Notice End Date: June 8, 2026

Vendor Name: Bruker TRACER 5g pXRF System

Contract Amount: $67,147.07

Agency Procurement Manager: SC Young

Agency Procurement Manager Email: scy@clemson.edu

Agency Procurement Manager Telephone#: 864-656-2830

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 sole source the purchase of a Bruker TRACER 5g portable X-ray fluorescence system configured for archaeological, geological, and paleoenvironmental sediment-core research. This instrument is required for high-resolution elemental analysis of sediment cores and related soil, wetland, archaeological, and geologic samples. My research depends on identifying subtle geochemical changes through sediment cores in order to reconstruct paleoenvironmental conditions, sediment sources, anthropogenic inputs, and stratigraphic change through time. For this work, a general screening-level pXRF is not sufficient. The TRACER 5g is needed because of its detector type, graphene window, helium-capable analytical configuration, flexible beam settings, and advanced spectral software.This combination is specific to the Bruker TRACER 5g platform and is not interchangeable with pXRF instruments from other manufacturers. Substituting another pXRF system would not provide the same resolution or workflow needed for paleoenvironmental sediment-core research, and the Tracer 5g features are not available on any other instrument. For these reasons, the Bruker TRACER 5g is the only source for this specific configured system.

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