Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE) Engineering Tasks and Research Activities for Aging Structures

The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) requests information from potential contractor(s) that believe they have the capabilities necessary to perform engineering related tasks and research activities in support of the Center for Aircraft Structural Life Extension (CAStLE). CAStLE is a research center in the Department of Engineering Mechanics at the USAFA. The efforts performed by CAStLE cover a variety of tasks that follow aircraft and other structures through their life cycle from cradle to grave. CAStLE efforts cover a wide range of structure-related activities, spanning (1) basic development and characterization of materials, (2) mechanical testing of structure(s), (3) material corrosion susceptibility and mitigation, (4) computer modeling and finite element analysis, (5) flight data acquisition, (6) structural teardown and analysis, and (7) analysis of damaged, failed and/or aged structure(s). The type of activities that may be sought are maintenance engineering (review, assess, define, resolve technical deficiencies revealed in products and materials), structures teardown, non-destructive analysis, design analysis & development testing, full scale testing, certification and force management development, force management execution, training/other procedural support, and written reports/briefings. These types of activities may be required for a variety of structures (aircraft, ships, tanks, ground support equipment, bridges, and other varieties of aging structures). NAICS codes 541712 and 541330 may both be applicable to this effort. Information is requested to determine interest and capabilities of potential offerors. The Government is assessing this effort to determine if it is appropriate for a total or partial small business program set-aside. Information provided in response to this posting will be used in this assessment. All businesses capable of providing the types of tasks described above are invited to respond by completing the attached Company Capabilities Worksheet. Any information provided by industry to the Government as a result of this sources sought synopsis is voluntary and will not be released to the public. Respondents may elect to have their company point of contact information released in a future posting to promote dissemination of information for subcontracting purposes. The Government will not pay for any information submitted in response to this posting nor will material provided be returned. The government requests interested parties complete the below questionnaire. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice. Written replies to this posting shall be received by this office not later than 4:00 p.m., MDT, on 13 May 2009. Amendment 1 to this notice hereby extends the due date for responses to 4:00 p.m. on 19 May 2009. Replies via e-mail are preferred; however, fax or mail is also acceptable. No solicitation exists; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized in FedBizOpps. It is the potential offerors' responsibility to monitor this site for the release of any synopsis or solicitation. *****Company Capabilities Worksheet***** Respondents are asked to respond to the following line items/questions: 1) Provide the name of your company. 2) Provide your company point of contact by name (including voice and fax number, and e-mail/URL address if available). 3) Provide your business size and NAICS code(s). 4) Do you wish to have your company point of contact information released in a future posting to promote dissemination of information for subcontracting purposes? __Yes or __No 5) Accounting System. Will your company accounting system permit timely development of all necessary cost data in the form required by the proposed contract type? Include a discussion of your company's current or past experience with cost reimbursable contracts. 6) Concurrent contracts. Express any potential impact concurrent contracts may have on your performance of this scope of work. 7) Subcontracting. Discuss the potential teaming or subcontracting arrangements you may consider. 8) Technical Narrative/Capabilities Statement. Provide specific information on work your company has accomplished that is similar to the scope of work specified above. In the event your company has not accomplished similar work, provide details as to how you would plan on accomplishing the work. Responses to question 8 shall not be greater than 3 pages in total, times new roman, 12 font, 1 inch margins. The total submittal shall not exceed 4 pages. At a minimum, address the following questions within your response to this section: a) Has your company had any involvement with the Aircraft Structural Integrity Program (ASIP)? If so, please briefly describe. b) Has your company been involved in a teardown and analysis effort on aging structure? If so, please describe. c) Has your company been involved with aging structure studies of military systems in general (and military aircraft in specific)? If so, please describe. d) If your company would consider proposing a teaming or subcontracting solution, please address the scope of previous teaming/subcontracting partnerships your company has been involved in, your company's role in that partnership, and the percentage of effort assigned to each partner. *****End of Worksheet*****