Department of the Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command, AFRL -- PL "Space Vehicles Directorate", 2251 Maxwell Ave, Kirtland AFB, NM, 87177

18 -- DISTINGUISHED SPACE INDUSTRY FELLOWS PROGRAM SOL PKVS-02 DUE 081800 POC Paulette Windley, Contracts Specialist, Phone 505 846 5011, Fax 505 846 6022, Email windleyp@plk.af.mil -- Paulette Windley, Contracts Specialist, Phone 505 846 5011, Fax 505 846 6022, Email windleyp@plk.af.mil WEB: Visit this URL for the latest information about this, http://www.eps.gov/cgi-bin/WebObjects/EPS?ACode=P&ProjID=PKVS-02&LocID=2682. E-MAIL: Paulette Windley, windleyp@plk.af.mil. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Space Vehicles Directorate (VS), Kirtland AFB, NM is interested in receiving proposals from industry and academia for the Distinguished Space Industry (DSI) Fellows Program to advance the state-of-the-art and scientific knowledge in space technology. AFRL has approximately $135,000.00 available for proposals in response to this BAA. Offerors are encouraged to cost-share. Costs that may be shared include labor and associated overheads, travel, relocation to/from AFRL/VS. Offerors selected for award will provide an individual to be known as a DSI Fellow. The program will provide the DSI Fellow and his/her company or university with improved insight into the degradation of microelectronic and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices in a radiation environment and improved methods of mitigation. The candidate shall have a strong research background and be an expert in the following areas: Experience in radiation effects in microelectronics and space system survivability is desired. Understanding of capabilities and applications of MEMS, sensors, or optics to space platforms and experience in other defense programs will be favorably considered. The DSI Fellow remains a company or university employee while participating in the one-year program onsite at AFRL/VS, Kirtland AFB NM. The DSI Fellow will conduct technology development in one of the areas discussed below. The DSI program offers participants technical interchange opportunities with the following organizations: Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), NASA Goddard, NASA Langley, Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), Army Research Laboratory (ARL), National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA Ames, Space and Missile Command (SMC), Air Force Space Command, Air Force Research Laboratory-Wright-Patterson, Strategic Command, and NASA Kennedy Space Center. Offerors may propose opportunities to travel from the above listed organizations they deem necessary to support technical interchange objectives related to their research, not to exceed 5 trips. TECHNICAL TOPIC AREAS: Background. Military and commercial satellites are susceptible to a variety of disturbances within the space environment. Cosmic rays and high-energy solar particles can cause single event effects (soft errors) on spacecraft computers and can damage sensitive electronic components. Low-energy electrons cause spacecraft charging at geosynchronous altitudes and high-energy electrons are responsible for deep dielectric charging. Over time, low levels of ionizing radiation can degrade microelectronic and MEMS components. These effects can be mitigated through a combination of approaches that include process design, circuit design, circuit layout, and shielding methods. The DSI Fellow will use research and/or development background in radiation effects upon microcircuits and/or MEMS devices to develop a better comprehension of basic radiation mechanisms and to develop improved methods of mitigation. It is expected that the results of this research will be applied to other military and commercial spacecraft developments including AFRL microelectronics and satellite efforts. The offeror shall address how one or more of the following activities would be integrated with specific research proposed: flight experiments; laboratory experiments; electrical and radiation characterization, and simulation and modeling. Topic Areas: a) Reconfigurable Computing: Sample activities for this topic area include: i) assessment of needs and identification of the benefits of reconfigurable computing in near and far-term missions, ii) analysis to validate the assessment of needs and benefits, iii) demonstration of reconfigurable computing technology including software development environment on commercially available hardware, and iv) projection of the performance of radiation hardened reconfigurable computing for 5, 10, and 15 years into the future. b) Advanced Processing Architecture/Optical Interconnect Technology: Sample activities for this topic area include: