Member Alert: Project Call 5.0
Project Call 5.0 is slated for release on June 7, 2019, this Member Alert is to announce the call for topics and schedule associated with the project call. Technical Working Group (TWG) Co-leads are working to prepare for inputs from the TWG volunteers, and NextFlex wants to ensure that all members have the opportunity to influence project call topics. For PC5 we are planning to adjust our approach compared with earlier project calls to target a larger number of projects that are shorter in duration. More specifically, we’re planning to release topics for projects ranging from six to twelve months and funded amounts between $150K to $500K (plus cost-share).
This project call will be focused primarily on manufacturing challenges. Both MTA and TPD TWGs are highly encouraged to submit topic ideas, and we ask that they focus on enabling manufacturing capabilities rather than on a fully integrated device capability. Projects are still highly encouraged to produce demonstrator deliverables, but the goal would be for to demonstrate a manufacturing capability rather than a fully operational device. (As an example, a project may emphasize printed microfluidics for human monitoring, but it should not require a completely packaged device with power, Bluetooth, etc.)
Consistent with previous project calls, TWG Co-leads will submit candidate project call topics based on technology roadmap gaps. To encourage diverse inputs, we strongly encourage the full TWG membership recommend topic ideas and any NextFlex member may recommend topic ideas through the TWG Co-leads listed below:
| TWG Category | Name | Role |
| ASSET MONITORING SYSTEMS | Robert Smith | Corporate Co-Lead |
| Pradeep Lall | Academic Co-Lead | |
| Ken Blecker | Gov’t Co-Lead | |
| HUMAN MONITORING SYSTEMS | Azar Alizadeh | Corporate Co-Lead |
| Jeff Morse | Academic Co-Lead | |
| Christian Whitchurch | Gov’t Co-Lead | |
| INTEGRATED ARRAY ANTENNAS | Joseph Kunze | Corporate Co-Lead |
| Alkim Akyurtlu | Academic Co-Lead | |
| Steven Weiss | Gov’t Co-Lead | |
| SOFT ROBOTICS | Deepak Trivedi | Corporate Co-Lead |
| Chuck Zhang | Academic Co-Lead | |
| Geoff Slipher | Gov’t Co-Lead | |
| MODELING & DESIGN | Jim Huang | Corporate Co-Lead |
| Suresh Sitaraman | Academic Co-Lead | |
| Phil Buskohl | Gov’t Co-Lead | |
| MATERIALS | James Lamb | Corporate Co-Lead |
| John Williams | Corporate Co-Lead | |
| Joey Mead | Academic Co-Lead | |
| Giuseppe Di Benedetto | Gov’t Co-Lead | |
| Kate Duncan | Gov’t Co-Lead | |
| PRINTED FLEXIBLE COMPONENTS & MICROFLUIDICS | Chris Stoessel | Corporate Co-Lead |
| Massood Atashbar | Academic Co-Lead | |
| Jeremy Ward | Gov’t Co-Lead | |
| STANDARDS, TEST, & RELIABILITY | Chris Jorgensen | Corporate Co-Lead |
| Poliks, Mark | Academic Co-Lead | |
| Emily Heckman | Gov’t Co-Lead | |
| FLEXIBLE POWER | Michelle Farrington | Corporate Co-Lead |
| Devin MacKenzie | Academic Co-Lead | |
| Enoch Wang | Gov’t Co-Lead | |
| DEVICE INTEGRATION & PACKAGING | Stephen Gonya | Corporate Co-Lead |
| Nancy Stoffel | Corporate Co-Lead | |
| Mark Poliks | Academic Co-Lead | |
| Bruce Hughes | Gov’t Co-Lead |
Topics will also be solicited from the NextFlex Government Working Group and from NextFlex. We request topic ideas to be described in one paragraph and include a maximum funding amount between $150K and $500K. In one paragraph, each topic should detail the manufacturing need, the context of the need, and high-level requirements, and will evaluated based on focus and specificity.
Tentative schedule for Project Call 5.0 is as follows:
- April 22: Project Call 5.0 topic ideas due to Nextflex
- May 6: Topic ideas submitted to NextFlex Tech Council for prioritization
- May 15: Prioritized topics due to NextFlex
- May 31: Topics finalized based on input from NextFlex and TWGs
- June 7: Project Call 5.0 released
- June 11: Proposer’s Day at FHE for Defense Workshop in Arlington, VA
For more information, please contact Scott Miller at smiller@nextflex.us