USDA-ARS-FAA, Richard B. Russell Center, 950 College Station Road, Athens, GA 30605-2720

66 -- DIGITAL AROMA TECHNOLOGY SYSTEM SOL RFQ-006-43YK-97 DUE 040497 POC eElaine Wood, Contracting Officer, 706/546-3534 This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotations are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The solicitation number RFQ-006-43YK-97 is issued as a request for quotations and incorporates provisions and clauses that are in effect through FAC 90-44. The standard industrial classification code is 3826, with a small business standard of 500 employees. This acquisition will be procured under a small business set-aside. Delivery is required within 8 weeks after receipt of an order. Delivery is FOB Destination to USDA,ARS, Russell Research Center, Athens, GA. Any interested/qualified sources who can provide the item above must respond by April 4, 1997. Quotations should be addressed to USDA, ARS, Area Procurement Office, PO BX 5677, Athens, GA 30604 Attn: Elaine Wood. Descriptive literature showing that the quoted instrument meets all specifications included herein must accompany the quotation. The government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsive/responsible offeror whose offer conforms to the solicitation and is most price advantageous to the government. The following FAR clauses and provisions apply: FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items; FAR 52.212-2, Evaluation of Commercial Items, awarded to a responsive and responsible offeror at a fair and reasonable price; FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications -- Commercial Items; FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items. The following FAR clauses in paragraph (b) of FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statues or Executive Orders-Commercial Items, will apply to the resultant contract: 52.222-3, 52.233-3, 52.203-6, 52.203-10, 52.219-8, 52.222-26, 52.222-35, 52.222-36, 52.222-37, 52.225-18, and 52.225-21. All offerors must include a completed copy of FAR 52.212-3 with their response. Because this is a commercial item, FAR 12.063(c)(ii) will be used for establishing solicitation response time rather than the time established in Note 22, which, in this instance, is not applicable to this commercial acquisition. DIGITAL AROMA TECHNOLOGY SYSTEM SPECIFICATION: (1) SENSORS-sensors must have differing degrees of selectivity towards different families of volatile compounds producted by bacteria and poultry meat products. Instrument must have more than 30 polymer sensors, fully interconnected with individuals functioning in parallel. Volatiles from baterial and poultry product samples can be sensed in ppb. Reasonable guarantee period for replacement/recalibration of failed sensors. (2) SAMPLE HANDLING FOR BIOSAFETY- Sample holding devices must be disposable or autoclaveable. Sample handling and detection should prevent contamination of workers and the laboratory. (3)DATA ACQUISITION AND MANIPULATION-Must be able to sample at various temperatures and be analyzed in a few minutes. Multiple normalized response patterns for an odor must be displayed simultaneously. Multiple response profiles for specific sensors must be displayed simultaneously. Responses to different odors are correlated. Compounds can be mapped using the interaction of volatiles and polymeric sensors. Saturation of the sensors can be detected and corrected. The system must deal with noisy input data during training and recognition. Sample response patterns are stable (reproducible) over time (e.g. 0-21 days). Sampling consistency is insured with headspace intake control and relative humidity control. Temperature and humidity can be monitored during sampling. (4) NEURAL NETWORK: Further processing of the data involves neural networks so that the sensitivity and discriminating ability of the instrument increase as more data points are collected. Neural network analysis must be multi-layered. Multiple classes or descriptor levels of odors can be processed and retained for comparison of new samples. (5) COMPATIBILITY-We have collaborative work with a laboratory that now has an AromaScan system. The results and analysis must be compatible and reproducible between laboratores. (0077)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0278 19970320\66-0008.SOL)