HR001124S0038_HAPPI_Attachment_C_Proposal_Instructions_and_Volume_I.docx

HR001124S0038: Heterogenous Adaptively Produced Photonic Interfaces (HAPPI) Proposal Instructions and Volume I Template

Use of this template is mandatory for all proposal submissions to this BAA. Full proposals must include oral presentation slides content, written content, and cost proposal which will be submitted at the same time. The written content and oral presentation slides must provide a complete understanding of the approach to meet program metrics.

Full proposals will consist of the following:

a. Volume 1: Technical and Management Proposal

· Oral presentation content

· Written content

b. Volume 2: Cost Proposal

c. Attachment E

d. Applicable Attachments: F, G, and H

All submissions must be in English. The Government will not consider slides/pages in excess of the page count limitations, as described herein. Proposals not meeting the format prescribed herein may not be reviewed.

Volume 1: Oral Presentations Oral presentations will be held via Microsoft Teams and are tentatively scheduled between November 18, 2024, and November 22, 2024. DARPA will notify proposers of their scheduled time via email. Slides cannot be modified between proposal due date and oral presentation.

· The oral presentation shall not exceed 20 slides with fonts no smaller than 12-point and and must be submitted in PDF or Microsoft PowerPoint formats. Proposers will be allotted 40 minutes for presentations. Video demonstrations or prerecorded presentations are allowed within the 40 minute time limit.

· The oral presentation content should follow similar outline and information content as the written component (see Volume 1: Written content, below). A presentation template is not provided but a strong emphasis on the innovative claims, technical approach, and discussion of the technical risks and mitigation strategies is encouraged. A section on how the proposed solution will achieve the program metrics is required. All claims must be justified using quantitative analysis and supporting evidence derived from modeling, simulation, and/or prior experimental work.

· Immediately following the oral presentation, there will be a 20 minute interactive Q&A Session to address questions from a government evaluation panel. The government panel may ask questions on any aspect of the proposal during the Q&A session. Answers to questions from the panel cannot be deferred to later time, and proposers cannot modify their proposals in response to the Q&A session.

· The government will not review or evaluate any information that is contained within the notes section of the PDF or PowerPoint slides. All pertinent information must be included in the main body of the presentation slides, and the content presented orally will be the basis for evaluation.

· The government intends to record the oral presentation for internal documentation purposes. The recordings will not be provided to proposers.

Volume 1: Written content The written content shall not exceed 10 pages. This document must be submitted in PDF or Microsoft Word formats. The written content pages shall be formatted for printing on 8-1/2 by 11-inch paper with 1-inch margins and font size no smaller than 12-point. Font sizes of 8 or 10-point may be used for figures, tables, and charts. The submission of other supporting materials along with the proposals will not be considered for review.

Official transmittal letter

Table of Contents

Statement of Work or Task Description Document

Intellectual Property (IP) and data rights

Requirements for teams that include Government Entities and/or FFRDCs

Organizational Conflict of Interest Affirmations and Disclosure

Novelty of Proposed Work

Resumes (Optional)

Representations and Certifications

References/Bibliography (Optional)

Technical Papers (Optional, 2 maximum)

Proposals, including both oral presentation slides and written content must be submitted per the instructions outlined herein and received by DARPA no later than the due date and time listed in the Overview Information section. Proposals received after this time and date will not be reviewed. Please visit Proposer Instructions and General Terms and Conditions for instructions on how to submit your proposal through the Broad Agency Announcement Tool (BAAT).

COVER SHEET

[PRIME ORGANIZATION LOGO]

Proposal Title

Proposer Organization

Proposer Reference Number, if any

Address:

Telephone:

Email:

Address:

Telephone:

Email:

Place(s) of Performance

Period(s) of Performance

Months

Organization:

Organization Type:

Year 2: $ Year 3: $ Year 4: $ Total: $

SAM.gov Unique Entity ID (UEI)[endnoteRef:2] [2: The SAM-generated UEI becomes the official identifier for doing business with the U.S. Government. This replaces DUNS.]

