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NextFlex, OSD ManTech, and each of the DoD Manufacturing Innovation Institutes today announce the DoD Point of Need Manufacturing Challenge. This challenge will provide a total of $1.5M in funding to projects that address dual-use applications and are responsive to specific needs of the Department of Defense (DoD) and the domestic manufacturing industry. Individual projects may be funded up to $500k.
This special project call is focused on a single Special Topic Area (STA) which has been derived from the DoD advanced manufacturing community and contains multiple challenges. Project teams can select one or more challenges to address. Challenge areas include:
- Build the FOB Challenge
- Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV) Challenge
- Warfighter Medical, Health, and Nutrition Challenge
- Power Challenge
- Cyber Challenges
- Staying in the Fight Challenge
- Other
Project teams must include their Manufacturing Innovation Institute as a team performer in their projects with the MII performing, at a minimum, project management. However, proposers may work with NextFlex to leverage the Institute’s technical capabilities for the effort. Project teams are also encouraged to leverage successfully completed MII technology development programs as well as Institute Developed Intellectual Property (IDIP) in their submissions.
It is highly recommended that proposers have discussions with NextFlex as soon as possible if they intend to submit for this special project call.
In order to increase the flow of ideas and reduce the administrative time to implement, this project call will use a two-step submission process for selecting projects:
Step 1: Concept paper and Quad Chart submission.
Step 2: Team presentation and supporting documents submission (by invitation only)
Projects selected after Step 2 will be contracted through the Manufacturing Innovation Institutes.
You can learn more details of this process in the Point of Need Manufacturing Challenge Overview document.
Important Dates
- Concept Papers Submission Deadline: 2/6/23
- Presentation Phase Selections Released: 2/14/23
- Team Presentations / Supporting Material Submission Deadline: 2/28/23 (by invitation only)
- Team Presentations: 3/8/23 and 3/9/23
- Award Notification Anticipated: 3/30/23
- Target Project Start Date: No later than 5/15/23
- All projects to be completed and closed: Prior to 12/15/23
Given the quick-turn nature of this opportunity, NextFlex is distributing this information to members now and will share additional information, including submission details, as they become available. Questions may be addressed to proposal@nextflex.us.