NASA JSC Systems Engineering and Project Management Advancement Program
Synopsis/Solicitation Combo – Jan 22, 2015
General Information
Solicitation Number: NNX15TB77P
Posted Date: Jan 22, 2015
FedBizOpps Posted Date: Jan 22, 2015
Recovery and Reinvestment Act Action: No
Original Response Date: Feb 09, 2015
Current Response Date: Feb 09, 2015
Classification Code: U — Education and training services
NAICS Code: 541330
Set-Aside Code: Total Small Business
Contracting Office Address
NASA Shared Services Center Procurement Division Building 1111 Stennis Space Center, MS 39529-6000
Description
NASA Johnson Space Center has a requirement for a training program entitled “Systems Engineering & Project Management Advancement Program” (SEPMAP).
NASA intends to issue a sole source contract for this curriculum to Essential Space, Inc., DBA Teaching Science & Technology (TSTI), under the authority of FAR Subpart 13.5, Class Deviation-2015-O0004.
NASA is pursuing this contract action to TSTI because the TSTI instructors have written and/or edited the only integrated collection of 14 published textbooks and references that capture the full spectrum of system engineering and its application to NASA design experience and lessons learned. In addition, TSTI instructors have also written and published textbooks on systems engineering & project management and its application to NASA space systems. This one-of-a-kind curriculum provides NASA’s aspiring and practicing system engineers with design experience and lessons learned from over 35 years of NASA, Department of Defense, and industry experience designing and operating space missions and systems.
This course offering shall be held onsite at NASA Johnson Space Center, or within a 5 mile radius, beginning March 2, 2015 and continue through September 30, 2016. Target audience is 20 attendees at the GS-13 level and above.
The Government intends to acquire a commercial item using the procedures in FAR Part 12 and the Simplified Acquisition Procedures set forth in FAR Part 13.5, Class Deviation-2015-O0004.
This notice is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation, which is issued as a Request for Quotation (RFQ); quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The Government intends to acquire a commercial item using FAR Part 12 and Simplified Acquisition Procedures set forth in FAR Subpart 13.5, Class Deviation-2015-O0004.
I. Introduction The contractor tasks and responsibilities required to support NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) are detailed below. Specifically, the contractor shall furnish the necessary services and products to implement and accomplish the specific objectives of the JSC development program entitled “Systems Engineering & Project Management Advancement Program” discussed in Section II.
II. Background NASA and JSC Leadership have identified Systems Engineering and Project Management as a critical core competency required to enable current and future mission success. In response, JSC has created the Systems Engineering & Project Management Advancement Program (SEPMAP). This development program will integrate technical and leadership assessments, individual development planning, developmental work assignments, mentoring, knowledge sharing, and curriculum with a hands-on experiential project. This procurement is for the curriculum and experiential hands-on project components of this program. The scope and deliverables for the SEPMAP curriculum and experiential hands-on project will be outlined in Sections III and IV, respectively.
