FA8650-19-S-1031_-_QA_List.pdf

Question Answer

Will training be a component of the requirements for this BAA and if so, will the Government describe the scope of that work?

Yes, the project utilizes a mix of government and contracting personnel as trainers for CREATE-RF classes.

Classes are provided in Dayton and at sites across the US -up to four times a year. Past contractor training effort has been about 500 hours/year.

To what extent does cybersecurity need to be considered in the engineering and development of the software applications?

The CREATE-RF Project will follow all current and future cybersecurity requirements as directed by the DoD.

Is Government expecting a systems engineering process be used in the sustainment and modernization of the software applications?

No, the CREATE-RF Project aims to develop software with agility. A cadence of software releases as directed by the sponsor, the CREATE Program Office, is required, currently yearly.

What is the expected portability (from a host computer platform standpoint) of the developed solution(s)?

All CREATE-RF tools are expected to support both Linux and Windows operating systems. Only 64-bit platforms are intended to be supported. Multiple node distributed computation (parallelization) is only expected to be supported on Linux host platforms.

What other branches or program offices may be involved from a user community interaction standpoint during execution of the effort?

The CREATE-RF project impacts many aspects of governmental and industry applications. Wide ranging community interaction will be expected. Non-disclosure agreements may be required to support proprietary applications.

What does the government anticipate or require for: sub-contractors (universities, other industry partners, or independent SMEs)?

This effort will require a diversity of knowledge, background, capability, and expertise to be able to support the complex, deep, and challenging nature of the program objectives.

What does the government anticipate or require for: ODC and travel expenses?

Refer to the BAA

What does the government anticipate or require for: Material or equipment purchasing (e.g. for computing capability, or for V&V test and evaluation)?

Refer to the BAA

I would like to know more specific information about the accuracy improvements desired. For instance, are error measures desired? Are they measuring accuracy in solutions or setup? What methods are covered, etc.

The government uses extensive verification and validation of methods in its development of advanced computational electromagnetic tools.

Length of anticipated contract? 5 years Will local support in Dayton be required? Refer to the BAA Is US Citizenship required Yes

Questions Submitted Prior to Industry Day

Is there an incumbent/incumbents currently addressing the same or similar objectives, and if so, who? When does their contract expire?

Yes, Riverside Research is the current incumbent along with Applied Research Associates, StellarScience, and a few universities as subcontractors. The current contract supports multiple AFRL projects in addition to CREATE-RF that will continue, however CREATE-RF technical efforts are expected to end sometime during the fall of 2019.

Is the government considering, or would they consider, an acquisition strategy other than full & open?

No

What is the expected solicitation release and proposal response timing?

The BAA solicitation is expected to be released in April 2019.

Response time will be 30 days.

Is OCI a concern regarding the knowledge to be required of device/system designs (other company proprietary information) that will be the subject of the program? Would OCI prevent a company from being considered for award?

We are unaware of any OCI.

The NOCA indicates this is a closed BAA with one award – is it to be Task Order based in execution?

If so, what is the anticipated or typical number/size/duration of task orders?

The award will not be Task Order based.

What types or size of Past Performance, if any, are most important to the government?

Please refer to the BAA for proposal review criteria.

What is the government’s position regarding teaming (JVs, prime/sub) for proposals from industry?

The government has no position.

General Questions: Answer Will Industry Day attendance list be publically posted? Yes

Are measurements a key piece for V+V?

Yes, the second V in V&V (Verification and Validation) cannot be achieved without measurements.

What sort of testing/ V&V do you anticipate?

(Cosite, Installed antennas, etc.)

We intend to verify and validate the CREATE-RF tools against the widest possible range of test problems and applications. A key use case for the CREATE-RF tools is antenna system platform integration.

One of the charts mentioned time-domain methods but no results or products in the technical summary. Could you clarify the Gov interest in TD? Is it: a)support an existing but not yet released code? B) propose/standup new tools building on the existing CREATE-RF discretization stack? c) something else?

CREATE-RF is currently in the early stages of time-domain research and code development. However we are not set on any specific approach at this stage. All of the proposed directions in the question are viable.

Is it worthwhile to pitch/propose formulation ideas for a TD code, or has that choice already been made? See answer to similar question

It was mentioned, during the presentation, that work was underway to modernize FLO-K, but the state of progress wasn't clear. Would proposals to assist in this effort be welcome? Yes Are there any scope partitions that the government has in mind for splitting work between multiple awards? No What is the funding profile? Refer to the BAA

How many awards does the Gov expect?

Reference the BAA, today we stated that we expect to fund 1-3 awards.

Will any provisions /incentives be given for Small Business participation?

Refer to the BAA

Where do the technology gaps exist in the current SENTRi tools?

Technology gaps continuously evolve year over year.

Closing any one gap often reveals both new limitations and new possibilities. The CREATE-RF team constantly (on a day-to-day, monthly, and semi-annual basis) evaluates and prioritizes future development direction based on identified gaps at the time.

Do non-developer contractors have access to source code? No

Questions Submitted at Industry Day (April 5)

Can you provide an overview of specific CEM methods that you are looking to develop under this contract?

We are looking for a broad array of capabilities. Some methods are mentioned in the BAA, but this is not comprehensive.

Do you want this contract to research new ideas or implement existing ideas? Both

Are you looking for University partnership?

CREATE-RF has traditionally partnered with universities, either directly, or as a sub on a prime contract.

Is machine learning being implemented/ looked at? Not at this time.

Is CREATE-RF more interested in CEM or finite element methods?

We use the finite element method and other methods to solve Maxwell's equations.

Who owns Caesar and what contract is it currently under?

CAESAR is referenced in the industry day slides. CAESAR is not a specific task in the BAA, but is part of CREATE-RF's application of its analysis tools to problems of interest to the Air Force. Application efforts are funded by the RaDiAEM contract, and future efforts will be funded by RAVEnS.

Are CMMI processes important?

No. We use agile processes, and agile processes are often in conflict with CMMI.

Is agile or CMMI certification required? No

What does multi-physics mean?

Analysis across multiple domains of physics including, but not limited to, heat transfer, fluid flow, structural mechanics, and electromagnetics. The CREATE-RF project develops tools that are sufficiently flexible to meet the needs of DoD applications that may require coupling to other physics based modelling software.

Are you limiting multi-physics coupling to CREATE tools? No

Are you limiting asymptotic tools to Aurora? No

What can be uploaded and taken from the JDC?

Data egress and ingress from the JDC must be approved by the CREATE-RF PM by written direction or approved policy.

Are you considering hardware acceleration techniques? Not at this time.

How would you like contractors to price different technical areas and divide the work? The government has no position on this matter.

How to divide the work when proposing? The government has no position on this matter.

What level of detail is needed for subcontractor pricing?

Refer to the BAA

Does "government unlimited" data rights extend to measured hardware.

Refer to the BAA

What rights does the contractor have to code developed in collaboration with CREATE-RF. Can you provide some insight on source code ownership? Does the contractor have full rights to all code developed? This will be resolved during contract negotiations.

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