Kolaka Nòeau, Inc., B-291818, April 2, 2003

B-291818 Apr 02, 2003 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights DIGEST Protest that an agency did not select protester's proposal for a phase I Small Business Innovation Research contract is denied. Although the proposal was recommended for award. The proposal was reasonably not as highly ranked as other proposals for which the agency had sufficient funding to make awards. The SBIR program is designed to increase the participation of small business concerns in federally funded research or research and development (R&D). Federal agencies (such as NASA) with R&D "extramural" budgets in excess of $100 million are required to provide a program under which a portion of the agency's research or R&D effort is reserved for award to small business concerns through a three-phased process. View Decision Kolaka No eau, Inc., B-291818, April 2, 2003 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION Kolaka No eau, Inc. protests the rejection of its proposal by the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) under the agency's 2002 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program solicitation No. 2002-1. We deny the protest. The SBIR program is designed to increase the participation of small business concerns in federally funded research or research and development (R&D). See Small Business Innovation Research Program Act of 1982, 15 U.S.C. Sec. 638 (2000). Pursuant to this authority, federal agencies (such as NASA) with R&D "extramural" budgets in excess of $100 million are required to provide a program under which a portion of the agency's research or R&D effort is reserved for award to small business concerns through a three-phased process. See 15 U.S.C. Sec. 638 (e)(4), (f). Under phase I, small businesses are invited to submit proposals to conduct research on one or more topics specified in the annual SBIR program solicitation. Under phase II, firms that received phase I awards may, on their own initiative, submit proposals for further development work on the topic. Phase III contemplates that, unlike phases I and II, non-SBIR funds will be used to pursue comm ercial applications of the R&D. NASA issued a program solicitation inviting small business concerns to submit proposals for fixed-price SBIR contracts under the following research areas: aerospace technology, biological and physical research, earth science, human exploration and development of space, and space science. Topics and subtopics were identified for each area. There were a total of 28 topics and 120 subtopics. Under the aerospace technology area, the solicitation identified the "engineering for complex systems" topic, and, under that, the "modeling and simulation of aerospace vehicles in a flight test environment" subtopic. Program Solicitation Sec. 9.1.1, Aerospace Technology, at 50, 70. Detailed information was provided for each area, topic, and subtopic. With respect to the modeling and simulation of aerospace vehicles in a flight test environment subtopic, on which the protester submitted its proposal, offerors were informed that the agency sought more efficient software tools for predicting and understanding airframe response "under the simultaneous influence of aerodynamics and the control system, in addition to pilot commands." Id. at 70. Each subtopic was assigned to one of NASA's 10 field centers for evaluation. NASA's Dryden Flight Research Field Center was identified as the lead for four subtopics and a participating center for another subtopic. Dryden was the lead center for the "modeling and simulation of aerospace vehicles in a flight test environment" subtopic. Offerors were informed that the phase I contracts could be for no more than $70,000 and 6 months. Detailed instructions for the preparation of proposals were provided. The solicitation provided that proposals for phase I contracts must be based on a "unique innovation, . . . be limited in scope to just one subtopic, and . . . be submitted only under that subtopic." Id. Sec. 3, at 5. Format and page limitations were stated for proposals, which were required to be submitted via the Internet. In their technical proposals, offerors were required to, among other things, identify the significance of the innovation proposed, state technical objectives, detail the proposed work plan, and identify key personnel. Offerors were also informed that NASA would select for award those proposals offering "the best value to Government and the Nation" and that "primary consideration [would be given to] scientific and technical merit, and feasibility of the proposal, and its benefit to NASA." Program Solicitation Sec. 4.1.2, Phase I Evaluation Criteria, at 14. In this regard, offerors were informed that evaluations would be performed "by NASA scientists and engineers and by qualified experts outside of NASA." Id. Sec.