III. Scope and Deliverables for JSC Systems Engineering & Project Management Advancement Program Curriculum The contractor will provide lectures, presentation materials, textbooks, course evaluations, make-up assignments, tools, and techniques appropriate for the scope of the program. The curriculum must satisfy the following requirements for up to 20 participants:
A. The curriculum shall emphasize core project management and systems engineering principles and competencies including project planning, organizing for project management, stakeholder management, requirements development and management, scheduling, cost estimating and budgeting, acquisition and contract management, mission assurance, risk management, leadership, teamwork, strategic communications, decision-making, project manager maturity and strategic issues. The curriculum will be customized to address these key areas. B. The curriculum shall emphasize systems design and development, key systems engineering processes and tools, and a holistic understanding of systems engineering principles. The curriculum will be customized to address these key areas. C. The curriculum shall emphasize systems engineering and integration of hardware and software, organizations, people, processes, and tools. D. The curriculum shall emphasize critical activities spanning the entire project lifecycle. E. The curriculum shall be provided onsite at NASA JSC or offsite within a 5 mile radius of JSC. F. The curriculum shall be provided according to a flexible delivery schedule that is suited to the needs and constraints of the participants in the SEPMAP development program. This may include rescheduling modules to avoid interference with mission schedule and goals or redesigning the delivery format outlined above. G. The curriculum shall consist of seven courses. The courses shall emphasize the following Systems Engineering and Project Management capabilities and topics:
1. Designing Space Systems Architecture This course introduces participants to space systems architecture methods and place system architecture development in context with needs analysis, CONOPS, functional analysis and system design. This course helps participants to: a) Understand space exploration including the vision of the future, objectives and strategies, as well as view of upcoming technologies and missions; b) Comprehend what system architectures are and some techniques for how they are developed; c) Apply effective methodology for translating space mission objectives, requirements, and designs into viable and cost-effective operations; d) Describe the key functions that must be performed for mission operations
2. Applied Project Management for Space Systems This course provides the conceptual foundation for project management. It exercises participants in a broad range of activities that determine project success. This course helps provide perspective on: a) Bound the project & project capture, project planning, organizing for project management, stakeholder management; b) Execute the project – systems engineering, requirements development and management, scheduling, cost estimating and budgeting, acquisition and contract management, mission assurance, risk management, monitoring, evaluation and control; c) Enable project success, leadership, teamwork, strategic communications, decision-making and cultural considerations; d) Reassess progress & project manager maturity and strategic issues
3. Human Spaceflight This course provides the conceptual framework for developing space missions of human spacecraft. It describes and teaches the human space mission design and analysis process. The entire course is process oriented to equip participants with knowledge to complete a conceptual design and analyze the impacts of evolving requirements. At the end of this course, the participant will be better able to tie mission elements together and perform tradeoffs between system design and mission operations that must occur, during the early stages of planning, in order to deliver cost-effective results.
4. Applied Space Systems Engineering This course discusses space systems engineering at the application level. Initial focus is on need identification and problems definition. Thereafter, synthesis, analysis, and evaluation activities during conceptual and preliminary system design phases should be discussed and articulated through examples and case studies. Emphasis is placed on enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of deployed systems while concurrently reducing their operation and support costs. Accordingly, course participants are introduced to methods that influence system design and architecture from a long-term operation and support perspective. This course should emphasize the design and development of space systems.
5. Mission and System Design Verification and Validation This course provides hands-on opportunities to apply key principals of space systems engineering. Participants are given a set of customer expectations in the form of broad mission objectives. Using state-of-the-industry mission design and analysis tools, participants apply systems engineering processes to define top-level system requirements, design key elements, and conclude with a system design review. In Verification and Validation, participants experience system realization processes first hand by integrating, verifying, validating, and delivering their experiential project. From the part-level to the system level, participants implement a rigorous assembly, integration, verification, and validation plan on space hardware/software applying “test like you fly, fly like you test” principles.
6. Software Engineering for Systems Engineers This course introduces software engineering principles and provides an overview of the software development lifecycle, improvement methods, and metrics. Participants will come to understand the importance of software engineering support activities such as configuration management, independent verification and validation, cost estimation, risk, and acquisition. The course will also explain the relationship between software development lifecycle and the requirements for and the best practices of each phase in the software development lifecycle.
7. Advanced Project Management for Space Systems This course focuses on advanced concepts of project management and their integration into all areas of the project life cycle for space systems. This course uses a hands-on project approach to illustrate topics as system architecture, cost and schedule, and risk concepts into engineering planning and design. Participants will manage the development of a system architecture meeting performance requirements within acceptable levels of risk. Participants will manage the integration of project management and systems engineering personnel functions with activities corresponding to the “cradle to grave” life cycle phases. Participants will also learn effectively transition functions of an ongoing project from one individual to another.
