Attachment 1-_Solid State Chip Exam and Recovery.docx

ATTACHMENT 1

ATTACHMENT 1

SECTION B – SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICES

B-1 Blanket Purchase Agreement Pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.303, Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs), the Contractor agrees to the following terms of a BPA for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB):

1. The Contractor shall furnish supplies or services, as described in the Statement of Work (SOW), if and when requested by the Contracting Officer and authorized representative(s) for the duration of up to five (5) years, at a not-to-exceed $250,000.00 price ceiling.

2. The NTSB is the only authorized user of this BPA; and therefore, other agencies may not place orders against this BPA.

3. This BPA does not obligate any funds. Funding obligations will be made through the issuance of firm fixed-price BPA orders issued against this BPA. The government is obligated only to the extent of authorized purchases actually made under the BPA.

4. The BPA is not a contract. However, references to contract clauses and contract clauses set out in full which are contained in the BPA apply to future BPA orders, and upon acceptance of the BPA, those clauses are incorporated by reference into the BPA orders, unless otherwise stated in the BPA orders.

5. This BPA expires on August 31, 2021, or upon cancellation by the government. The ordering periods are as follows:

Base Year 12 months September 1, 2021 – August 31, 2022

Option Year 1 12 months September 1, 2022 – August 31, 2023

Option Year 2 12 months September 1, 2023 – August 31, 2024

Option Year 3 12 months September 1, 2024 – August 31, 2025

Option Year 4 12 months September 1, 2025 – August 31, 2026

6. The government estimates, but does not guarantee, that the cumulative total or orders through this agreement is not-to-exceed $250,000.00.

7. The Contractor shall provide deliverable(s) after receipt of a SOW from the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) for all orders. Once a deliverable(s) is provided, the NTSB requires the Contractor to provide deliverables in a thorough and acceptable manner in the timeframes, content, and format provided by the Agency. BPA order procedures are as follows:

8. The Contractor shall provide deliverables on an as-needed basis, within the scope of the BPA, and at the prices set forth in this BPA under its respective period.

9. The NTSB will designate a COR for this BPA. After all necessary discussions between the COR and the Contractor are complete, the COR will submit a SOW to the Contractor. After the SOW is sent, the COR will send the damaged device(s) to the Contractor. The Contractor shall perform services in accordance with the SOW. After services are complete, the Contractor shall send the COR the deliverables as described in the SOW, the estimated cost of work performed, and return the damaged device(s) to the NTSB. After inspection and acceptance of the deliverables by the NTSB, the Contractor shall submit an invoice for payment.

10. The SOW may be sent via email to the Contractor. The email will describe the required device examination/evaluation and/or data recovery activities, deliverables, and period of performance.

11. Scheduling of the BPA order deliverables shall be coordinated with the COR.

12. The Contractor shall notify the CO and COR when the aggregate orders have reached 75% of the NTE BPA price ceiling. The Contractor shall not exceed the total NTE amount specified for each individual BPA order.

13. Once issued, a BPA order may be modified in the same manner with which it was issued.

14. Invoices shall be submitted to the COR and the Contracting Officer. Invoices shall be paid in accordance with clause NTSB-011 Standard Invoices.

B-2 Authorized Ordering Officials The authorized personnel for activating services for this requirement are:

1. NTSB Contracting Officer

B-3 Order Limitations The government is not obligated to purchase any services under the terms and conditions of this BPA. The BPA may be cancelled at any time by the government. Termination of specific BPA orders is in accordance with FAR 12.403, Termination.

[END OF SECTION]

SECTION C – STATEMENT OF WORK

C-1 Background The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent Federal agency with the primary missions of investigating civil aviation accidents in the United States and significant accidents in the other modes of transportation -- railroad, highway, marine and pipeline -- and issuing safety recommendations aimed at preventing future accidents.

