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A -- REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS AND NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING SOL 97-04 DUE 052897 POC Customer Representative Phone 1-800-ATP-FUND; Fax (301) 926-9524 E-MAIL: Advanced Technology Program, atp@nist.gov. Department of Commerce Technology Administration National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Advanced Technology Program Administration Building 101, Rm. A407 Gaithersburg, MD 20899-0001 February 12, 1997 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS AND NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING: The NIST Advanced Technology Program (ATP) is soliciting proposals under its focused program competition 97-04, Digital Data Storage, and announces a public meeting (Proposers' Conference) for all interested parties. This notice provides general information for this focused program competition 97-04. An estimated $15 million in first-year ATP funding is available under this focused program competition. The ATP reserves the right to utilize for this competition more or less funding than the amount stated above. The actual number of proposals funded will depend on the quality of the proposals received and the amount of funding requested in the highest ranked proposals. Outyear funding is contingent on the approval of future Congressional appropriations and satisfactory project performance. This is the second of three competitions planned for this ATP focused program. One additional competition is planned. There are related focused program competitions in information technologies. ATP reserves the right to transfer a full proposal received under one focused program competition to another focused program competition underway in the same general timeframe if the subject matter of the proposal is deemed to be more appropriately aligned with the scope of the other focused program competition. Proposers will be notified if and when a proposal is transferred. Award recipients will be required to share non-proprietary information at workshops which will be held throughout the duration of the project. The ATP operates under program procedures published at Part 295, Title 15, of the Code of Federal Regulations. The ATP Proposal Preparation Kit dated November 1996 (containing proposal cover sheets, other required forms, background material, and instructions for submission of proposals) and the 97-04 focused program booklet (containing a paper describing the scope of this focused program) may be requested by phone: 1-800-ATP-FUND; fax: 301-926-9524 or 301-590-3053; e-mail: atp@nist.gov; or written request at the address shown below. Note that those individuals whose names are currently on the ATP mailing list should have already received the new November 1996 version of the ATP Proposal Preparation Kit. The 97-04 focused program booklet is available on our World Wide Web site (http://www.atp.nist.gov) and printed copies are available upon request from ATP. Only FULL proposals are being solicited under this focused program competition 97-04. Abbreviated proposals (pre-proposals) WILL NOT be accepted. Proposals submitted by facsimile or electronic mail WILL NOT be accepted. If a proposer's proposal is judged to be of high enough quality to be invited in for an oral review, ATP reserves the right to submit a list of questions to the proposer that must beaddressed at the oral review. The due date for submission of full proposals is 3 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, May 28, 1997. Should the NIST facility be closed on the specified due date, ATP proposals will be due at 3 p.m. Eastern time on the next business day that the NIST facility is open. Proposals received after this deadline WILL NOT be considered. Send proposals to: Advanced Technology Program, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Administration Building 101, Rm. A407, Quince Orchard & Clopper Roads, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-0001. Mark envelope Focused Program 97-04. The goal of the Digital Data Storage focused program is to promote U.S. economic growth by supporting sustained, high-risk research and development, which will accelerate the data storage industry. The emphasis of the Program is research that will lead to digital data storage devices exhibiting at least an order of magnitude increase in data storage density (either areal or volumetric), performance, and/or cost advantages over present technology. The goal of the program will be the technology development for future large (multi-gigabyte to terabyte), low cost, high-performance data storage devices. Proposals may address technology to develop components, materials, channel electronics, and software that are specific to the data storage industry. Topics that may be addressed include new media for magnetic and electro-optical storage devices, new materials to increase storage density and improve performance, high-performance recording heads that are vastly superior to today's state of the art, new lubricants and surface finishes for media, reliable micropositioning devices for high-precision placement of sensing devices over data tracks, channel electronics for signal-processing in order to achieve low error rates, and improved software which significantly advances the state of the art over the range extending from error detection and correction within storage units and disk controllers to management of data storage systems. Specifically excluded from this competition are data storage techniques that are based on semiconductor devices (such as flash memories, etc.) and software not specifically designed to augment the performance of physical storage devices (such as database software, stand-alone compression software, etc.). A public meeting (Proposers' Conference) for potential proposers and other interested parties under this focused program competition 97-04 will be held on Monday, March 17, 1997, at the Holiday Inn, 2 Montgomery Village Avenue, Gaithersburg, MD. The conference will begin at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time and end at approximately 3 p.m. and will provide general information regarding the ATP, hints on preparing good proposals (covering the same material presented at previous ATP Proposers' Conferences), and will provide an opportunity for attendees to ask questions on the scope and technical and business goals of this focused program. Attendance at this public meeting is not required. No registration fee will be charged. To register for this public meeting or for further information, contact ATP, by phone: 1-800-ATP-FUND; fax: 301-926-9524 or 301-590-3053; or e-mail: atp@nist.gov. In addition to the focused program proposers' conference in Gaithersburg, ATP is considering additional proposers' conferences in other locations. Should any additional conferences be arranged, that information will be published in the CBD and on our Web site. (0043)

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