IV. Scope and Deliverables for JSC Systems Engineering & Project Management Advancement Program Hands-on Experiential Project This section outlines the scope and deliverables for the Systems Engineering and Project Management Advancement Program Hands-on Experiential Project. The experiential project will provide participants in the development program with hands-on experience that spans the entire project lifecycle. The project will challenge participants, facilitate discussions, and motivate the lectures and workshop activities. The experiential project shall satisfy the following requirements:
A. The project will focus on participants learning and getting experience in the elements of a complete project lifecycle, from concept to completion. B. Teams will design, build, test, and operate their own systems using team designed plans. C. Participants will complete an end-to-end lifecycle project and complete a demonstration at the end that represents the operational phase of the project. D. The experiential project will require an average of 8 hours per week per participant, throughout the duration of the development program. E. All participants will be required to populate the 4 teams and take part in all activities related to the project. F. The contractor shall lead a hands-on project that will apply their learning to real-world experience. G. The contractor shall provide all of the necessary supplies and support services for the project throughout the duration of the development program. H. The contractor shall ensure the experiential project meets any safety and regulatory guidelines, if applicable. I. At a minimum, the contractor shall provide seven sessions of comprehensive feedback to participants (one relating to each of the seven courses outlined above). Additional sessions of feedback throughout the complete lifecycle of the project would be highly recommended.
V. Contractor Requirements This section outlines the requirements that the contractor must satisfy. The contractor shall meet the following requirements: A. The contractor shall have demonstrated previous positive performance in providing technical and leadership assessments, mentoring, knowledge sharing, training and guiding NASA employees on the production of hardware development, providing training and guiding NASA employees through necessary milestone reviews for a project, and providing customized curriculum in Project Management and Systems Engineering with at least one NASA center. B. The contractor shall have previously demonstrated a substantial knowledge of NASA Systems Engineering and Project Management practices, procedures, documentation, priorities and development requirements. C. The contractor shall be accredited in accordance with the US. Department of Education guidelines. D. The contractor must be flexible to allow tailoring of the assigned individual and group projects to make them more relevant to the participants.
VI. Deliverables A. The contractor shall provide all presentation materials for the entire program and textbooks for each of the 7 courses outlined in Section III for each of the 20 participants. B. The contractor shall provide 20 SEPAMP Program completion certificates for the participants upon completion of the program.
VII. Place and Period of Performance A. Place of performance shall be onsite at NASA Johnson Space Center or within a 5 mile radius. B. Period of Performance shall commence on March 2, 2015 and continue through September 30, 2016.
The NAICS Code is 541330 Engineering Services and the Small Business size standard is $15,000,000. The following clauses and provisions are applicable to this combined synopsis/solicitation: 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors; 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications Commercial Items; 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions Commercial Items; 52-212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders Commercial Items.
Interested organizations may submit their capabilities and qualifications to perform the effort in writing to the identified point of contact not later than 3:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Monday, February 9, 2015. Such capabilities/qualifications will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed effort on a full and open competition basis, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the government.
Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice.
Capabilities and qualifications should be submitted to Cindy Breland at Cynthia.P.Breland@nasa.gov .
An Ombudsman has been appointed. See NASA Specific Note “B”.
Any referenced notes may be viewed at the following URLs linked below.
Questions regarding this acquisition must be submitted in writing (e-mail is preferred) no later than January 30, 2015. It is the quoter’s responsibility to monitor this site for the release of amendments (if any). Potential quoters will be responsible for downloading their own copy of this notice, the on-line RFQ and amendments (if any).
NASA Clause 1852.215-84, Ombudsman, is applicable. The Center Ombudsman for this acquisition can be found at http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/pub/pub_library/Omb.html .
Point of Contact
Name: Suzanne Honeycutt
Title: Contracting Officer
Phone: 228-813-6173
Fax: 228-813-6315
Email: suzanne.honeycutt-1@nasa.gov