C-2 Scope of Work The NTSB requires a Contractor to provide solid-state integrated circuit semiconductor expertise needed to evaluate and recover data from damaged accident vehicle electronics. To accomplish this, the NTSB intends to issue one (1) Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) with firm-fixed price BPA orders. Once a task has been identified, the NTSB requires the Contractor to complete the work as quickly as possible – generally within two (2) weeks. Additionally, the NTSB may identify additional areas of study that may require longer term research to fully understand solid-state device characteristics that have been exposed to fire, heat, and other damage during an accident. The NTSB has identified the following three (3) main task areas:

C-2.1 Task Area 1 – Damaged Memory Device Examination/Evaluation The NTSB cannot predict what type of electronic recording devices may be harvested from accident wreckages. The NTSB does not currently possess the necessary specialized equipment or expertise to fully evaluate the extent of damage that solid-state memory devices may have been subjected to during an accident sequence (such as impact forces or post-accident fire). The NTSB has a need for a Contractor to assist in the non-destructive evaluation of damaged electronic non-volatile memory devices. The non-destructive evaluation may be accomplished by employing low energy x-ray technology, scanning acoustic wave (SAW) imaging, or other state-of-the-art technologies that are compatible with the type of memory device being evaluated. The evaluation should determine and document the extent of any mechanical, packaging, conductivity, or electrical damage, if any, and to recommend the most appropriate highest probability of success course of action that may be needed to recover the stored accident data. The NTSB will issue firm-fixed price BPA orders.

C-2.2 Task Area 2 – Recovery of Data from Damaged Memory Devices After evaluation of the memory device and determining whether to pursue data recovery, the NTSB requires specialized assistance with the recovery of stored information contained within a damaged solid-state semiconductor memory device. The NTSB currently does not possess the necessary specialized equipment or expertise to recover data from damaged memory devices when it is determined that the actual memory silicon must be remove from the external packaging. Additionally, re-bonding of connecting wires and/or external probing may be required to recover stored data. The data recovery process may be destructive to the physical device so extreme care must be employed to ensure that the highest level of data recovery success is achieved. The NTSB will issue firm-fixed price BPA orders.

C-2.3 Task Area 3 – Study of Solid-State Device Characteristics of Devices that have been Damaged in Accidents The NTSB may identify long term study topics to help identify and quantify changes to solid-state devices that have been exposed to damage after an accident. The NTSB requires specialized assistance with the study of solid-state semiconductor device that have experienced damage during an accident such as long-term fire, heat, or impact exposure. The NTSB currently does not possess the necessary specialized equipment, or expertise to study these subtle characteristic changes. Additionally, new and innovative techniques may be required to re-bond connecting wires and/or external probing to explore stored data. The NTSB will issue firm-fixed price BPA orders.

C-3 Deliverables

1. Task Area 1 – Damaged Memory Device Examination/Evaluation: Deliverables include: 1) A report detailing the extent of the damage and recommendations for recovery options, 2) Documentation including images of sufficient quality as determined by the COR, and 3) The return of the damaged memory device immediately after the end of the device examination/evaluation activities, unless otherwise directed by the COR.

2. Task Area 2 – Recovery of Data from Damaged Memory Devices: Deliverables include: 1) Recovered memory device data in an industry standard binary file format 2) A report detailing recovery/data extraction procedures, 3) Documentation including images of sufficient quality as determined by the COR, and 4) The return of the damaged memory device immediately after the end of the data recovery activities, unless otherwise directed by the COR.

3. Task Area 3 – Study of Solid-State Device Characteristics of Devices that have been Damaged in Accidents: Deliverables include: 1) A study report detailing the study objective, methodology, tests and test conditions, conclusions and study outcome documented with appropriate images, graphs, and diagrams of sufficient quality to be submitted as a research paper, as determined by the COR.

4. Post Award Meeting: The purpose of this meeting is for NTSB, and the Contractor Project Manager (PM) to review the terms and conditions of the BPA and establish a sound working relationship with the Contractor to ensure successful performance. At this meeting, NTSB will review all BPA requirements, deliverables, and expectations as well as administrative matters.

