Special Notice SN08-16, SyNAPSE Proposer's Day Workshop; DATE: March 4, 2008; REGISTRATION DEADLINE: February 28, 2008; TECHNICAL POC: Dr. Todd Hylton, DARPA/DSO; Email:
[email protected]; URL: www.darpa.mil/dso; Website Submission: http://www.sainc.com/dsobaa/ In anticipation of a potential program on the topic of Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE), DARPA is hosting a Proposer's Day Workshop that will provide critical information on the program vision, the program milestones, and opportunities associated with the development of an interdisciplinary team. The workshop will be held on March 4, 2008, in Reston, VA. The goals and milestones of the DARPA SyNAPSE program will be specified in an anticipated Broad Agency Announcement. Briefly, the vision for the anticipated DARPA SyNAPSE program is to enable electronic neuromorphic machine technology that is scalable to biological levels. As compared to biological systems, today's intelligent machines are less efficient by a factor of one million to one billion in real world, complex environments. The key to achieving the vision of the SyNAPSE program will be an unprecedented multidisciplinary approach that coordinates aggressive technology development in the following technical areas: 1) Hardware; 2) Architecture; 3) Simulation; and 4) Environment. Hardware includes neuromorphic electronics with novel, high density, plastic, synaptic components; Architecture includes neuromorphic design from microcircuits to complete system; Simulation includes large-scale digital simulation of neuromorphic circuits and functional neuromorphic systems; and Environment includes virtual training, testing and benchmarking for neuromorphic systems. These technology areas as well as the overall goals and milestones of the anticipated program will be addressed at the SyNAPSE Proposer's Day Workshop and will also be described in an anticipated Broad Agency Announcement. The SyNAPSE Proposer's Day Workshop is intended to facilitate the formation of teams with the necessary expertise to respond to the anticipated SyNAPSE BAA. The teaming and information session will be held at the Sheraton Reston, 11810 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA 20191, (703) 620-9000, on March 4, 2008 from 8:00 AM until 5:00 PM. The specific goals of the teaming and information session are: (a) to introduce the research community (industry, academia, and Government) to the SyNAPSE program vision and goals; (b) to explain the mechanics of a DARPA Program and the milestones and metrics of this particular effort; and (c) to encourage and promote teaming arrangements among potential organizations that have the relevant expertise, facilities, and capabilities for executing a research and development program responsive to the SyNAPSE program goals. The teaming and information session will include overview presentations by Government personnel and a poster session to facilitate interaction and team building among the teaming and information session participants. Additionally, a teaming website is provided to facilitate these interactions and can be found at http://www.sainc.com/SyNAPSETeaming/index.asp. Potential participants should note that formation of teams with sufficient expertise to address all technical areas, which will be detailed in an anticipated future BAA, will be critical to the success of the program. DARPA will not be funding component technologies that address only a subset of the technologies listed in the BAA. Appropriate teaming will be a critical element in responding to any future DARPA SyNAPSE solicitation. SyNAPSE Proposer's Day Workshop participants are strongly encouraged to prepare posters describing areas of capabilities in order to facilitate communications, interactions, and teaming discussions during the poster session. Workshop details including registration, poster session, meeting location, and lodging information are given on the SyNAPSE registration website at http://www.eventmakeronline.com/dso/View/index.asp?MeetingID=561. There is no fee for the SyNAPSE Proposer's Day Workshop. Registration is limited by the venue capacity and early registration is strongly recommended. (No more than 2 attendees per organization may attend the morning presentation sessions. One (1) additional attendee per organization is permitted at the afternoon poster session.) Those who are only attending the afternoon poster session are not required to perform an online workshop registration. The registration cutoff date is February 28, 2008, or at attendance capacity, whichever comes first. Further administrative information is available from Mr. Robert Allen (
[email protected]). Additional technical information can be obtained from Dr. Todd Hylton (
[email protected]). Please refer to the SyNAPSE Proposer's Day in your correspondence. This announcement is not a request for proposals. Point of Contact Dr. Todd Hylton, Program Manager, DARPA/DSO; Phone: (703) 526 4056; Email:
[email protected]