2008 Open Solicitation Call for Proposals

Request for Proposals

Introduction

Once each calendar year, USDC conducts an open solicitation for proposals. The purpose of this actvity is to meet the USDC technical mission through the distribution of government funds using a competitive bid process supported by the USDC Technical Council and USDC Governing Board. While the available funding varies from year to year, substantial investments in display technology development projects have been funded through this process (please see the Contract Awards page for a list of projects funded to date).

Detailed objectives and end point specifications and requirements for a specific manufacturing process, material, or component have not been predefined. This is an open solicitation actively seeking proposals for the design, development and delivery of new or substantially improved process technology and manufacturing equipment, materials and components supply used in the fabrication of display products. Any topic related to enhancement in capability and/or cost for display manufacturing may be submitted for review.

Proposal Process

The proposal process is typically conducted in two stages. The initial response to the RFP may be a brief (two or three page) pre-proposal. It should highlight the proposed project scope, objectives, technical approach, and expected deliverables. An estimate of the project cost and schedule should also be provided. No information considered to be company proprietary should be divulged. However, a company may submit a complete final proposal for more immediate consideration of award at this time, if so desired.

Expert technical staff from USDC member companies will review the pre-proposals (or complete proposals) and down-select to those that create the greatest interest in terms of meeting a critical industry need, as perceived by the USDC members, and which demonstrate a viable solution. The selected companies will be notified and invited to submit a complete proposal if this approach was not taken in the initial submission.

Following completion of the evaluation and prioritization of the complete proposals by the USDC technical teams, and consistent with the available budget for new project starts, those identified as worthy of support will be recommended to the USDC Governing Board for approval of funding.

Requirements for Submitting Proposals

To receive an award from USDC, the company or composite team of companies must have a significant presence in the U.S. in the form of R&D activities and/or manufacturing. At least 50% of the work activity (funds) must be spent within the U.S. operations. In certain cases, where it can be demonstrated that the development is both critical to U.S. manufacturing capability and unique, this “preference for U.S. operations” requirement can be waived with ARL approval.

The company or companies must be committed to volume manufacturing of the developed equipment or materials and provision to the U.S. display manufacturing industry on a right-of-first acceptance basis. Applied research conducted by universities will be considered and does not need to meet this requirement. However, in this latter case a pathway to commercialization must be envisioned and described.

To submit a complete proposal and to receive a grant from USDC, the company or companies must be supporting members of the FPD industry and USDC through a USDC Sustaining Membership or as a member of one of the USDC User Groups. This requirement does not need to be met in order to submit the initial pre-proposal. However, if the pre-proposal generates interest and the submitter chooses, upon USDC request, to prepare and submit a complete proposal, then the requirement for membership must be met before the proposal can be evaluated and given consideration for funding.

The company or companies, including universities, must provide a matching share of the development cost in cash and/or in-kind contributions.

Intellectual Property

USDC will support technical approaches that are revolutionary, thus having a more significant element of risk, as well as approaches that are evolutionary improvements upon existing capability, which tend to be less risky and involve shorter development and delivery intervals.  It is recognized that it may be desirable to include information which is considered confidential and proprietary by the submitter in order to fully and effectively convey the technical merits of the proposal. While a best effort will be made to restrict the proposal information to those with a need to know expressly for purposes of the review, it is recommended that the inclusion of proprietary information be limited to the minimum necessary to convey the highlights of the technical approach.

With respect to intellectual property developed under a USDC contract, the following policy has been established to encourage equipment and materials suppliers to cooperate with USDC in the accomplishment of its objectives:

Legal title to any technology developed under a USDC funded research and development contract will be the property of the development contractor.  Agreements will stipulate, however, that the development contractor must provide each member of the USDC an opportunity to procure any materials, equipment or processes developed with such technology on a right-of-first-acceptance basis for the first year of commercial availability.