5. Task Reports: During performance of the work as described in the SOW, the Contractor shall furnish one (1) copy of an evaluation or work report to the COR and one (1) copy to the Contracting Officer at the completion of the contracted task or evaluation. The report shall describe tasks accomplished; include any evaluation or documentation description or photographs, status of any on-going tasks, and outlines any follow-on action that may be needed. The report shall also provide a summary of costs and hours cumulative for all task completed under the assigned BPA.

6. Management and Staffing Plan: The Contractor shall furnish a management plan that defines how the project is executed, monitored, and controlled. The management plan must include a staffing plan in which the Contractor explains its organizational structure, staffing objectives, skill levels, and labor categories, and explains its staffing strategies to ensure that knowledge, skills, and abilities remain current and equipment availability meet the damaged solid-state device recovery needs of the NTSB, that personnel shortages and gaps do not endanger performance, that a skilled, experienced workforce is retained throughout the period of performance, and that peak workloads covered effectively and efficiently.

The Contractor shall complete services in a thorough and acceptable manner in timeframes provided by the Agency, and some of these tasks may require summary reports or other types of deliverables. Content, format, and due dates for these types of deliverables will be determined by NTSB as they arise.

C-4 Programming Qualifications

1. Technical personnel shall have at least five (5) years of experience in the evaluation and recovery of stored data from both current and older technology solid-state non-volatile storage devices made by multiple vendors and commonly used within the commercial industry: to include expertise in 1) semiconductor manufacturing and packaging, 2) chip bonding and connections, 3) device electrical and mechanical failure mechanisms and 4) state-of-the-art non-destructive imaging and device evaluation technologies.

2. Technical personnel shall be proficient in the operation of the specialized evaluation and recovery equipment necessary to recovery stored data from mechanically/thermally damaged solid-state non-volatile storage devices. All personnel assigned to task orders under this BPA shall have at least a Bachelor’s degree in a related field of study.

C-5 Government Furnished Property The government shall provide access to the solid-state memory devices for evaluation. All provided materials and devices should be returned to the government immediately after all work is completed, as directed by the COR.

C-6 NTSB Presence During Examination/Evaluation and/or Data Recovery Activities Generally, the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) will not accompany the damaged devices to the Contractor’s facility. The COR will determine if COR presence will be required during performance of the Task Areas above. Certain accidents will require COR presence and the presence of parties to the investigation during examination, evaluation and/or recovery activities. In the instances where the COR determines that NTSB presence is not required, the COR will provide instruction to the Contractor regarding the specific requirements of the damaged devices consistent with this SOW.

C-7 Performance Location Contractor’s Facility

C-8 Contractor’s Facility Location Certain accidents will require COR presence and the presence of parties to the investigation during examination, evaluation and/or recovery activities. Due to budgetary constraints, the facilities shall be located within a 400 miles radius of the NTSB Headquarters offices. The NTSB Headquarters is located at:

National Transportation Safety Board 490 L’Enfant Plaza, SW Washington, D.C. 20594

C-9 Period of Performance The period of performance shall be for one (1) base year of 12 months and four (4) 12-month option years. The anticipated dates of performance are as follows:

C-10 Non-Disclosure Agreement All Contractor personnel shall execute a NTSB Non-Disclosure Agreement within fourteen (14) calendar days of BPA award and shall agree to provisions subject to non-disclosure to protect information remain in effect two (2) years from termination or expiration of the BPA.

[END OF SECTION]

INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

E-1 Inspection and Acceptance The COR shall perform inspection and acceptance of all work and deliverables required under task orders under this BPA. The COR will inspect the results produced for each task and acceptance will be based on the following factors:

1. Suitability of the chip level evaluation and examination.

2. Ability of the Contractor to perform the desired chip level evaluation and/or recovery, and/or research study.

3. Other criteria as specified in the BPA order.

[END OF SECTION]

SECTION L – PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS

L-1 General Information The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) solicits your proposal for solid-state electronic devices “chip” level examination, data recovery, and research studies support services. This Request for Proposal (RFP) will result in the award of one (1) Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) with firm-fixed price BPA orders for one (1) base year and up to four (4) option years.

