Glatz Aeronautical Corporation, B-293968.2, August 10, 2004

B-293968.2 Aug 10, 2004 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Glatz Aeronautical Corporation protests the evaluation of proposals under solicitation No. FY04.1, issued by the Department of Defense (DOD) for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Glatz's proposal was not one of the three proposals selected for award. We deny the protest. View Decision B-293968.2, Glatz Aeronautical Corporation, August 10, 2004 Decision Matter of: Glatz Aeronautical Corporation File: B-293968.2 Date: August 10, 2004 Jeffrey D. Glatz for the protester. Mitzi S. Phalen, Esq., and Richard J. Huber, Esq., Department of the Navy, for the agency. Henry J. Gorczycki, Esq., and David A. Ashen, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Agency's evaluation and selection of higher rated proposals for awards, under the Small Business Innovation Research program, for research and development into a lightweight crashworthy aircraft seating system is reasonable where awardees proposed new and innovative research, which was the expressed purpose of the solicitation, while protester essentially proposed additional testing to validate a seat that had not proven crash-worthy in prior testing, failed to propose specific changes to materials or design to address the excessive forces recorded during prior testing, and did not otherwise propose any significant new research and development. DECISION Glatz Aeronautical Corporation protests the evaluation of proposals under solicitation No. FY04.1, issued by the Department of Defense (DOD) for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Glatz's proposal was not one of the three proposals selected for award. We deny the protest. The SBIR program is conducted pursuant to the Small Business Innovation Development Act, 15 U.S.C. 638 (2000), which requires certain federal agencies to reserve a portion of their research and development funds for awards to small businesses. In addition to advancing the role of small businesses and the participation of minority and disadvantaged persons in research and development, the objectives of DOD's SBIR program include stimulating technological innovation in DOD's critical technology area, and increasing the commercial application of DOD-supported research and development results. The program has three phases: Phase I is to determine the scientific, technical and commercial merit of ideas; PhaseII is the principal research and development effort resulting in a well-defined, deliverable prototype; and in Phase III, the small business seeks to obtain private and public funding to develop the prototype into a viable commercial product for sale to military and/or private sector markets. Solicitation 1.1, 1.2. This solicitation sought proposals for Phase I awards to be made by a number of participating DOD component agencies and offices, including the Department of the Navy. Each component agency identified technical topics. Phase I awards under Navy topic No. N04-008, Improved Crashworthy Seating for Naval Helicopters, are at issue here. As explained in the solicitation, the objective under this topic is to develop a lightweight crashworthy seating system capable of mitigating the high levels of inertial forces that would otherwise be imparted to an occupant during a crash impact. The rapid deceleration of a helicopter in a crash can be in excess of 50g (gravitational constant), resulting in very high inertial loads on the aircraft and its occupants and a resulting high potential for inflicting serious spinal injury on unprotected occupants. Energyattenuating seating systems have been developed that reduce an occupant's exposure to the force, but the weight of current energyattenuating seats adversely affects the operational performance of aircraft, which has precluded the installation of these seats on some naval helicopter platforms. Therefore, there is an interest in developing crashworthy seating and other energyattenuating systems capable of maintaining current levels of occupant crash protection at weights that are well below those of the conventional solutions. Of particular interest are concepts that take advantage of lightweight materials to provide an increase in structural efficiency over current designs whose main load-bearing members are comprised of conventional metals. Navy SBIR Proposal Submission Instructions at 16. The stated system requirements under this topic included a maximum weight of 10pounds, and the capability to meet naval injury tolerance standards for body regions such as the head, neck, chest, pelvis, and lumbar spine. Id. at 16-17. The stated purpose for Phase I is to determine the feasibility of incorporating lightweight materials with dynamic performance characteristics into crashworthy seating designs.