Taxpayer identification number (TIN)[endnoteRef:3] [3: See https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/taxpayer-identification-numbers-tin for information on requesting a TIN. Note, requests may take from 1 business day to 1 month depending on the method (online, fax, mail).]

Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code[endnoteRef:4] [4: A CAGE Code identifies companies doing or wishing to do business with the Federal Government. See BAA Section VI.B.2 for further information.]

Administration Office POC at Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA)[endnoteRef:5] or Office of Naval Research (ONR)[endnoteRef:6], if known [5: https://pubapp.dcma.mil/CASD/CasdSearch.do.] [6: http://www.onr.navy.mil/Contracts-Grants/Regional-Contacts.aspx.]

Name:

Address:

Telephone:

Audit Office POC at Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA)[endnoteRef:7], if known [7: http://www.dcaa.mil/Home/Locator?title=Locator]

Name:

Address:

Telephone:

Date Proposal was Prepared

Proposal Validity Period (minimum 120 days)

Table of Contents

Attachment C: HR001124S0038 Volume I: Technical and Management Proposal Template Source Selection Sensitive – See FAR 2.101 and FAR 3.104

2 | Page

Official Transmittal Letter (does not count toward page limit) [Attach the official transmittal letter from the prime proposer organization.] Executive Summary (1 page) [This section is the centerpiece of the proposal. Summarize your technical approach and the innovative claims for the proposed research. The summary should include a description of the key technical challenges and a concise review of the technologies proposed to overcome these challenges and achieve the program metrics.] Goals and Impact (up to 1 page) [Describe what you are trying to achieve and the difference it will make (qualitatively and quantitatively) if successful. Describe the innovative aspects of the project in the context of existing capabilities and state of the art approaches. Describe the deliverables associated with the proposed project and the vision for the technology transition after program completion. How will the success of this work enhance or increase the adoption of photonic integrated circuit technologies?] Technical Approach [Describe the technical approach the team is taking to achieve the metrics of HAPPI within the program’s timeline. Key elements in this section include:

· Outline the main goals of the proposed project. Clearly describe the program outcome and capabilities that will be established by the end of the HAPPI program. Outline the proposal plans to provide broad access to these capabilities for government users, defense industrial base, and for domestic research and development programs.

· Provide detailed description of the proposed technical solution. Discuss how the proposed concept addresses the key technical challenges outlined in the BAA. Provide supporting evidence for all assertions, based on analytical and/or experimental work.

· Discuss how the proposed solution will achieve the program metrics. Provide quantitative analysis and supporting evidence derived from modeling, simulation, and/or prior experimental work.

· Provide quantitative, measurable milestones to assess progress toward all end-of-phase and end-of-program goals. Any performer-defined metrics shall be included.

· Identify the technical risks of the approach. The HAPPI program schedule allows for multiple design-fabrication-characterization cycles in both phases of the program. Outline a strategy and a technical plan to systematically mitigate these risks.

· Provide a preliminary discussion of commercialization strategy. Describe plausible pathways for scaling and maintaining domestic manufacturing capability and long-term sustainability of the HAPPI technologies.

It is expected that successful proposals will address with sufficient technical depth the following topics:

· Description of the photonic platform(s) that the proposed solution is based on. Include discussion of materials, optical properties across the proposed wavelength span, optoelectronic components supported, current state of manufacturability, current and projected manufacturing tolerances, describe the domestic ecosystem to include design tools, fabrication, assembly, packaging and test offerings, discuss supply chain issues (if any).

· Detailed analysis on achieving and demonstrating low optical losses. Baseline your analysis vs. inherent material and manufacturing limitations. Specifically discuss how your approach will address the size vs. loss tradeoff. Describe how the approach can meet the small physical footprint goals, while maintaining material-limited loss. Include analysis of all factors limiting efficiency including leakage, scattering, polarization-dependent loss, wavelength-dependent loss, mode mismatch loss, channel crosstalk, etc. Describe the optical loss measurement setup and specify any applicable de-embedding of testbed parasitic effects.

