Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Contracts Management Office (CMO), 3701 N. Fairfax Dr., Arlington VA 22203-1714

A -- VIRTUAL INTEGRATED PROTOTYPING (VIP) FOR THIN PROGRAM SOL BAA97-02 DUE 112296 POC Dr. Anna Tsao, DARPA/DSO, fax (703) 696-3999. NOTICE: SPECIAL SOLICITATION OF INDUSTRIAL PARTICIPATION IN THE VIRTUAL INTEGRATED PROTOTYPING (VIP) FOR THIN FILMS PROGRAM. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is seeking to enter into no-cost industrial collaboration agreements with companies in two categories: A) industrial users with relevant existing thin film applications and B) software vendors with relevant, related products. These companies will collaborate with DARPA's Virtual Integrated Prototyping (VIP) for Thin Films program. The VIP program consists of research funded as a result of the joint NSF/DARPA initiative on Modeling and Simulation for Advanced Materials Processing (ref: Joint DARPA DSO/NSF 96-75 available from DARPA or via the WWW at http://dso.sysplan.com/DSO/BAA/past/nsf9675.htm) and an anticipated follow-on DARPA BAA in FY97. DARPA would like to accelerate, through early industrial collaboration, the commercialization and DoD application of the models, computational techniques, simulators and control strategies that will be developed within the VIP program. Companies selected under this solicitation will be invited to participate in development and testing of models, simulators, sensing, and control methodologies being developed by the research and development teams funded under the VIP program, as well as attend workshops and program reviews held as part of the VIP program. Selected companies will have early access to state-of-the-art modeling and simulation capability, which will give companies in category A the potential to bring superior, cost effective products to market faster and companies in category B the potential to accelerate the transition of computational codes into commercial applications and products. ''Virtual Integrated Prototyping'' refers to prototyping of industrial materials manufacturing processes using the predictive capability of models based on fundamental principles and simulators to effect optimal designs that integrate materials processes with sensing and control. The VIP for Thin Films program is directed at developing new mathematical modeling, computational, and model-based sensing and control methodologies for vapor phase growth of functional thin films, with an emphasis on linking microstructural evolution to function in such films. Multidisciplinary teams of researchers from the mathematical sciences, materials science, engineering, and industry will be engaged in accomplishing this goal. It is anticipated that the development of this capability will have a profound impact on the cost and speed of developing future functional thin film processing methods, equipment and applications. The capability developed will allow designs and scale-up strategies to be explored computationally without extensive ''cut and try'' equipment development or physical process sensitivity experimentation. Thin film applications of interest include, but are not limited to, perovskite structures, giant magnetoresistive materials, photovoltaics, thermoelectrics, and ''smart'' materials. Selection criteria for proposers in category A: (1) relevance of the offerer's thin film processes and products to the DoD, (2) depth and breadth of experimental data, process knowledge and application insight and comprehension the offerer will share with program researchers, (3) qualifications of technical performers, (4) demonstrated level of corporate capability and commitment to this activity within existing business objectives. Selection criteria for proposers in category B: (1) relevance of the offerer's materials processing product portfolio to DoD-relevant industries, (2) offerer's track record in successful commercialization of relevant products, (3) ability to provide significant technical and intellectual value above and beyond the current software available, (4) qualifications of technical performers, (5) demonstrated level of corporate capability and commitment to this activity within existing business objectives. The Government reserves the right to select for program participation any, all or none of the proposals received in response to this Notice. It is considered highly desirable that users share detailed process and application information and data that will provide new insights and challenges to the researchers in the VIP program beyond that which could be obtained in the open literature or in the public domain. DARPA recognizes the competitive sensitivity of this information and data and expects participants to negotiate and establish appropriate agreements to protect proprietary process information and data on a case-by-case basis. In addition, although software vendors are expected to commercialize the models and algorithms developed, the intellectual property of researchers and code developers must be protected and licenses will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis between principals without Government participation. DARPA will treat all information submitted as competition-sensitive and proprietary. DARPA will employ support contractors to assist in the administration of the evaluation of the proposals. These support contractors are restricted by their contracts from disclosing any proposal information or using it for other than the assigned administrative tasks, and are required to sign non-disclosure statements. The submission of a proposal constitutes authorization for the Government to disclose the contents of these documents to the support contractors for the limited purposes described above. Proposals are limited to 25 total pages, 8.5 by 11 inches, single sided with 1.25 inch margins and font size not smaller than 12 point. Proposals with five copies and one 3.5 inch magnetic floppy storage disk of either Macintosh or IBM compatible media with all text in generic ASCII or Microsoft Word format should be mailed or delivered to Dr. Anna Tsao, Defense Sciences Office, DARPA, 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, Virginia, 22203-1714. Proposals will be accepted until 4:00 PM local time on 22 November 1996. Points of Contact - Technical: Dr. Anna Tsao, Program Manager, DARPA, atsao@darpa.mil, voice - (703) 696-2287, fax - (703) 696-3999. Administrative: Ms. Julie Evans, Strategic Analysis, Inc. Suite 175, 4001 N. Fairfax Dr. Arlington, VA 22203-1714. (0283)

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