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This notice is issued to help determine the availability of qualified companies technically capable of meeting the Government requirement and to determine the method of acquisition. It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotes. No award will be made as a result of this notice. The Government will NOT be responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice. This notice is strictly for research and information purposes only.
1. Background: The NINDS Laboratory of Circuits, Synapses, and Molecular Signaling (LCSMS), will study fundamental issues of synaptic transmission, neuronal excitability, neuromodulation, and neural circuit activity using animal models (principally, the mouse). These issues will be related to human neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative disorders, and will be explored in brain areas including (but not limited to) the amygdala, basal forebrain cholinergic areas, the ventral hippocampus, and the prefrontal cortex.
One major line of research will employ multiphoton microscopy from both brain slices and awake, head-fixed mice. The two multiphoton microscopes (in vitro and in vivo) will sit on a single large (5' x 10') anti-vibration table. The table will be placed in NIH Building 35A in a room made up of the present rooms 3B-415 and 3B-214. The building is subject to a non-trivial vibration in the range 1-3 Hz. It is therefore imperative that the anti-vibration table incorporate both piezoelectric active cancellation and pneumatic isolation to counter vibrations over a wide range of frequencies.
Purpose and Objectives: The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) is establishing a new laboratory that will use cutting-edge physiological, imaging, and behavioral methods to investigate the relationship between human neurological disorders and brain function at the molecular, synaptic, cellular, and circuit levels. The new laboratory will include two multiphoton microscopes. These will require a large anti-vibration table tailored to address the low frequency (1-3 Hz) vibration present in NIH Building 35A, as well as to dampen the higher frequencies typically problematic in multiphoton microscopy.
Project requirements: The NINDS LCSMS requires an anti-vibration table suitable for holding the components of two multiphoton microscopes. The table must be 5' x 10' in XY dimension. It will sit in Building 35A in a room presently composed of rooms 3B-415 and 3B-214.
• The equipment must have both piezoelectric active vibration cancellation technology and pneumatic vibration isolation technology.
• The equipment must have a digital controller with menu driven interface and LCD display.
• The vibration isolation effect should be fast settling, begin by 0.6 Hz, and meet these specifications: -6 dB at 1 Hz, -20 dB at 2 Hz, -25 dB or more above 3 Hz. In terms of transmissibility (defined as the ratio of transmitted acceleration to injected acceleration for a 2000 lb load), the table should have transmissibility less than 1 both vertically and horizontally for all frequencies greater than 1 Hz. Transmissibility should be less than 0.5 both vertically and horizontally for frequencies greater than 2 Hz. Transmissibility should be less than 0.1 both vertically and horizontally for frequencies greater than 10 Hz.
• The optical top should be 5' x 10' x 12" with individual sealed holes, non load bearing cups, and flatness + 0.005".
• The equipment must have 3/16" thick ferromagnetic stainless-steel top plate, matted finish; ¼-20 countersunk and tapped holes @1" o.c. array, with a honeycomb core .49"2 cell size; 13.3 lb/ft3 density. Maximum damping, research grade.
• The contractor shall provide a Field Engineer for system initialization, optimization and certification, on site for at least three (3) days. The Field Engineer must be onsite to supervise the equipment move in and assembly that will be performed by a qualified rigging team provided by the Government. The equipment must be installed and loaded prior to arrival of Field Engineer.
• The Contractor shall provide installation assistance, load distribution adjustments, isolator cables connection and controller installation for all equipment.
Anticipated Date of Delivery: 16 May 2019
Other important considerations: Contractor shall warrant that the Equipment will be free from material defects for a period of twelve (12) months from the date of acceptance. All service performed on this equipment shall be provided by certified and factory trained technicians. Technicians shall have the ability to diagnose the systems on site via remote access. Contractor shall provide any required replacement components due to malfunctions on-site.
Capability statement /information sought. Clearly indicate whether respondents must provide, as part of their responses, a capability statement, "white paper," answers to questions/issues, etc. This may include requests for:
• respondents' opinions about the difficulty and/or feasibility of the potential requirement or proposed acquisition, possible solutions and approaches that may currently exist in the marketplace, and information regarding innovative ideas or concepts;
• information regarding respondents': (a) staff expertise, including their availability, experience, and formal and other training; (b) current in-house capability and capacity to perform the work; (c) prior completed projects of similar nature; (d) corporate experience and management capability; and (e) examples of prior completed Government contracts, references, and other related information;
• general information regarding the respondent's estimate or rough order of magnitude of the effort or time that may be required for completion of the work. (NOTE: This type of information may only be requested as part of an RFI. However, care must be exercised in requesting such information. Information requested must be: (a) necessary; (b) broad in scope; and (c) used for planning purposes only. Detailed estimates must not be requested.);
The respondent must also provide their DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, and size and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HubZone, etc., pursuant to the applicable NAICS code and any other information that may be helpful in developing or finalizing the acquisition requirements.
One (1) copy of the response is required and must be in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format using 11-point or 12-point font, 8-1/2" x 11" paper size, with 1" top, bottom, left and right margins, and with single or double spacing.
The information submitted must be must be in and outline format that addresses each of the elements of the project requirement and in the capability statement /information sought paragraphs stated herein. A cover page and an executive summary may be included but is not required.
The response is limited to ten (10) page limit. The 10-page limit does not include the cover page, executive summary, or references, if requested.
The response must include the respondents' technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses.
All responses to this notice must be submitted electronically to the Contract Specialist and Contracting Officer. Facsimile responses are NOT accepted.
The response must be submitted to Andrea King at e-mail address [email protected].
The response must be received on or before 14 March 2019 by 10AM EST.
"Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work.
Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a presolicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.
Confidentiality: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s)."