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PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE OF INTENT NON-COMPETITIVE TITLE Custom Developed Scientific Workstations INTRODUCTION PURSUANT TO FAR Subpart 5.2—Synopses of Proposed Contract Actions, THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITAT... PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE OF INTENT NON-COMPETITIVE TITLE Custom Developed Scientific Workstations INTRODUCTION PURSUANT TO FAR Subpart 5.2—Synopses of Proposed Contract Actions, THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE OF A PROPOSED CONTRACT TO ACTION. THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD A CONTRACT OR PURCHASE ORDER WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME). The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Office of Acquisitions, Contracts Management Branch Red, NINDS Section on behalf of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) intends to negotiate and award a contract with J & N Computer Services Inc. for Custom Developed Scientific Workstations. NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE The intended procurement is classified under NAICS Code 541512 – Computer Systems Design Services with a Size Standard of $30,000,000. REGULATORY AUTHORITY The resultant contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses of the Federal acquisition Regulation (FAR) in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular 2020-07/08, dated 31 Aug 2020. STATUTORY AUTHORITY This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13—Simplified Acquisition Procedures, Subpart 13.106-1 (b) (1), soliciting from a single source. DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT The NINDS Flow and Imaging Cytometry Core Facility (hereinafter “Core Facility”) provide intellectual, technical, collaborative and new application research and development support to NINDS and other NIH intramural investigators in research programs requiring the use of high-throughput conventional flow cytometry, imaging flow cytometry, preparative fluorescence-activated cell sorting, and multi-spectral in situ cytometric imaging. The Core Facility provides routine use of 2D/3D whole organ imaging technology to support over 250 basic and clinical research projects in 45 NINDS and other NIH intramural programs. There is currently an existing infrastructure comprised of 11 customized computers that support the specialized NIH equipment and research environment. The NINDS requires five new enterprise class scientific workstations, which will increase capacity and support a new multispectral light sheet microscope system, a new imaging cytometer system, and a slide scanning microscope. The five new workstations must be custom developed to seamlessly integrate into the existing infrastructure at the Core Facility. The workstations shall efficiently increase the bandwidth in order to effectively accommodate the anticipated increased workload, while still maintaining optimal performance and productivity at the Core Facility. The five enterprise class scientific computer workstations must each include all required hardware and software components and the systems must be fully assembled, configured, tested and validated by the contractor. The workstations must have the capability for: (1) processing extremely large (>100 TB) image datasets for multiplex collaborative immunohistology projects allowing optimal transfer, post?acquisition image processing and quantitative image analysis using the scientific computer equipped with optimal CPU/GPU/RAM/SSD/RAID/CUDA/Machine Learning/Deep Learning hardware and software configuration and custom built to meet the requirement for complex computation; (2) digital slide format; (3) multi?channel fluorescence; (4) multispectral qptiffs; and (5) multi-use installation. The system must be compatible with existing Core Facility equipment and be optimally configured to support custom development of complex CUDA-enabled machine learning and deep learning algorithms to allow high-end processing, analysis and visualization of very large (>100TB) 3D image datasets using scientific software, including the following: Adobe Creative Cloud Software (https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud.html) Aivia (https://www.drvtechnologies.com/aivia) Arivis Vision4D (https://www.arivis.com/en/imaging-science/arivis-vision4d) Bitplane Imaris (https://imaris.oxinst.com/applications/fluorescence-microscopy) FIJI/ImageJ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji_(software)) Indica Labs Halo (https://indicalab.com/halo/) Matlab (https://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab.html) MBF Bioscience (https://www.mbfbioscience.com/products) Microvolution (https://www.microvolution.com/) syGlass (https://www.syglass.io/) Zeiss ZEN (https://www.zeiss.com/microscopy/us/products/microscope-software/zen.html) ThermoFisher HCS Studio (https://www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/life-science/cell-analysis/cellular-imaging/high-content-screening/hcs-studio-2.html) SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION The Core Facility currently has an existing infrastructure comprised of 11 custom scientific computers, and NINDS requires an additional five specialized workstations to expand imaging processing capacity. The existing equipment will continue to be used at NINDS. Since these workstations will expand the current NINDS-owned system, the additional workstations must be compatible with the existing custom computers previously developed by J & N Computer Services Inc. (hereinafter “JNCS”) for use in this one-of-a-kind facility. JNS will custom develop, fully assemble and validate the five workstations to seamlessly integrate with the existing imaging platform at the Core Facility. All five workstations will be clones of each other and shall be able to effectively be used as a mini-cluster for optimally processing 2D/3-D and very large imaging datasets (>100TB), with no constraints on data bandwidth. JNCS is the only vendor that has direct experience successfully integrating systems into a high-end cluster for use in the complex scientific imaging environment at the Core Facility. JNCS has successfully tested and validated the custom-configurations required for NINDS’ scientific needs. They are the only source that will ensure successful integration of the additional five workstations. JNCS is the only vendor capable of providing a fully workable customized solution to support the specific computer hardware and software configuration for NINDS scientific technical specifications. Any variation in design could compromise the workability of the system, and unknown variation would risk loss of and jeopardize the irreplaceable research and image processing at the Core Facility. Five workstations will be added to eleven existing computers that will continue to be used. The cost to replace all existing equipment would far exceed the cost of purchasing the five workstations needed at this time. In order to prevent any potential disruptions to current research storage and to maintain the continuity of ongoing NINDS research image processing, JNCS is the only one responsible source, and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. (FAR 13.106(b)(1)) CLOSING STATEMENT This synopsis is not a request for competitive proposals. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice. The respondents must submit clear and convincing evidence that their product is equivalent or superior to the product specified in this notice. The response shall include: the unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, delivery days after contract award, delivery terms, prompt payment discount terms, F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), product or catalog number(s); product description; and any other information or factors that may be considered to determine the method of acquisition. The response must also indicate the country of manufacturer. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The information received will normally be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive procurement. All responses must be received by September 17, 2020 at 4:00 PM Eastern Time and must reference number HHS-NIH-NIDA-NOI-20-007356. Responses must be submitted electronically to Sneha V. Singh, sneha.singh@nih.gov, and must reference the solicitation number HHS-NIH-NIDA-NOI-20-007356, on your electronic request. FAX requests are not accepted. “All responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency.”