REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS AND NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING: SELECTIVE-MEMBRANE PLATFORMS COMPETITION 98-07 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 its focused-program competition 98-07, Selective-Membrane Platforms, and announces public meetings (Proposers' Conferences) for all interested parties. 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. The Selective-Membrane Platforms program objectives are to develop a group of membrane platforms, and accelerate their diffusion into the chemical- and allied-process industries. Individual projects are anticipated to deliver step-change improvements in membrane performance that result in: increased selectivity for the concentration/purification/isolation of chemical species that have only small differences in size, functional group, or structure; increased productivity available over a wide range of production scales and stream concentrations; robustness at extremes of pH, temperature, or pressure, or resistance to hydrolysis, organic solvents, impurity poisoning, or reactive mixtures; and attractive economics in use. The technical scope includes the development of catalytic membranes; colloidal and particulate filtration membranes with order-of-magnitude increases in productivity and size selectivity; affinity membranes that incorporate high densities of molecular-recognition agents; tunable membranes that offer continuous or real-time control of transport properties; and membrane process modifications including advanced flow concepts and unique hybrid processes. Projects should provide visible demonstrations of success against difficult "real world" applications and lower the hurdle rate for subsequent installations of related membrane technologies across the chemical- and allied-process industries. Business goals should be to deliver specialty (or commodity) chemicals that will enable the creation of new- or higher-performance consumer products; or produce greater than 20% cost reductions in core-process separations operations. Project exclusions are described in the 98-07 program booklet. Abbreviated proposals (pre-proposals) are allowed but are optional for competition 98-07. Pre-proposals are intended to provide intermediate feedback as to whether the proposer is on track in formulating and articulating some of the key information required for a successful project proposal. Responses to pre-proposals will have no effect on the review of full proposals, but must follow the instructions included in the 98-07 program booklet. Pre-proposals under 98-07 are due no later than 3:00 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, February 27, 1998, at the address shown below. Written feedback can be expected from ATP within two weeks of receipt. No other form of pre-proposal debriefing will be provided. The due date for submission of 98-07 FULL proposals is 3 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, April 22, 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 pre-proposals and 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 98-07. Pre-proposals or 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. The ATP Proposal Preparation Kit dated December 1997 (containing proposal cover sheets, other required forms, background material, and instructions for submission of proposals) and the 98-07 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 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. The 98-07 focused program booklet is also available on ATP web site under the heading Competitions and printed copies are available upon request from ATP. 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; at the Austin Chariot Resort Inn, 7300 North IH 35, Austin, TX 78752-2606, Phone: 800-432-9202; and at the Adam's Mark Orlando, 1500 Sand Lake Road, Orlando, FL 32809, Phone: 407-859-1500; Friday, January 23, 1998, at The Quality Hotel -- Los Angeles Airport, 5249 W. Century Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045, Phone: 310-645-2200; at the Holiday Inn O'Hare International, 5440 North River Road, Rosemont, IL 60018, Phone: 888-642-7344; and at the Sheraton Bradley Hotel, 1 Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks, CT 06096, Phone: 860-627-5311; and Wednesday, January 28, 1998, and Wednesday, February 18, 1998, both 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 format and content of each of the public meetings will be the same with the exception of the January 28, 1998, and February 18, 1998, meetings which will also include a session in the afternoon to answer specific questions on the scope, technical, and business goals of this 98-07 focused program. 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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