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Rapid Innovation Call – February 9, 2021

February 09, 2021 | Categories: America Makes News, Project Call, Technology

Submissions Due by 5pm ET on Monday, March 1, 2021


Rapid Innovation Call – February 2021

America Makes announces a new Rapid Innovation Call (RICs) with three topics worth $185K in total funding.

A kick-off webinar reviewing the project call was held February 18, 2021. Watch Recording

Topic 1: Characterization of Metal AM Process Surface Features

The technical focus of this project is the development and demonstration of in-situ process monitoring for metal AM surface features. The goal is to expand the industry understanding of metal AM and establish a quantitative data set to refine best practices, which will subsequently contribute to Q&C standards. As this is a Member Driven RIC, there is no cost share requirement for this project call.

Topic 2: AM Part Families for Product Qualification & Certification (Q&C)

The technical focus is to leverage existing AM data to create AM part families to increase the amount validated AM data within the public domain and develop Q&C standards. The goal is to drive broader adoption of AM in such specific industries as aerospace, medical, and aviation where Q&C of AM parts is critically needed. As this is a Government Driven RIC, this call has a cost share requirement of 25 percent.

Topic 3: Development of Test Artifacts for the Characterization of AM In-situ Process Monitoring Systems

The technical focus of this project is to use test artifacts or geometric feature sets to evaluate the performance of in-situ process monitoring in metals-based AM commercial systems. The goal is to increase AM fabrication and AM parts quality in real-time instead of quality analysis after fabrication. As this is a Government Driven RIC, this call has a cost share requirement of 25 percent.

Download RFP

One-Step Proposal Process

The proposal process for this America Makes Project Call is a one-step non-traditional process:

A full project proposal, as outlined in the RFP, is due by 5 p.m. EST Monday, March 1, 2021. 

Dates/Deadlines:

Project Call Announcement and Posting 2/9/2021
Kick-off Webinar (Watch Recording) 2/18/2021
Questions from Proposers about Scope or Approach Due 2/16/2021
Responses to Proposers about Scope or Approach Due
(All questions and responses will be shared with all proposers on this web page.)
2/19/2021
Deadline for all team members to be an America Makes Member 2/19/2021
Fully Executed NDA with NCDMM (if proposal contains proprietary information) 2/19/2021
Full Project Proposal Submission Due Date 3/1/2021
Anticipated Decision and Selection of Projects 3/15/2021
Anticipated Date to have ALL Projects on Contract 4/31/2021
All project finalized reports and deliverables received by NCDMM no later than 08/31/2021

Rapid Innovation Call Questions & Answers

There is no preference on materials, but the alloy choice should be substantiated using examples which demonstrate its relevance to the needs of one or more industries.

Yes, the cost of powder does qualify as long as it is not paid for with government funds.

There is no preference on a particular flaw type or processing regime. Similarly the relevance of the processing regime or discontinuity types should be substantiated so that it is relevant to the broader needs of industry and the America Makes Membership.

If the proposer feels that it adds value to the project we welcome its addition to the proposal.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

All team members of project team must be America Makes members.

Yes, teams may submit more than one Project Proposal.

Questions should be emailed to ric@americamakes.us. Questions will be posted to the America Makes website according to the schedule. Questions asked AFTER the scheduled Q&A session will NOT be addressed.

Yes, but only if they are members. The approval process for foreign-owned entities can take up to 4 weeks to complete, so non-members would not have sufficient time to apply and be approved prior to this deadline.

Federal dollars cannot be spent outside of the United States. It is the Lead / team’s responsibility to ensure compliance with all applicable export control laws and regulations.

Yes.  The proposals will only be reviewed by the evaluation team and each team member signs a confidentiality agreement.

The owning organization should list anything that they are leveraging that is not going to be made available to the membership at the completion of the project.  This could be a patent number or a description of the background IP that is being leveraged.

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