the scope of the technical effort and applicable technologies; (c) soundness and depth of offeror's approach including the proposed Statement of Work; and (d) the availability of qualified technical personnel and their experience with automatic design of pattern recognition systems based on hybrid evolutionary techniques. Cost and/or price, which includes consideration of proposed budgets and funding profiles, is a substantial factor, but ranked as the second order of priority. No other evaluation criteria will be used. The technical and cost information will be evaluated at the same time. The Air Force reserves the right to select for award of a contract, grant or cooperative agreement any, all, part, or none of the proposals received. Award of a grant to universities or nonprofit institutions or cooperative agreement, in lieu of a contract, will be considered and will be subject to the mutual agreement of the parties. F -- POINTS OF CONTACT: (1) Technical Contact Point: Dr. Louis Tamburino, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH 45433-7333, (937) 255-1115, ext 2672. (2) An Ombudsman has been appointed to hear concern from offerors and potential offerors during the proposal development phase of the acquisition. The purpose of the Ombudsman is not to diminish the authority of the Contracting Officer, but to communicate contractor concerns, issues, disagreements and recommendations to the appropriate government personnel. All potential offerors should use established channels to voice concerns before resorting to use of the Ombudsman. When requested, the Ombudsman will maintain strict confidentiality as to the source of the concern. The Ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of proposals or in the selection decision. Interested parties should direct all routine communication concerning this acquisition to Mr. Alan Struckman, Contract Negotiator, AFRL/SNKR, Bldg 7, 2530 C Street, Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433-7607, telephone (937) 255-2902. The Ombudsman should be contacted only with issues or problems that have been previously brought to the attention of the contracting officer and could not be satisfactorily resolved at that level. These serious concerns may be directed to the Ombudsman, James P. Bixler, Lt Col, DET 1 AFRL/PK, 2530 C Street, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433-7607. Phone number is (937) 255-4813. See Note 26 Posted 07/16/98 (W-SN224132). (0197)

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