L-2 Notice and Instruction to Contractors Contractors are required to meet all the requirements of the RFP, including but not limited to instructions, conditions/notices, and requirements in the SOW. Proposals should address each factor(s)/sub-factor(s) as described below. Responses that merely repeat the requirements in the SOW or give only assurances without detailing how the Contractor can perform the requirements may not be considered as being responsive to the requirements of this RFP. Proposals that fail to address the essential requirements of this RFP or are unrealistic in terms of technical content, schedule commitment, or price will be deemed to have an inherent lack of technical competence or indicative of a failure to comprehend the requirements, or the complexity and risks associated with the requirements. The government may reject any proposal that is so lacking in competence or in understanding the requirements that without a major reformation of the proposal it is not adequate for evaluation purposes. Alternate/conditional proposals may result in a proposal being rejected as non-responsive. The government reserves the right to award without discussions. Contractors are cautioned that they must submit a best offer with the initial proposal.

In responding to this RFP, Contractors shall submit a proposal in three (3) separate parts: Technical and Price.

0. Part I – Technical Proposal: Include all information requested under “L-3 Part I Technical Proposal”. Exclude any references to price.

0. Part II – Past Performance Information: Include all information requested under “L-4 Part II Past Performance”.

0. Part III – Price Proposal: Include all information requested under “L-5 Part III Price.

L-3 Part I Technical Proposal The Technical Proposal shall include the following factors and sub-factors:

1. Executive Summary An Executive Summary of the Contractor’s proposal is required. This summary will not be evaluated separately but will be used by evaluators to understand the overall proposal contents. Therefore, the information contained in the summary is important. It should identify and highlight significant features of the proposal and include the salient points contained in the various parts. Each Contractor should include a General Information section in the Executive Summary that addresses the following: 1) organization name and address, 2) Organization Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), Duns and Bradstreet’s number, and CAGE code.

2. Factor 1 – Go-No/Go Criteria – Contractor’s Facility Location Certain accidents will require COR presence and the presence of parties to the investigation during examination, evaluation and/or recovery activities. Due to budgetary constraints, the NTSB will only consider proposals from Contractors within a 400 miles radius of the NTSB Headquarters offices. The NTSB Headquarters is located at:

National Transportation Safety Board 490 L’Enfant Plaza, SW Washington, D.C. 20594

The Contractor shall clearly indicate in its proposal the place of contract performance. A Contractor with a performance location outside of the 400-mile radius will be removed from further consideration for award.

3. Factor 2 – Technical Approach This section describes the Contractor’s overall understanding of the requirements. A Contractor’s technical approach describes the degree to which the Contractor’s technical capability satisfies all the requirements in the SOW and demonstrates that the Contractor has a clear understanding and knowledge of the SOW requirements and how to achieve them in a logical, feasible, and technically effective manner. This portion of the proposal includes the following sub-factors:

a. Sub-factor 1 – Examination/Evaluation and Recovery Methodology and Equipment Capabilities: The Contractor shall describe both their examination/evaluation and data recovery methodology in producing scans of solid-state electronic devices and describe examples of past success using these methods. The NTSB anticipates the use of X-Ray machines capable of evaluating packaged image circuit work and scanning acoustic microscopes capable of evaluating sound wave imaging processes in the performance of work under this contract. The Contractor shall describe the Contractor’s experience with the use of these items and describe under what criteria each item would be recommended for use to non-destructively evaluate chip integrity.

b. Sub-factor 2 –Solid-State Device Characteristics of Devices that have been Damaged in Accidents Study Capabilities: The Contractor shall describe their methodology and experience in performing studies of solid-state device characteristics of devices that have been damaged in accidents.

c. Sub-factor 3 – Management and Staffing Plan: The Contractor shall furnish a management plan that defines how the project is executed, monitored and controlled. The management plan must include a staffing plan in which the Contractor explains its organizational structure, staffing objectives, skill levels, and labor categories, and explains its staffing strategies to ensure that knowledge, skills, and abilities remain current and equipment availability meet the damaged solid-state device recovery needs of the NTSB, that personnel shortages and gaps do not endanger performance, that a skilled, experienced workforce is retained throughout the period of performance, and that peak workloads covered effectively and efficiently.

