Notice End Date: January 12, 2023

Vendor Name: Thorlabs Inc GANYMEDE SD-OCT System

Contract Amount: $68,682.93

Agency Procurement Manager: SC Young

Agency Procurement Manager Email: scy@clemson.edu

Agency Procurement Manager Telephone#: 8646562830

The Agency hereby provides notice that it intends to enter into a sole source contract per S.C. Code Ann. §11-35-1560 with Vendor for the following supplies, services, information technology, or construction:

Clemson University seeks to purcase a Thorlabs Ganemyde optical coherence tomography (OCT) instrument (GAN611C1).  This equipment is required for fast, non-destructive imaging of biological samples. The instrument will support a pending DARPA award focused on engineering beneficial bacterial biofilms for marine applications. OCT will enable fast, non-destructive measurement of biofilm morphology.  Beyond the four-year period of the award, the configuration is compatible with specifications required for transitioning to a broader spectrum of applications of relevance to other research in the Department of Bioengineering. Toward the immediate requirements: 1. The instrument offers several unique features that are required for our application. First, a rapid but adjustable rate is required, since we aim to image biofilms exposed to fast fluid flow rates, yet also require high sensitivity.  Second, the unique, configurable trigger input/output options are needed as well, since acquisition must be automated and integrated with other equipment. Third, the unique ability to integrate different objectives is required, as our overall system requires challenging integrations, which may change the optimal working distance and resolution. The resolution, wavelength, and working distance meet our application specifications as well, providing the ability to image samples in fluidic chambers and calculate roughness measures to accuracies within 10um, despite multiple refractive index changes. 2. The exact configuration was originally budgeted in our DARPA proposal, but required cuts during negotiations prevented its inclusion in the final budget. A DARPA team collaborator is purchasing the same unit, and comparisons across sites would be complicated by the use of different instruments.   3. A protocol and code is available for integrating Thorlabs OCT instruments on gantries for automated image acquisition over large areas, which our application requires. For these reasons, this is a sole source procurement.

Agency's justification for a sole source procurement may be viewed or immediately obtained at: Agency Procurement Manager (Listed Above)

PROTESTS:
Any actual or prospective bidder, offeror, contractor, or subcontractor aggrieved in connection with the intended award or award of this sole source contract, shall notify the appropriate chief Procurement officer in writing of its intent to protest within five (5) business days of the date this notice is posted. Any actual or prospective bidder, offeror, contractor, or subcontractor who is aggrieved in connection with the intended award or award of this sole source contract and has timely notified the appropriate chief procurement officer of its intent to protest, may protest to the appropriate chief procurement officer in the manner set forth below within fifteen days of the date this notice is posted; except that a matter that could have been raised as a protest of the solicitation may not be raised as a protest of the award or intended award of a contract.
A protest must be in writing, filed with the appropriate chief procurement officer, and set forth the grounds of the protest and the relief requested with enough particularity to give notice of the issues to be decided. The protest must be received by the appropriate chief procurement officer within the time provided above. Days are calculated as provided in S.C. Code Ann. § 11-35-310(13).

Any Notice Of Intent To Protest And Protest Must Be Addressed To: Materials Management Officer