PURPOSE:
Notice is hereby given by the University of Ottawa of the intent to enter into a contract with Gibeault Solutions Inc. for software engineering services on an as, when and if required basis for the purpose of improving established solid-state nanopore fabrication and conditioning software, as well as to develop and implement software required for novel assay designs based on solid-state nanopores.
The contract term is for three (3) years. The mandate is expected to start in May 2019.
This Advanced Contract Award Notice (“ACAN”) provides prospective service providers the opportunity to demonstrate that they are capable of satisfying all requirements set out in this ACAN by way of submitting a Statement of Capabilities on or before the posting end date.
PROCESS:
Suppliers that consider their resource fully compliant to the ACAN minimum requirements may submit, in writing, a Statement of Capabilities to the contact person identified in this Notice, on or before the closing date of this Notice. In the Statement of Capabilities, the supplier must unequivocally demonstrate how their resource, at minimum, equals, or exceeds the stated requirements.
If no other supplier submits a Statement of Capabilities, on or before the closing date of this Notice, the competitive requirements of the University of Ottawa will be considered having been met. Following notification to any suppliers not successful in unequivocally demonstrating that their Statement of Capabilities equals or exceeds the requirements set out in this Notice, the contract may then be awarded to the pre-identified supplier.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:
The service provider must conform to the following minimum requirements:
1. The individual must have a thorough understanding of controlled breakdown (CBD), and how it is used to fabricate solid-state nanopores
2. The individual must have a strong understanding of solid-state nanopores, and how they can be used to detect individual molecules
3. The individual must possess an intimate knowledge of the University’s existing custom software “CBDsoft” and “Acquisition” for the generation of solid-state nanopores in an automated fashion, and their use as molecular sensors, including all associated techniques and algorithms for fabrication, conditioning, size determination, and noise evaluation
4. The individual must be an expert (minimum 15 years’ experience) in LabView programming
5. The individual must be able to update the existing software rapidly with a short turnaround
6. The individual must be able to generate new software from scratch and interface it with existing software
7. The individual must have a minimum of 4 years’ experience with electrical circuitry relating to solid-state nanopore fabrication
8. The individual must have a minimum of 15 years’ experience in designing multi-threaded applications
9. The individual must have significant (minimum of 15 years) experience with Digital Signal Processing algorithms and theory
10. The individual must have significant (minimum of 15 years) experience with Control System algorithms and theory
11. The individual must have a Graduate degree in Electrical, Computer or System Engineering
12. The University will not be providing a work station or physical resources to perform the work; therefore, the service provider must have the necessary resources, such as software licenses, computer, desk and phone, to work remotely.
13. The service provider must be fluently bilingual (French-English).
14. The service provider must obtain and maintain at its expense full and adequate insurance covering
performance of the services.
Justification:
As the original supplier of services procured to build the University’s existing solid-state nanopore fabrication and conditioning, and sensing software, Gibeault Solutions Inc. has developed a specialized level of expertise surrounding the technical aspects of working with solid-state nanopores, and has an intimate familiarity with the existing custom software such that they are the only service provider on the market that can meet or exceed all of the above-mentioned requirements. The time and cost that would be required to train another supplier is prohibitively high, and would severely hinder several projects.