· Strategy for scaling from a single link to large, close-packed arrays. Describe methods for non-crossing dense routing layout. Describe how your approach uses adaptive techniques and concepts to alleviate crosstalk and mitigate misalignment post-fabrication and post-assembly. Discuss how your approach is manufacturable at various system scales (i.e. die-to-die, die-to-interposer, die-to-wafer). Discuss the anticipated process yield, reproducibility, and environmental robustness of the packaged optical microsystems.

Management Plan (up to 2 pages) [Provide a summary of the proposed team, including any subawardees/consultants and key personnel who will be executing the work (please use table below). Identify a principal investigator (PI) for the project. Provide a description of the team’s organizational structure. Provide a detailed plan for coordination, including explicit guidelines for interaction among collaborators/subawardees of the proposed project. Include risk management approaches. Describe any formal teaming agreements that are required to execute this project. Describe security management architecture and/or approach for the proposed effort. Proposers are required to follow the CUI guidelines regarding program execution (Attachment J – HAPPI CUI Guide).] Prime

Subawardees/Consultants

Schedule and Milestones (up to 1 page) [Provide a detailed schedule showing tasks (task name, duration, work breakdown structure element as applicable, performing organization), milestones, and the interrelationships among tasks. Discuss how the inherent schedule and technical risks can be managed or mitigated through the program lifecycle. The task structure must be consistent with the statement of work. Measurable milestones should be clearly articulated and defined in time relative to the start of the project. Provide appropriate measurable milestones at intermediate stages of the project that will help the program manager assess progress against the final goals.] Personnel, Qualifications, and Commitments (up to 1 page) [List key personnel, showing a concise summary of their qualifications, discussion of previous accomplishments, and work in this or closely related research areas. Indicate the level of effort in terms of hours to be expended by each person during each contract year and other (current and proposed) major sources of support for them and/or commitments of their efforts. DARPA expects all key personnel associated with a proposal to make substantial time commitment to the proposed activity, and the proposal will be evaluated accordingly. It is DARPA’s intention to put key personnel conditions into the awards, so proposers should not propose personnel that are not anticipated to execute the work.] Capabilities (up to 0.5 page) [Describe the organizational experience in the relevant subject area(s), existing intellectual property, or specialized facilities. Discuss any work in closely related research areas and previous accomplishments. Identify other Government solicitation(s) to which this concept has been proposed. If applicable, state whether funding or a positive funding decision has already been received and from which agency.] Sections below must be included (unless otherwise stated) but do not count towards the page limit:

Statement of Work (SOW) or Task Description Document (TDD) [Provide a detailed task breakdown by Contractor Fiscal Year, citing specific tasks and their connection to the interim milestones and metrics, as applicable. Do not include proprietary information.

For each defined task and subtask, provide:

· A general description of the objective.

· A detailed description of the approach to be taken to accomplish each defined task/subtask.

· Identification of any tasks/subtasks that will involve human subjects or animals.

· Identification of any tasks/subtasks that will be performed on campus at a university.

· Identification (by name) of the primary organization (prime contractor, sub-awardee (s), consultant(s)) responsible for task/subtask execution.

· A measurable milestone (e.g., a deliverable, demonstration, or other event/activity that marks task completion).

· A definition of all deliverables (e.g., data, reports, software) to be provided to the Government in support of the proposed tasks/subtasks.

· Identification of the proposed classification for each task/subtask.

· For all tasks and subtasks proposed to be unclassified, identify if the task/subtask is proposed as fundamental research or controlled unclassified information (CUI).

