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Leading Edge Aeronau.cs Research for NASA (LEARN) Solicita.on (NNH14ZEA001N-‐LEARN1)
July 10, 2014 Michael R. Dudley, NARI Director
Koushik Datta, LEARN POC
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LEARN Key Informa.on • Award Information
– Expected Number of Awards 4 – Max Award Size $900K per Team for Phase I – Phase I Period of Performance 1/1/2015 to 12/31/2015 – Procurement Type Cooperative Agreement
• Proposal Schedule – Due Date for NOI 07/28/2014 – Due Date for Proposal 08/20/2014 – Award Announcement 10/23/2014
• NOI and Proposal Submission Website – NSPIRES http://nspires.nasaprs.com – Helpdesk [email protected] or (202) 479-9376
• Detailed Instructions for Proposal Preparation – NASA 2014 Guidebook for Proposers,
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/nraguidebook/ • E-mail LEARN questions to: [email protected]
June 25, 2014 Team-‐Based Seedling Pre-‐Proposal Briefing 2
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Background • LEARN fund invests in innovative, early-stage, and
potentially revolutionary aeronautical concepts and technologies
• NARI is a virtual institute ‘without walls.’ Has three major, coordinated portfolio items – LEARN: no NASA civil servant participation in Phase I – Seedling: for primarily NASA civil servant developed concepts – Challenges and Prizes
• This briefing is only for the currently open LEARN solicitation - NNH14ZEA001N-LEARN1
• For more info: http://nari.arc.nasa.gov – Upcoming events and solicitations – Past awards
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Scope • Innovative concepts and
novel solutions of strategically important aeronautics technical challenges with potential for significant impact – A research area is not
sufficient, need a proposed concept as a solution for the technical challenge in that research area
• Needs to address one or more of the six NASA Aeronautics Strategic Thrusts
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Scope (2) • The focus should be on “big questions” and introduce a
significantly unique or innovative concept • Team-based, multidisciplinary, integrated research
addressing multifaceted questions – Teams are expected to bring together broadly based expertise
from more than a single institution and technical discipline – Conduct collaborative, cross-disciplinary research, and enhance
innovative communication between geographically disparate researchers through use of information technology
• After two phases, the proposed research should result in a strong desire for NASA or Industry to develop/continue the concept
June 25, 2014 Team-‐Based Seedling Pre-‐Proposal Briefing 5
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Example Research Ques.ons • How can the National Airspace System be significantly improved to
be better optimized for efficiency, safety, and convenience? • How could aircraft be custom build or modified “on-demand” for
specific market and/or mission requirements at low cost? • How can the three key environmental barriers to public acceptance
of commercial supersonic flight, sonic boom, emissions, and community noise, be overcome?
• How can General Aviation be made simultaneously safe, convenient, and affordable for a greater portion of the population?
• What is the optimum combination of low cost, environmentally benign, light weight, efficient, compact electrical power generation for either propulsion or onboard systems?
• How can trust in autonomous systems be established?
The solicitation provides context for these and other examples to show the nature and scope to be addressed by proposed research
June 25, 2014 Team-‐Based Seedling Pre-‐Proposal Briefing 6
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Eligibili.es and Funding • Proposals, despite involving multiple organization,
should be submitted by the business office of the Principal Investigator’s (PI’s) organization – Participation is open to all categories of organizations, domestic
and non-U.S., including industry, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, FFRDCs, and other Government agencies
– The intent of this solicitation is to provide funding to U.S. institutions; non-U.S. organizations are eligible to propose, but are not eligible to receive research funding from NASA
• 4 team awards of up to $900K for Phase I (one-year) – Smaller award amounts may be proposed – All proposed budgets must be justified – Phase II (18 months): 2 awards up to $1.5 M per award – Cost sharing by organizations is not required, but NASA will
accept cost sharing if voluntarily offered June 25, 2014 Team-‐Based Seedling Pre-‐Proposal Briefing 7
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• Outside scope proposals are not assessed • Evaluation Criteria for Proposals:
– Relevance and Impact (weight 20%) – Technical Merit (weight 35%) – Effectiveness of the Proposed Work Plan (weight 20%) – Cost (weight 15%) – Collaboration (weight 10%)
More details in the solicitation document
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No.ce of Intent (NOI) • NOI is used to get subject experts from within NASA for
the Technical Review Panel – NOI is not required to submit a proposal – Submitting a NOI is not a commitment to submit a proposal – Information in NOI is non-binding on the submitter, and is treated
as competition-sensitive material
• Due July 28, 2014 in http://nspires.nasaprs.com • Format: see NSPIRES
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Proposal • Format and Contents
– See details of topics to be covered in solicitation document – Summary: The innovation, potential impact, and technical
approach should be explained in sufficient detail to determine if the proposed research is within scope.