4. Factor 3 – Qualifications of Personnel The Contractor must effectively demonstrate the knowledge, understanding, and technical ability to successfully perform the requirements of the SOW through proposed Technical Personnel’s qualifications and relevant experience.

a. Sub-factor 4 – Resumes of Technical Personnel: Each resume shall indicate educational background, recent experience, and specific knowledge and technical accomplishments required by each task in the SOW. Certify that the information on each technical personnel submitted is true and complete, and that the individuals named are available for assignment the date the contract is effective. For all technical personnel who are not currently members of the Contractor’s staff, an original letter of commitment and agreement to serve as planned is required to be submitted with your proposal. The letter must cite this solicitation number. A resume does not meet this requirement.

Proposals must include information for proposed technical personnel. Information must include names and position to be occupied, education, past experience, awards, skills, and training. List recent projects/tasks on which the individual has worked by specific dates.

Part I Technical Proposal is limited to 15 pages excluding Factor 4 – Qualifications of Personnel.

L-4 Part II – Past Performance The offeror shall provide information on three (3) past clients with whom it has done business during the past three (3) years who have used its services for projects that are similar in size, scope and complexity to this effort. Include a short description of the work and how it relates to the current NTSB procurement, the contract type, the dates the work was performed, the name of the client, and the address and contact information (name, telephone number, email address) for each reference check.

Offerors shall ask their references, provided under Past Performance, to complete the Past Performance Questionnaire (Attachment 3) and submit it directly to Bryan J. Moy via email at bryan.moy@ntsb.gov or via fax: (240) 752-6262. It is the Contractor’s responsibility to ensure that Past Performance Questionnaires are completed timely and submitted by client references, and that correct names, addresses and phone numbers are provided in the responses for each reference. An offeror will not be penalized in the evaluation with an unfavorable rating for the failure of its past performance references to complete and submit the Past Performance Questionnaires. The government may contact Contractor client references or use other references/information available to the government to verify past performance.

There is no limit on the number of pages for Part II Past Performance.

L-5 Part III – Price For proposal evaluation purposes, the government will evaluate a Contractor’s proposed firm-fixed price hourly rates for each proposed labor category and firm fixed-price rates for all proposed equipment for the base year and each of the four (4) option year to provide the services as specified in the SOW. All prices will be evaluated but not scored.

Price proposals will be evaluated to determine the reasonableness of a Contractor’s proposal. Evaluation may include analysis to determine a Contractor’s comprehension of the solicitation requirements, as well as the validity of a Contractor’s approach. A price that is found to be unreasonably high or unrealistically low in relation to the proposed work may result in the proposal receiving a lower rating or a Contractor’s proposal may be rejected if the pricing poses an unacceptable risk to the government.

There is no limit on the number of pages for Part III Price.

L-6 Expenses Related to Contractor’s Submissions This solicitation neither commits the government to pay any cost incurred in the submission of the offer nor to contract for services or supplies. Any costs incurred in anticipation of a contract shall be at the Contractor’s own risk.

L-7 Submission of Proposals Your proposal must be received no later than 4:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, on JULY 12, 2021. LATE PROPOSALS MAY NOT BE CONSIDERED in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provision 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors – Commercial Items.

Offers may be transmitted via email to:

The maximum file size that the NTSB email server can accept per email, including attachments, is 35 megabytes (MB). Therefore, the Contractor may send each proposal part in a separate email, if the combined file size of the entire proposal will exceed 35MB.

All questions regarding this RFP shall be directed to Bryan J. Moy via email at the email address listed above. ALL QUESTIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 4:00 p.m. EST ON JUNE 25, 2021.

L-8 Electronic Dissemination of RFP Documents Access to this RFP and amendments will be posted on the Contracting Opportunities website https://sam.gov/content/opportunities. All Contractors are cautioned that it is your responsibility to frequently check back to the website to ensure that you have received all issued amendments.

