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The Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Network Contracting Office 20 (NCO 20) is conducting a market survey/sources sought notification and is seeking potential sources for an
This Sources Sought Notice is issued for information and planning purposes only. This is not a solicitation or a request for proposal and shall not be construed as an obligation or commitment by the Government. An award will not be made on any offers submitted in response to this notice, and it shall not be implied the Government is committed to providing any solicitation or award following this notice. The Government will not pay for any information received in response to this request, nor will the Government compensate a respondent for any costs incurred in developing the information provided. Â
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Responses shall be submitted to Nick Price at Nicholas.Price@va.gov by COB 01/17/2023 SUBJECT: RFI 36C26023Q0174
This notice is intended strictly for market research. The purpose of this Sources Sought Notice is to determine interest and capability of potential qualified sources of supply and determine the socioeconomic size classification of the supplier and manufacturer of the end item.Â
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Interested companies shall provide, at a minimum, the following information with their response;Â Â
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Company Name and Address:Â
Point of Contact (POC)Â
Name:Â
Email Address:Â
Phone Number:Â
UNIQUE SAM ID
Brochures of their offered equipment or services.
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The anticipated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 332911 Industrial value manufacturing . Mark if your firm is eligible for participation in one of the following small business programs. If so, please indicate the program: Â
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[ ]Â yes [ ] no - Small Business (SB)Â Â Â
[ ] yes [ ] no - HUBZone  Â
[ ]Â yes [ ] no - Small Business 8(a)Â Â Â
[ ]Â yes [ ] no - Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB)Â Â Â
[ ] yes [ ] no - Women-Owned (WO) Small Business Â
[ ]Â yes [ ] no - Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB)Â Â
[ ]Â yes [ ] no - Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB)Â
[ ] yes [ ] no - Large Business  Â
[ ]Â yes [ ] no - Other (please specify)Â Â Â
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Please answer the following questions:Â
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[Â ]Â yes [Â ] no - Does not exceed 1,250employees; (for NAICSÂ 33314) must be verifiable thru the System for Award Management)Â
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[Â ]Â yes [Â ] no Is primarily engaged in the retail or wholesale trade and normally sells the type of item being supplied;Â Â
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[ ] yes [ ] no Takes ownership or possession of the item(s) with its personnel, equipment or facilities in a manner consistent with industry practice (identify how this occurs); and Â
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[Â ]Â yes [Â ] no Will supply the end item of a small business manufacturer, processor or producer made in the United States, or obtains a waiver of such requirement pursuant to paragraph (b)(5) CFR 121.406.Â
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Note: Do not include Proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information in responses.Â
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In addition to providing the information requested above, responding companies are encouraged to include any relevant information (specifications, cut sheets, brochures, capability statement, past experience etc.) to confirm the company s ability to meet the requirements outlined in this request. Â
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Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the U.S. Government to form a binding contract or agreement. This notice shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation, or ultimately award a contract, nor does it restrict the Government to a particular acquisition approach. The Government will in no way be bound to this information if any solicitation is issued.Â

STATEMENT OF WORK
Contract Title. Hydraulic Clamp for Shock Tube
2. Background.
VA Puget Sound Health Care System (PI: David Cook, PhD) and the James J. Peters Veterans Hospital, Bronx NY (PI: Gregory Elder, MD) operate shock tubes (each designed by Baker Engineering and Risk Consultants, also known as BakerRisk) for traumatic brain injury studies that accurately mimic the shock waves generated by high explosive under the conditions that US military personnel are exposed to. These shock tubes are used to expose experimental animal models (mice or rats). These animal modes are crucial in the VA s mission to accelerate discovery of new treatments to help Veterans with blast-related mild TBI.
The contract will be for fabrication vendor to design, construct, and install a custom hydraulic clamp component that will be mounted on the NY shock tube. This add-on, hydraulically-controlled flange permits research personnel to quickly open and close the part of the shock tube called a spool . These steps are required to arm and discharge the shock tube for each blast wave exposure.
There are a number laboratory shock tube designs currently in use around the country. However, only a select few are able expose experimental animals in a way that is translationally-relevant to the way blast waves harm humans. This is of paramount importance because blast waves harm the brain in ways that are different from other forms of head trauma (e.g., blunt force impacts to the head). Owing to the complex physics of blast, there are only a small handful of shock tubes in the country capable of generating data with established scientific credibility and are well-accepted by medical and research experts in the field and all of them were hand-built by non-commercial individuals and/or are massive devises that are far larger, much more expensive, and incompatible with ours. Drs. Cook and Elder, who are long-time collaborators, are regarded as national experts in blast TBI due, in part, to the high translational relevance and technical strengths of their animal model studies.
The Seattle VA shock tube was designed to optimize study of mice, while the Bronx VA shock tube was designed mostly for rats. Each of these shock tubes were engineered and built by BakerRisk in order to: (i) excel at replicating battlefield blast waves, and (ii) with an eye for high compatibility between the two instruments in terms operation and physics.
As a note about the science behind the above point it is known that both rats and mice can be good animal models in TBI studies but for different reasons. Mice are excellent for studying fundamental genetics, while rats are a better choice for studies that come closer to some cognitive functions in humans than do mice. Thus, an ideal strategy is to study both animal models cooperatively, under circumstances where the compatibility of each approach is well-understood, properly tuned, and in keeping with human blast exposure physics and biology. After more than ten years of working on this challenge, Drs. Cook and Elder have achieved this programmatic goal, thereby having laid a foundation for animal model blast studies with the highest likelihood currently possible to generate data that will benefit Veterans who badly need ways to treat blast mTBI as soon as possible.
To maximize efficient use of VA resources. The Bronx VA shock tube is a large (>5,500 lb) completely custom-built instrument that is already installed and operational. As noted above, from the standpoint of enhancing potential benefit of this research to Veterans, the optimal scientific strategy is to conduct coordinated studies in both rats (Elder) and mice (Cook). It is much less expensive to add a hydraulic clamp to the Bronx shock tube than to purchase another equivalent tube (more than $300,000 not counting infrastructure modifications) in Seattle. In addition, this is by far the fastest way to achieve the experimental throughput that is needed to facilitate the fruitful collaborative efforts of Drs. Cook and Elder (to date 9 blast-focused peer-reviewed publications together and currently three more in an advanced state of preparation or already submitted).
As longtime VA-funded blast TBI collaborators, these PIs have furthered scientific progress that is highly relevant to the VA mission and done so more efficiently by sharing (rather than duplicating) costs to the VA. Using Dr. Cook s available resources particularly since the money needed for this component is not currently available to Dr. Elder is sensible, efficient, and scientifically justified.

