5.1 Sole Source Justification_signed_Redacted.pdf

Sole Source Justification Simplified Acquisition Threshold

1. In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 13.106-1(b)(1), I hereby determine that the following product(s) / service(s) are available from only one source, and competition is precluded for the reasons indicated below. There are no substitutes available.

Product(s) / Service(s):

2. This acquisition is restricted to the following source:

Company:

Company Address:

Company Point of Contact (phone number and e-mail):

3. Total Estimated Cost:

4. Required by Date:

5. Justification (check applicable, and provide additional information in the sections below):

Urgent and compelling need exists, following fair opportunity procedures would result in unacceptable delays (explain serious injury, financial or other, to the Government the delay would result in).

Specific Characteristics of the Item or Service

5.1 Urgent and Compelling Need (explain serious injury, financial or other, to the Government if delayed):

GTI Signal Processing Unit for M20-601 2D Particle Motion Sensor

Geospectrum Technolgies Inc (GTI)

10 Akerley Blvd, Unit 10, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3B1J4

04/30/2020

5.2 Specific Characteristics of the Unique or Highly Specialized Item or Service:

6. Check all applicable statements:

The material or service must be compatible in all aspects (form, fit, function) with existing systems presently installed. The new product(s) / service(s) must coordinate, connect, or interface with existing systems.

A patent, copyright, proprietary data, or licensing agreement limits competition.

These are "direct replacement" parts/components for existing equipment.

The GTI M20-601 receiver that we own requires a compatible signal processing unit that can be mated with the receiver to deploy the system on an ocean mooring to collect autonomous acoustic and particle motion recordings.

This requires the appropriate connector, software, voltage supply and depth rating to function correctly. The GTI M20-601 is a specialized designed receiver and the GTI signal processing unit is the only known available unit that is fully compatible with the receiver per the manufacture.

System must be compatible with existing GTI M20-601 2D Particle Motion Receiver (already owned). The processing unit must connect and interface with the existing receiver using GTI proprietary engineering design.

System must include battery power and recording capability for the receiver and will be deployable in ocean environments at least to 100m depth.

Geospectrum Technologies Inc (GTI) is the only known supplier of signal processing units for their receivers. While there are other autonomous underwater acoustic systems available on the market, none are compatible or adaptable to the the GTI M20-601 receiver this must support. NPS has recently purchased similar directional acoustic systems from GTI for other applications. These systems have proven to be the most reliable for meeting our research requirements. Other directional acoustic systems have not worked as well (high failure rate) and require much more in-house engineering work. In general, this is a limited market and this solution best meets our needs for current research

Our M20-601 sensor (currently in house) requires a signal processing unit to power it and provide a self-recording capability of the M20-601 data stream while the sensor is deployed in the ocean, else the sensor cannot be deployed for its primary purpose as an autonomous underwater acoustic recording system.

6.1 Compatibility Statement:

6.2 Copyright / Proprietary Data / Licensing Agreement Statement:

The GTI signal processing unit is specifically designed to power and record data from our GTI M20-601 receiver and is small enough to deploy on an ocean mooring. It is the only available unit designed to work with the M20-601 sensor

The GTI signal processing unit is specifically designed to support the GTI M20-601. GTI has proprietary data on their equipment which only they own and therefore manufacture.

7. Brand Name (if applicable, detail why the procurement is restricted to a specific brand name manufacturer):

8. Additional information supporting a sole source acquisition:

The GTI signal processing unit is designed to support the GTI M20-601 receiver that we own. No other compatible systems are currently available. To have an equivalent system built from components available on the market would cost in excess of $100k. This would be due to the cost of components, first-time engineering design costs, labor, and costs associated with testing to ensure it is both electronically-compatible with our sensor and deployable on an ocean mooring. This also assumes GTI would be willing to share proprietary data about the M20-601 sensor required to meet compatibility standards. Purchasing the GTI signal processing unit is the lower risk and lower cost option.

CERTIFICATION

I certify that the statements and information provided above are complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge in accordance with FAR 13.106-1(b)(1). The facts of this acquisition preclude the use of full and open competition.