[END OF SECTION]

SECTION M – EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD

M-1 Evaluation of Proposals The government may award one (1) Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) with firm fixed-price BPA orders to the responsible Contractor whose proposal that conforms to the RFP, will be most advantageous to the government, price and other non-price factors considered, such that it provides the best value to the government. Best value is defined as the procurement process that results in the most advantageous acquisition decision for the government that is performed through an integrated assessment and trade-off analysis between price and non-price factors.

The government reserves the right to reject any or all proposals if such action is in the public interest. Under a best value procurement, the NTSB may reasonably determine that the superior solution/approach merits a higher price and, therefore, represents the best value to the government or the NTSB may reasonably determine that the Contractor with other than the highest rating in non-price factors is the best value. The government may waive informalities and minor irregularities in proposals. The government reserves the right to award without discussions. Contractors are cautioned that they must submit a best offer with the initial proposal.

M –2 Evaluation Factors The following factors and sub-factors will be evaluated by the government:

I

Executive Summary (not separately evaluated)

Methodology and Equipment Capabilities

been Damaged in Accidents Study Capabilities

The non-price factors in Part I are evaluated adjectively. The sub-factors within the Technical Approach factor are rated equally. The government will evaluate factors and sub-factors in Part I based on the Contractor’s overall understanding of the requirements. A Contractor’s technical approach describes the degree to which the Contractor’s technical capability satisfies all the requirements in the SOW and demonstrates that the Contractor has a clear understanding and knowledge of the SOW requirements and how to achieve them in a logical, feasible, and technically effective manner. Contractors are cautioned that despite the relative weight of the non-price factors and sub-factors, proposals that receive an unacceptable or “No-Go” in any factor or sub-factor in Part I may be deemed ineligible for award.

Part II, Past Performance will be evaluated and will be rated Acceptable or Unacceptable. The government will assess the relevance, breadth and quality of the Contractor’s recent past performance with clients who have purchased similar services and evaluate the quality of the Contractor’s past performance based on the past performance references submitted on behalf of the Contractor and/or other information obtained from references provided by the Contractor, as well as other relevant past performance information obtained from other sources known to the government. A Contractor without a record of past performance or for whom information on relevant past performance is not available will be evaluated as neutral. The Contractor is cautioned that despite the relative weight of the non-price factors, quotes that receive an unacceptable in Part II may be deemed ineligible for award.

The non-price sub-factors within Technical Approach and Qualifications of Personnel are rated equally. Past Performance is equal to Technical Approach and Qualifications of Personnel. All evaluation factors other than Price, when combined, are significantly more important than Price. However, as proposals become more equal in non-price factors, price becomes more important.

Price will be evaluated but not scored. For proposal evaluation purposes, the government will evaluate a Contractor’s proposed firm-fixed price hourly rates for each proposed labor category and firm fixed-price rates for all proposed equipment for the base year and each option year to provide the services as specified in the SOW. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the government to exercise the option(s).

The rates for each task proposed by the Contractor will be evaluated to determine whether the proposed rates are realistic for the work to be performed; reflect a clear understanding of the requirements and are consistent with the approach described in the Contractor’s technical proposal. As part of its price evaluation, the government specifically reserves the right to evaluate the risk associated with any pricing schemes.

Price proposals will be evaluated to determine the reasonableness of a Contractor’s proposal. Evaluation may include analysis to determine a Contractor’s comprehension of the solicitation requirements, as well as the validity of a Contractor’s approach. A price that is found to be unreasonably high or unrealistically low in relation to the proposed work may result in the proposal receiving a lower rating or a Contractor’s proposal may be rejected if the pricing poses an unacceptable risk to the government.

[END OF SECTION]

Attachment 1-Solid State Electronic Devices “Chip” Level Examination/Evaluation, Data Recovery, and Research Study Support Services

6/4/2021

8:45 AM

Attachment 1-Solid State Electronic Devices “Chip” Level Examination/Evaluation, Data Recovery, and Research Study Support Services