2010 AIR FORCE/INDUSTRY SPACE TECHNOLOGY INTERCHANGE

WORKSHOP FOR INDEPENDENT RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT AND SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH TRANSITION SUPPORT

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), in concert with the Space & Missile Systems Center (SMC), plans to conduct the 2010 Air Force/Industry Space Technology Interchange Workshop for Independent Research & Development (IR&D) and Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Transition Support in the month of April 2010 in Long Beach, California. The specific dates and venue for this workshop are to be determined (TBD) at a later time.

On the first day of the workshop, AFRL and SMC will conduct a joint plenary session, followed by simultaneous, separate one-on-one sessions for IR&D and SBIR Transition Support on the second day. These two parallel activities have different objectives -- one focuses on IR&D dialogue between government and industry while the other focuses on the SBIR dialogue between major defense contractors and small businesses. These are briefly explained in Section 1 (IR&D) and Section 2 (SBIR) below.

This announcement is an expression of interest only and does not obligate the government in any way. Response to this request is voluntary and will not impact any future acquisitions. The official announcement is made through Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOps) Announcement. Please respond to the appropriate point of contact within 15 business days of the FedBizOps publication with your intent to attend each respective section of this workshop. Note that there are specific major contractor attendance criteria for both of the IR&D and SBIR interchanges. Attendance by small businesses to the SBIR one-on-one sessions is by invitation only. This will be further explained in Section 2 below.

There is a conference registration fee associated with this event. The conference fee helps to defray conference costs and will be determined at a later date.

Restrictions: These meetings are unclassified and only open to U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) contractors. To participate as an attendee, you must be a DoD employee or DoD contractor with a valid DD Form 2345, Militarily Critical Technical Data Agreement.

Limitations: Due to resource constraints, and our expectations for responses to this announcement, we anticipate having to select a more limited group of companies to participate in these sessions. Our selection process will be explained below.

At the onset of the workshop, the plenary overview for the qualifying contractors sets the stage of the subsequent technology interchange meetings. With an integrated voice, AFRL and SMC are presenting the Air Force near- and mid-term space technology needs. Moreover, the plenary session provides the context of the government/industry IR&D dialogue and the SBIR One-on-One sessions that follow the next day. Other details of the workshop and the criteria for industry participation are explained in Section 1 (IR&D) and Section 2 (SBIR CPP) below:

More Information
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=16004