U.S. Department of Energy, Golden Field Office, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401

A -- NOTICE OF SOLICITATION FOR THE INVENTIONS AND INNOVATION PROGRAM SOL DE-PS36-99GO10426 DUE 073099 POC Contact James Damm, Contract Specialist at (303) 275-4744 or james_damm@nrel.gov or Jennifer Squire, Program Analyst, at (303) 275-4764 or jennifer_squire@nrel.gov. WEB: To obtain a copy of the solicitation, eligible parties, www.oit.doe.gov/inventions. E-MAIL: Click here to contact the Contract Specialist or Program, james_damm@nrel.gov or jennifer_squire@nrel.gov. The Inventions and Innovation (I&I) Program is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT) grant program which provides financial and technical assistance to encourage the innovation and commercialization of energy-related inventions. Projects that have a significant potential energy savings and a future commercial market are chosen for financial and technical support through this competitive solicitation process. Additionally, DOE will provide awardees with non-financial support by assisting them with business development and commercialization planning through a network of national and regional resource providers. This grant program is managed by DOE's Golden Field Office in support of OIT. The following OIT focus industries, dominant energy users and waste generators in the U.S. manufacturing sector, are of particular interest to this program: Agriculture, Aluminum, Chemicals, Forest Products, Glass, Metalcasting, Mining, Petroleum, and Steel. Emphasis will be placed on funding inventions consistent with OIT focus industries' visions and roadmap documents. Please visit the OIT website at www.oit.doe.gov for the vision/roadmap of each focus industry. While emphasis will be given to industrial manufacturing technologies with a focus on the target sectors identified previously, applications that are within the overall Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) transportation, buildings and power missions and areas of concern will also be considered for award. Please refer to www.eren.doe.gov for additional information on each EERE sector. DOE will provide financial assistance for two categories of projects. The first category (Category 1) will fund up to $40,000 per award for applications which fall within the first two stages of development (conceptual and technical feasibility). United States individual inventors, small businesses (profit or not-for-profit with less than 500 employees), universities, and not for profit research institutes may apply for Category 1 Applications. The second category (Category 2) will fund up to $200,000 per award for applications which fall within the last two stages of development (Development and Commercial Validation or Demonstration). U.S. individual inventors and small businesses (profit or not-for-profit with less than 500 employees) may apply for Category 2 Applications. A "U.S. individual inventor" is an inventor who retains U.S. citizenship. A "U.S. business" is either i) a corporation that is incorporated in the U.S. and whose parent company (if applicable) is not of foreign origin; or ii) a business entity, other than a corporation, that is owned substantially by U.S. citizens. Individual inventors and very small businesses (15 or fewer employees) are especially encouraged to participate. DOE laboratories are not eligible to receive DOE funding as an awardee or subawardee in this program. The awards will be made through a competitive process. Each award may cover a project period of up to two (2) years for Category 1 Applications and three (3) years for Category 2 Applications. DOE reserves the right to fund, in whole or in part, any, all, or none of the proposals submitted in response to this notice. DOE expects to issue the solicitation on May 13, 1999 with a closing date of July 30, 1999. To obtain a copy of the solicitation, eligible parties should download the document from the I&I website at www.oit.doe.gov/inventions. If internet access is not available, information may be obtained by writing to the U.S. Department of Energy Golden Field Office, Inventions and Innovation Program, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, Colorado 80401. For convenience, requests for the solicitation may also be faxed to Jennifer Squire at (303) 275-4788. Posted 05/14/99 (W-SN331672). (0134)

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