· Provide a short explanation for why each task/subtask should be categorized as fundamental research or CUI.] Intellectual Property (IP) Please provide the following information, as applicable. Note: the Government will assume unlimited rights to all IP not explicitly identified as restricted in the proposal.

a. Technical Data and Computer Software Are you asserting any IP restrictions on any technical data or non-commercial computer software that will be delivered to the Government? No Yes [If yes, list all proprietary claims to results, prototypes, deliverables or systems supporting and/or necessary for the use of the proposed research, results, prototypes and/or deliverables. Provide a short summary for each item asserted with less than unlimited rights that describes the nature of the restriction and the intended use of the intellectual property in the conduct of the proposed research. Use the following format for these lists.]

NONCOMMERCIAL

Asserted Rights Category

Name of Person Asserting Restrictions

Are you proposing any commercial software that will be delivered to the Government? No Yes [If yes, please provide licensing terms.]

COMMERCIAL

Asserted Rights Category

Name of Person Asserting Restrictions

b. Patents Does the proposed effort involve using patented inventions that are owned by or assigned to the proposing organization or individual? No Yes [If yes, provide documentation proving ownership or possession of appropriate licensing rights to all patented inventions to be used for the proposed project. If a patent application has been filed for an invention, but it includes proprietary information and is not publicly available, provide documentation that includes: the patent number, inventor name(s), assignee names (if any), filing date, filing date of any related provisional application, and summary of the patent title, with either: (1) a representation of invention ownership; or (2) proof of possession of appropriate licensing rights in the invention (i.e., an agreement from the owner of the patent granting license to the proposer).] Requirements for teams that include Government Entities and/or Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) Are any of the team member organizations (prime or subawardee) a Government entity or FFRDC? No Yes [If yes, provide the information outlined below.]

a. Proof of Eligibility to Propose [Provide documentation citing the specific authority that establishes the applicable team member’s eligibility to propose to Government solicitations; include: (1) statutory authority; (2) contractual authority; (3) supporting regulatory guidance; and (4) evidence of agency approval for applicable team member participation. For FFRDCs, this documentation must be in the form of a letter on official letterhead from their sponsoring organization and must also include a statement of compliance with the terms and conditions of the associated FFRDC sponsor agreement, as applicable.]

b. Statement of Unique Capability [Provide a statement that demonstrates the work to be performed by the Government entity or FFRDC team member is not otherwise available from the private sector.] Organizational Conflict of Interest Affirmations and Disclosure [In accordance with the requirements of the BAA, provide the following information.]

a. Are any of the proposed individual team members or their respective organizations (whether prime or subawardee or consultant) currently providing SETA, A&AS or similar support to DARPA? No Yes

b. Did any of the proposed individual team members or their respective organizations (whether prime or subawardee or consultant) provide SETA, A&AS or similar support to DARPA within one calendar year of this proposal submission? No Yes [If you answered “Yes” to 12.a OR 12.b, provide the following information for each applicable team member:

· The name of the DARPA office receiving the support;

· The prime contract number;

· Identification of proposed team member (subawardee, consultant) providing the support; and

· An OCI mitigation plan in accordance with FAR 9.5.]

c. Are there any other potential Organizational Conflicts of Interest involving any of the proposed individual team members or their respective organizations (whether prime or subawardee or consultant)? No Yes [If yes, provide the following information for each applicable team member:

· Identification of applicable team member; and

· An OCI mitigation plan in accordance with FAR 9.5.] Novelty of Proposed Work [Has the proposed work been submitted to any other Government solicitation?

No Yes [If yes, provide the following information]

· Solicitation number ________________________

· Agency _________________________

· Proposed work has already received funding or a positive funding decision.

No Yes Decision pending] Bibliography (Optional) [A brief bibliography may be provided to relevant papers, references, reports, etc. A small number of key reference materials can be included as an attachment. References provides as external links and not included in the submission will not be reviewed.] Representations and Certifications

· For proposers requesting procurement contracts, please download, complete, and submit within this volume “Representations Certifications and Other Statements of Offerors_May 2024” available at the following link: Procurement Contracts

· For proposers requesting Other Transactions, please download, complete, and submit within this volume “2-SAMPLE OT certifications” available at the following link: