Notice of Intent_SFF-VR_Empowered PC.pdf

Notice of Intent to Award Sole Source Contract

Title: Notice of Intent to Award Sole Source – Small Form Factor (SFF) Virtual Reality (VR) PCs

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Operating Division: Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources (ASFR) Contracting OƯice: OƯice of Mission Acquisition Solutions (OMAS)

NAICS Code: 334111 – Electronic Computer Manufacturing PSC Code: 7B20 – IT and Telecom – High Performance Compute (Hardware and Perpetual License Software)

Notice

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources (ASFR), OƯice of Mission Acquisition Solutions (OMAS), intends to award a sole-source, firm-fixed-price contract to Empowered PC for the purchase of eight small form factor (SFF) virtual reality capable PCs for use with the virtual reality mine rescue training (VR-MRT) platform.

This acquisition is being conducted using the authority of FAR 12.102, Restricting Competition, under the procedures of FAR Part 12.

Description of Requirement

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Pittsburgh Mining Research Division (PMRD), has a requirement to acquire eight (8) small form factor (SFF), virtual reality (VR)-capable desktop computers for use with the VR Mine Rescue Training (VR-MRT) platform. The systems will be used for field deployment of VR mine rescue simulations and must provide high-end computing performance while remaining suƯiciently compact to transport a complete set of systems by vehicle. Required specifications include an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor (or equivalent), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 GPU, 32 GB system memory, and 1 TB NVMe storage, configured in a compact form factor suitable for frequent transport and field use.

Sole-Source Rationale

CDC/NIOSH intends to award this requirement on a sole-source basis to Empowered PC for its LAN Gamer 8L Mini system. Market research identified multiple commercially available systems capable of providing the required computing performance; however, the Empowered PC system provides a particularly advantageous combination of the required

CPU/GPU performance, compact size, portability, and price. At approximately 8.77 liters, the proposed system was among the smallest systems identified through market research and was the lowest-priced system evaluated; the only comparably compact alternative identified was materially more expensive. The Government therefore intends to procure the Empowered PC LAN Gamer 8L Mini as the system that satisfies the required performance while minimizing the size, weight, and cost associated with transporting and deploying eight VR systems in field environments.

Responses to this Notice

This notice is not a request for competitive quotations or proposals. It is a notice of the Government's intent to award a sole-source contract.

Interested parties may submit a capability statement demonstrating their ability to satisfy the Government's requirement. Capability statements must clearly demonstrate the vendor's ability to provide the required products and services described above (or an equivalent capability that fully satisfies the Government's minimum requirements without disruption to ongoing operations).

Capability statements shall be submitted electronically within two (2) calendar days of the date this notice is posted.

Responses shall be submitted via email to the Contract Specialist:

Matthew Fein, matthew.fein@hhs.gov

The Government will review all timely responses received solely for the purpose of determining whether another responsible source is capable of meeting the Government's requirement. Responses that do not suƯiciently demonstrate the capability to satisfy the Government's requirements may not be considered.

If no aƯirmative responses are received that demonstrate the capability to meet the Government's requirements, HHS intends to proceed with award to Empowered PC without further notice.