3. Scope of Work.
Fabrication vendor will design, construct, and install a custom hydraulic clamp component that will be mounted on the NY shock tube.
This add-on, hydraulically-controlled flange permits research personnel to quickly open and close the part of the shock tube called a spool . These steps are required to arm and discharge the shock tube for each blast wave exposure.
This added feature is important because: (i) currently the NY shock tube must be manually bolted and unbolted. This is quite time consuming, thus adversely impacting workflow; and (ii) the bolts are large, require significant strength to loosen, and must be tightened within a specific torque range that is matched for all the flange bolts. In practice we have found that doing this manually causes significant fatigue for the experimenters, particularly for those of smaller stature.
This component will significantly reduce effort and time, thus making it possible for one experimenter to run any given experiment, rather than two experimenters at a time (one to operate the tube and the other to handle the animals). This will markedly reduce the cost to the VA in conducting these experiments. Most importantly, the ergonomics of operation will significantly reduce risk of repetitive stress injuries to VA personnel.
4. Specific Tasks.

Design:
The custom-designed hydraulic clamp component will consist of a two-part flange machined to fit over the 6-inch diameter driver pipe and end flange with bolt holes matching the existing flange. Hollow hydraulic cylinders attached to the new flange will be used to tighten the flanges. Sub-components of the entire system are listed are:
Two-part machined flange.
Hollow hydraulic cylinders (four cylinders anticipated).
Hydraulic pump capable of 10,000 psi pressure and pressure hold.
Hydraulic manifold for equal distribution of pressure to cylinders.
Hydraulic hose/piping to deliver hydraulic pressure from pump to manifold and cylinders.
High-strength bolts for use with extended length of flanges with the clamping system.

Fabrication:
Fabrication will include sourcing the machined flange from a machine shop experienced in fabrication of shock tube components for BakerRisk. Hydraulic components and bolts will be procured from commercial suppliers.
Fabrication vendor will connect all components and verify proper operation of the hydraulic system. Once the system is complete, a documentation package will be prepared. The documentation packet will include a list of parts, and guidance for application to the shock tube operation.

Delivery and Installation:
The system will be shipped to the James J. Peters Veterans Hospital, Bronx, NY for installation on their existing BakerRisk designed shock tube. Some significant custom assembly requiring personnel familiar with BakerRisk shock tube operation. Upon delivery, a fabrication vendor consultant will travel to New York and spend one day to install and test the new clamp flange/hydraulic system. In addition, VA research personnel will be trained how to operate the component.
5. Performance Monitoring (if applicable)
Not applicable.

6. Security Requirements.
The shock tube design data and engineering diagrams are held as proprietary property of Baker Engineering and Risk Consultants. See sole source justification for further information. .

7. Government-Furnished Equipment (GFE)/Government-Furnished Information (GFI). Not applicable

8. Other Pertinent Information or Special Considerations.

a. Identification of Possible Follow-on Work.
None.

b. Identification of Potential Conflicts of Interest (COI).
None.

e. Inspection and Acceptance Criteria.
9. Risk Control
Fabrication Vendor must be provided measurements of the existing equipment be made to ensure proper fitment of the component being fabricated. While nominal dimensions of the apparatus will be provided, exact measurements of some critical components will be necessary. Fabrication vendor will provide a drawing of the key components to Dr. Elders (Bronx VA) with the measurements needed for proper design highlighted to aid in gathering the necessary measurements. Other data requirements will be reviewed during project initiation following the receipt of the contract Purchase Order (PO). If necessary, fabrication vendor may make other reasonable requests for additional data during the course of the project. The project schedule is dependent on receipt of required information and work will not begin until all requested information is received.
See 8. e. Inspection and Acceptance Criteria.
fine by me if you think it is good

10. Place of Performance.
TBD
11. Period of Performance.
The proposed project schedule is based on information made available to fabrication vendor as of the date of this proposal. The actual project schedule/timeline will be confirmed and coordinated with the project team once the project has been awarded.
It is anticipated that the flange clamp system design and construction will be completed within three months of project initiation as a planned schedule. Due to potential supply issues and coordinating schedules with VA, a six-month project duration is proposed.

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