REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS AND NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING GENERAL COMPETITION 98-01 Department of Commerce Technology Administration National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Advanced Technology Program Administration Building 101, Rm. A407 Gaithersburg, MD 20899-0001 Date: REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS AND NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING: The NIST Advanced Technology Program (ATP) is soliciting proposals under the ATP 98-01, General Competition and announces public meetings (Proposers' Conferences) for all interested parties. This General Competition is open to all areas of technology. A total estimated $82 million in first year funding is available for new awards for all of the fiscal year 1998 ATP competitions (approximately eight to ten). The actual number of proposals funded under each competition will depend on the quality of the proposals received and the amount of funding requested in the highest ranked proposals. Outyear funding beyond the first year is contingent on the approval of future Congressional appropriations and satisfactory project performance. Only FULL proposals are being solicited under this General Competition 98-01. Abbreviated proposals (pre-proposals) WILL NOT be accepted. The due date for submission of 98-01 FULL proposals is 3 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, March 18, 1998. 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 full 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 General Competition 98-01. Full proposals submitted by facsimile or electronic mail WILL NOT be accepted. If a proposer's full 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 be addressed at the oral review. The ATP operates under program procedures published at Part 295, Title 15, of the Code of Federal Regulations. The provisions of the 12/15/97 Federal Register notice announcing the availability of funding for ATP competitions, are incorporated by reference in this notice. Awards shall be subject to all Federal laws and Federal and Departmental regulations, policies and procedures applicable to financial assistance awards. Funds awarded to single company proposers shall be used only for direct costs and not for indirect costs, profits, or management fees. Section 319 of Public Law 101-121 prohibits recipients of Federal contracts, grants, and loans from using appropriated funds for lobbying the Executive or Legislative Branches of the Federal Government in connection with a specific contract, grant, or loan. The ATP Proposal Preparation Kit dated December 1997 (containing proposal cover sheets, other required forms, background material, and instructions for submission of proposals) may be requested by phone: 1-800-ATP-FUND; fax: 301-926-9524 or 301-590-3053; e-mail: atp@nist.gov; or letter at the address shown above. The Kit is also available on the ATP World Wide Web site http://www.atp.nist.gov under the heading Publications. The ATP is mailing the new Kit to all those individuals whose names are currently on the ATP mailing list. Those individuals need not contact the ATP to request the new Kit. Public meetings (Proposers' Conferences) for potential proposers and other interested parties will be held on the following five dates and nine locations: Thursday, January 15, 1998, NIST, Administration Bldg. (101), Green Auditorium, Quince Orchard & Clopper Roads, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-0001 and will also be video teleconferenced to NIST Boulder, Building 1, Main Auditorium, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80303. For further information on the NIST Boulder meeting contact Jerry Hendrix, 303-497-5646, E-mail jeryll.hendrix@nist.gov. In case of severe weather, please call NIST's Facilities Status Line, Gaithersburg, 301-975-NIST (6478); Boulder, 303-497-3000 for a prerecorded message of the status of NIST opening. If NIST is closed, the meeting will be rescheduled; Wednesday, January 21, 1998 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 1113 6th Avenue, Seattle, WA, 98101-3048, Phone: 800-521-2762, Fax: 206-340-1617; at the Austin Chariot Resort Inn, 7300 North IH 35, Austin, TX 78752-2606, Phone: 800-432-9202, Fax: 512-452-5079; and at the Adam's Mark Orlando, 1500 Sand Lake Road, Orlando, FL 32809, Phone: 407-859-1500, Fax: 407-855-1585; and Friday, January 23, 1998, at The Quality Hotel -- Los Angeles Airport, 5249 W. Century Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045, Phone: 310-645-2200, Fax: 310-641-8214; at the Holiday Inn O'Hare International, 5440 North River Road, Rosemont, IL 60018, Phone: 888-642-7344, Fax: 847-671-5406; and at the Sheraton Bradley Hotel, 1 Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks, CT 06096, Phone: 860-627-5311, Fax: 860-627-9348; and Wednesday, January 28, 1998, and Thursday, January 29, 1998, at the Gaithersburg Holiday Inn, 2 Montgomery Village Avenue, Gaithersburg, MD 20879, Phone: 301-948-8900. The conference at each location will begin at 9:30 a.m. local time and end at approximately 2 p.m. except for the January 15 meeting. On that date, to accommodate a video teleconference, the meeting at NIST will be held from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. local time and the meeting at NIST Boulder will be held from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. local time. These meetings will provide general information regarding the ATP, tips on preparing good proposals, and will provide an opportunity for attendees to ask questions. The general format and content of each of the public meetings will be the same. Multiple locations for the public meetings are being offered for the convenience of the public. Attendance at these public meetings is not required. No registration fee will be charged. To register for a public meeting or for further information, contact ATP as noted above. WEB: Advanced technology Program, atp.nist.gov. E-MAIL: Advanced Technology Program, atp@nist.gov.

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