Amira License Renewal for the Electron Microscopy Unit (EMU)

Introduction

This is a Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of all qualified sources to perform a potential requirement.  

Project Summary

The Electron Microscopy Unit (EMU) within the Research Technologies Section (RTS) of the Research Technologies Branch (RTB) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) provides state-of-the-art technologies to support the ultrastructural imaging needs of the Institute’s scientists located in both the Bethesda, Maryland area and the Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML) in Hamilton, Montana. The facility provides sample preparation and analysis ranging from basic to high-resolution structural studies to immuno-localization of selected antigens for various specimens. Various methods, protocols, and equipment are employed to accommodate different preparative and imaging needs. Real-time viewing of samples by video image-sharing is available to NIAID users, allowing scientists at distant locations to view samples simultaneously with microscopy staff. To continue supporting the needs of NIAID researchers, the RTB must continue to upgrade and maintain its instrumentation and license agreements.

The EMU’s specialized support and scientific expertise enhance the research efforts of NIAID investigators with various state-of-the-art microscopy techniques and technologies. The 3-dimensional data generated by electron tomography and focused ion beam techniques need to be processed for visualization to help NIAID investigators with their research. As such, the Thermo Fisher Scientific Amira software has been utilized for visualizing and analyzing these datasets. NIAID’s current Amira license subscription is set to expire on March 27, 2023, and therefore, needs to be renewed so EMU can continue to generate 3-D datasets and fulfill other visualization and analysis needs of generated datasets.

Specifically, RTB EMU is seeking to renew their Yearly Subscription for 4 concurrent users – same LAN. NIAID is seeking organizations that can provide a subscription agreement that meets the following technical requirements:

1. Full access to Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Customer Support Center, which includes access to a team of OEM certified technicians who are readily available to address any technical issues, inquiries, or concerns.
2. Software malfunction fixes.
3. Access to repository of guides, tutorials, and educational materials.
4. Access to a repository of custom tools for data analysis that are created by the software user community or developed by NIAID.
5. A token based floating point license server that allows multiple concurrent users to launch the program and work on their systems at the same time.
6. Automated alignment and correction of mrc or tif stacks generated by focused ion beam scanning electron microscopes.
7. Ability to load large 3D image volumes and perform image segmentation of that volume without needing to crop or reduce image quality.
8. Software installers for Windows, Mac, and Linux environments.
9. Ability to maintain current and ongoing studies paramotors for processing date that include clinical studies.

Anticipated Period of Performance

It is anticipated that an award will be made on or about March 27, 2024. The anticipated period of performance of the base plus four (4) option periods is as follows:

Base Period:  March 28, 2024 – March 27, 2025

Option Period 1:  March 28, 2025 – March 27, 2026

Option Period 2:  March 28, 2026 – March 27, 2027

Option Period 3:  March 28, 2027 – March 27, 2028

Option Period 4:  March 28, 2028 – March 27, 2029

Capability Statement/Information Sought

If your organization has the potential capacity to provide a subscription agreement which meets the minimum requirements listed above, please provide the following information:

1. Organization name, address, point of contact, email address, website address, telephone number, UEI number.
2. Type of business (e.g., 8(a), HUBZone, Other than Small, etc.) pursuant to the applicable NAICS code.
3. Identification of any Best-in-Class contract vehicles including Government Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWAC) (e.g., GSA schedule, NITAAC) they may possess or are aware of that would support this possible requirement. If your organization does not provide the products/services under a GWAC, please identify availability as OPEN MARKET ONLY.
4. Tailored capability statement addressing the organization’s capability to provide subscription licenses that meet NIAID’s minimum requirements. Capability document shall be no more than six pages.
5. Are you the publisher or authorized partner/reseller for the annual subscription?

Submission Instructions

Interested businesses who consider themselves qualified to provide the above listed maintenance agreement for this project are invited to submit a response to this Sources Sought Notice by February 8, 2024 at 3:00 PM EST. All responses under this Sources Sought Notice shall be emailed to Kathy Song at kathy.song@nih.gov.

Disclaimer and Important Notes

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities.  However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.

Confidentiality

No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).