i) assessment of the benefits of optical interconnect technology in advanced processing architectures for space borne applications; ii) identification and demonstration of an optically-interconnected architecture that is scalable and extensible, iii) assessment of the radiation performance of such an architecture, and iv) development of suitable qualification and validation procedures for optical interconnect technologies and architectures, including identification of flight opportunities. c) Rad Hard Component Technology: Sample activities for this topic area include: i) assessment of the SEU performance of current and future analog circuit technologies, and ii) development of a methodology for estimating SEU rate of analog technologies by component type and fabrication technology. The focus of these activities would be to provide the foundation for starting the development of a generally accepted procedure for evaluating the radiation performance of analog circuit technologies, to close the gap between the state-of-the-art of rad hard analog circuit design and rad hard digital circuit design. BASIS FOR AWARD and EVALUATION CRITERIA: The proposals will be evaluated by a peer or scientific review process in accordance with the following evaluation criteria listed in descending order of importance, except that 1 and 2 are of equal importance: 1. The overall scientific and technical merits of the proposal, including capabilities, related experience, facilities, techniques or unique combinations of these which are integral factors for achieving proposal objectives; 2. Importance to AFRL/VS programs; and 3. Availability of Funds. No further evaluation criteria will be used in selecting the proposals. AFRL reserves the right to select for award any, all, part or none of the proposals received in response to this announcement, subject to the availability of funds. GENERAL: AFRL anticipates awarding cooperative agreements, non-FAR assistance instruments subject to the DoD Grant and Agreement Regulations (DoDGARS) (http://web7.whs.osd.mil/pdf/32106r/32106r.htm), not the Federal Acquisition Regulation. Offerors may submit separate proposals that nominate more than one person for each area and/or propose the same person for more than one area. Offerors shall submit proposals in accordance with the Proposal Preparation Instructions posted at the Electronic Posting System (EPS) website (http://www.eps.gov). (At the EPS homepage, select USAF Offices, AF Material Command Locations, AFRL-PL "Space Vehicles Directorate" Posted Dates.). Offerors are required to review the model cooperative agreement available at the Electronic Posting System (EPS) website and address any concerns with terms and conditions as required by the Proposal Preparation Instructions. The closing date of this announcement is 18 August 2000. It is anticipated that awards will be made by 30 August 2000. Proposals shall reference the BAA number and include a unique proposal identification number. Submit proposals in writing to the Det 8 AFRL/PKVS Point of Contact, Paulette S. L. Windley, 2251 Maxwell SE, Bldg. 426, Rm. 131, Kirtland AFB NM 87117-5773. Proposals submitted by fax or e-mail will not be considered for award. To assure proper handling, offerors must mark their proposals appropriately. This announcement is an expression of interest only and does not commit the Government to pay for proposal preparation costs. The cost of preparing proposals, in response to this BAA is not considered an allowable direct charge to any resulting award. However, it may be an allowable expense to the normal bid and proposal indirect costs. Proposals sent to inappropriate addresses are ineligible for award. Only grants officers are legally authorized to commit the Government when using non-FAR instruments. Topic areas may involve technology that is subject to U.S. Export Control Laws. It is anticipated that awards will be unclassified. Only offerors who are certified by the Defense Logistics Information Service (DLIS) may submit proposals. Contact DLIS on-line athttp://www.dlis.dla.mil/ccal or DLIS US/Canada Joint Certification Center, Federal Center, 74 north Washington, Battle Creek MI 49017-4312, (800) 352-3572 for further information on certification. Foreign-owned firms and US firms proposing use of foreign nationals as a DSI Fellow are advised to contact the Point of Contact, Ms. Paulette S. L. Windley, (505) 846-5011 or e-mail paulette.windley@kirtland.af.mil immediately to determine whether an award would be possible. For technical issues contact Mr. BoB Pugh, (505) 846-4510. Posted 07/18/00 (D-SN476013). (0200)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0241 20000720\18-0001.SOL)

| 18 - Space Vehicles Index  |  Issue Index |