– Scientific/Technical/Management section is max 20 pages – Supporting Information (no page limit) contains budget, resumes,
commitment letters
• Due Aug 20, 2014 in http://nspires.nasaprs.com • Proposals will be reviewed by government employees/
NASA civil servants
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3-‐Step Proposal Evalua.on • Triage Panel
– Removes out of scope proposals – Proposal Summary will be used by NASA to screen out
proposals not complying with the solicitation requirements. The innovation, potential impact, and technical approach should be explained in sufficient detail to determine if the proposed research is within scope.
• Technical Review Panel – Subject matter experts using the evaluation criteria – Recommended (two categories: with and without reservations)
and Not Recommended – Strengths and Weaknesses
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3-‐Step Proposal Evalua.on (2) • NARI Oversight Committee
– Discusses and recommends proposals to be awarded – Programmatic balance can be a major discriminator in final
selections. For example, the potential need to represent multiple strategic thrusts in the final selected NARI portfolio may be a major factor in award selections.
– Approving Official is NASA Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program Director
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Repor.ng Requirements • Midterm technical and schedule status report • A final written technical report (journal submission
format) within ninety days after the conclusion of Phase I • PI participation during monthly “virtual” Team meetings
using Internet-based video conferencing tools. • PI presenting status and findings during a “virtual” NARI
seminar near the end of the period of performance (TBD) • Copy of any conference or journal publication and/or
invention disclosure
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Out of Scope Examples • Using Google Glass as an inexpensive Heads Up
Display (existing technology) • Detailed experimental characterization of selected
aerospace composite structures (lacking a concept) • Performing human factors system study to come up with
a concept (lacking a concept) • Design data and Computational Fluid Dynamics model
development for a specific design (narrow focus) • A new way of measuring the combustor exit/turbine inlet
temperatures (narrow focus)
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Ques.ons and Answers for LEARN • Q&A will be updated through the solicitation process for
questions of general interest • In NSPIRES at the NNH14ZEA001N-LEARN1 page
– http://tinyurl.com/o5vhwdo • Answers to a number of questions raised previously.
Please refer to link above: – Will the proposer maintain sole ownership over new technology
developed and patented by the proposing organization, resulting from funding obtained from this LEARN solicitation?
– What if my proposed concept conflicts with a research element in a NASA Aeronautics Project?
– Can NARI support a call with our team to discuss topics and potential brainstorming?
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Q&A
Seedling: [email protected]
Team-‐Based Seedling Pre-‐Proposal Briefing 16 June 25, 2014
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LEARN Key Informa.on • Award Information
– Expected Number of Awards 4 – Max Award Size $900K per Team for Phase I – Phase I Period of Performance 1/1/2015 to 12/31/2015 – Procurement Type Cooperative Agreement
• Proposal Schedule – Due Date for NOI 07/28/2014 – Due Date for Proposal 08/20/2014 – Award Announcement 10/23/2014
• NOI and Proposal Submission Website – NSPIRES http://nspires.nasaprs.com – Helpdesk [email protected] or (202) 479-9376
• Detailed Instructions for Proposal Preparation – NASA 2014 Guidebook for Proposers,
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/nraguidebook/ • E-mail LEARN questions to: [email protected]
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