FBO_Industry_day_QandA_FINAL.pdf

Motor Aging and Surveillance Technology (MAST) Industry Day Q&A

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1. BAA Mechanics

a. Can small business lead efforts in Call 1? Yes

b. Do you have to win one call to continue on to another? No, each call is independent.

c. How does the FFP final report work? The FFP final report has the same cycle as the CPFF report, 30‐30‐30 (30 days after end of the technical period of performance to deliver the draft, 30 days for the Government to deliver comments, 30 days to make corrections and submit the camera ready copy). The main difference is that it is separately priced;

the funds for the report will not be released until the camera ready copy is approved.

There will be interim/monthly progress reports included in the CPFF portion that will build a strong foundation for the final report.

d. May these efforts overlap with SBIR efforts? Yes, but the Government cannot pay for the same work twice.

e. How does FFP affect the guaranteed final report clause? The guaranteed final report clause normally seen in a CPFF contract will not be included. Instead the information is included in the Final Report Contract Line Item Number (CLIN).

f. What is the importance of the final report relative to other contract deliverables

(CDRLs)? The final report is considered the most important to AFRL because it provides a complete record of the contracted work for future use.

g. Are you currently only answering questions concerning Call 1? No.

h. What is the anticipated release date for the BAA? Originally March/April 2014, but this has slipped to April/May 2014.

i. What is the target for funding of Calls 2, 3, and 4? We have plans, but funding estimates won’t be released until the draft Call.

j. When does open communication end? Open communication between Governmental technical points of contact and Industry representatives ends on the closing date of the

BAA.

k. Will Call 2 result in only 1 contract award? Not necessarily.

l. Will Calls 3 and 4 have an additional Industry Day? Potentially, but not necessarily.

There will be opportunities for communication prior to the solicitation. A draft version of each call is planned to be released.

m. Will models developed in Call 1 need to be used in Call 3? No.

2. Additional Information

a. Are you providing a list of SBIR companies that can provide sensor or other specific technologies? No, but we will provide a list of recent SBIR contracts that we have had at

AFRL Edwards that generally pertain to the BAA as part of the supplemental package.

b. Will data be available from previous efforts? We plan to provide reports in a supplemental package, thus it depends if the data is in the reports. For raw data, it depends on the data rights of whether or not the Air Force owns it and if we have taken delivery of it.

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c. Will Government developed GOTChA (Goals, Objectives, Technical Challenges, and

Approaches) be provided? Yes as part of the supplemental package (draft BAA section

III‐5).

d. Will the final BAA have a full bibliography? No. We do intend to provide a supplemental package (draft BAA section III‐5) that will contain a more complete bibliography as well as other information which may include full reports.

e. Will the Government be providing an example SEMP? No, enough detail is provided in

CDRL. The SEMP needs to be representative of the level of effort of the overall program.

3. Industry day attendees

a. How can a business find individuals with other expertise? A list of attendees will be posted on FBO.gov.

b. Will a list of industry day attendees be posted on FBO.gov? Yes.

4. # of Proposals and awards

a. What are the limitations of three proposals from a company for call 1? Note the number of proposals for Call 1 has been reduced from three to two. It limits prime contractor to submit any number of proposals up to two. Being a subcontractor does not count towards the total of two proposals. The number of proposals allowed might change in the Final BAA/Call 1 and will likely change in future calls.

b. How is the budget split between Subtopic 1 and 2? The budget will be managed at the

Call level and not for the individual efforts.

c. What is the anticipated number of contracts to be awarded? Unknown.

d. The expected contract cost is $500k to $1M would the Government consider funding efforts that cost less than $500k? How about greater than $1M? Yes, smaller efforts are welcome the work proposed should reflect the costs outlines. Yes, larger efforts are allowed, but require additional justification of the resources required and benefits anticipated.

5. Subtopic 2 Embedded sensor for propellant, liner, and insulation (PLI) flaw detection analysis

a. Is there a general class of sensor that Subtopic 2 is targeting? Not specifically, it is generally intended to be an extension of Dr. Miller’s work, but any embedded sensor technology that can detect size and location of flaws would be considered.

b. Should the approach be general or specific to a sensor type? The approach should be tailored to the type of sensor proposed. It is anticipated that most sensor types would have relatively similar approaches.

c. Could we partner with a sensor company? Yes.

6. What is the expected level of communication and reporting required for this effort? Frequent and open communication is desired. Please see CDRLs for specific requirements.

7. IPT (draft BAA section I‐2.2)

a. Can new member be added to the IPT? Yes.

b. Can academia and specific subject matter experts be included? Yes.

c. How will people be invited? Via email.

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d. How will be people request to be involved? Send email request to the program manager.

8. Is there interest in central data storage and analysis? This is not a focus of this call.

9. What mechanisms will be used to disseminate information from the efforts to the broader community? IPT, JANNAF, and DTIC.

10. Would focusing on a specific type of propellant system be too restrictive? Not necessarily, but effort would need to address all the requirements.

11. Will Government be offering V&V support or determining if it should be conducted with already available data? No. Company may request GFE/GFI. (draft BAA section I‐4.2)

12. Are there any opportunities for experimental work? Yes, it could fit under subtopic 1.1 if it supported the V&V of the model, potentially to a lesser extent subtopic 1.2.

13. Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy FTIR was discussed in conjunction with what previous efforts? SLPT, CDA, also some SBIR work. The previous two reports may be available in the supplemental data package.

14. Is the Propellant, Liner, Insulation (PLI) interface or the propellant of most interest? Interested in both but looking for what has the greatest payoff in reduction of predictive uncertainty.

15. For the validation of models, is the data available or would it have to be created? It depends on what is needed.

16. What is the expected TRL level at end of effort? TRL 4 (see draft BAA Call 1 I‐1.2.7)

17. Do physics based models need to use embedded sensor analysis? No

18. Is a standalone computer for use of software a possibility at Air Force installation? It may be possible, but is not the ideal route for maximum utilization of software.