Cooperative R&D in Additive Manufacturing

Cooperative R&D in Additive Manufacturing The Department of Energy's Advanced Manufacturing Office announces an opportunity for manufacturing industry participants to engage in cutting edge R&D in Additive Manufacturing in cooperation with DOE's Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Manufacturing Demonstration Facility staff will engage in collaborative projects with industry researchers to address significant barriers to adoption of Additive Manufacturing across a broad spectrum of applications for this technology. The opportunity will support projects that align with ongoing and planned projects at the MDF. UT-Battelle, LLC, acting under its Prime Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the management and operation of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, conducts research and development in support of the DOE Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO). AMO's mission is to research, develop and demonstrate new energy efficient manufacturing and materials technologies at a scale adequate to prove their value to manufacturers. The mission includes technology deployment that promotes use of advanced technologies and better energy management to capture U.S. competitive advantage. Description ORNL has a long history of working collaboratively with industry partners to develop fundamental understanding of and to overcome barriers to commercial adoption of new materials and processes. ORNL's world-leading capabilities in materials development, characterization, and processing along with expertise in modeling and simulation comprise an environment for breakthroughs and innovation. Participants will have the opportunity to work alongside ORNL research staff within the MDF, which offers comprehensive Additive Manufacturing capabilities in a 40,000 ft 2 research facility near Knoxville, TN. Collaborativee projects will align with the MDF's core research activities in Additive Manufacturing (AM) and contribute to development and widespread deployment of additive technologies with the objective of achieving high economic input and quantifiable energy savings. Project interests include, but are not limited to: •· Improved and AM-specific materials development •- - High temperature applications •- - Light weighting •- - Bio derived materials •- - Functional materials •· AM process science •- - Material property dependency on process inputs •- - Computational framework for data visualization and analytics •- - Improved machine control •· Process Characterization for Qualification •- - In-Situ non-destructive evaluation •- - Neutron diffraction and imaging •- - Coupling to National Laboratory Network •· Exploring Next-Generation Systems •- - Increased build volumes and rates and cost effectiveness •- - Integrating the supply chain •- - Working with current and future equipment developers Expression of Interest and Proposal DOE funding for Additive Manufacturing R&D at the MDF will support ORNL participation in a limited number of projects with industry that are directly collaborative with the core MDF R&D program and that leverage previous DOE investments. Prospective participants are invited to submit a proposal following the proposal application guidelines and template found attached to this announcement. The business agreement for collaborative projects will be a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA). The agreement will provide for protection of company proprietary information and equitable distribution of rights in inventions made within the agreement. Participating companies will be required to share at least 50% of the total project cost through in-kind cost and effort. Participant contributions beyond the minimum requirement in the form of contributions of cash, equipment or materials will be favorably considered. Note: This is not a procurement request and no funds will be provided to participating companies. Evaluation Selection of projects under this announcement will be at the discretion of ORNL in cooperation with the DOE Advanced Manufacturing Office. ORNL reserves the right to select all, a portion of, or none of the submitted proposals. Submissions will be evaluated against DOE EERE's core criteria delineated below: •· High Impact: Why is this a high-impact problem? (>>1% impact on national energy goals, if successful) How does the technology development for the proposed topic transform the marketplace? •· Additionality: How will DOE funding make a large difference relative to what the private sector (and other funding entities) is already doing? •· Openness: How have we made sure to focus on the broad problem we are trying to solve and be open to new ideas, new approaches, and new performers? •· Enduring Economic Benefit: How will this DOE funding result in enduring economic benefit to the United States, especially related to manufacturing? •· Proper Role of Government: How does the EERE funding represent a proper high-impact role of government versus something best left to the private sector to do on its own? Eligibility U.S. - owned companies and foreign-owned companies with a substantial U.S. manufacturing presence will be considered for participation. Proposal Timeline and Submission Collaborative projects are being considered for initiation October 1, 2015. Proposals should be submitted not later than July 31, 2016. Completed proposals must be submitted in PDF file format by email to [email protected] . The subject line should read: AOP Collaboration . Point of Contact All questions relating to this announcement should be directed to Dr. Alan Liby by email, [email protected] or by phone, (865) 576-4221.