CONTACTS 
0201 - National Science Foundation          703 306 1234
020101 - Ms. Cheryl Albus
020102 - FastLane SBIR Registrtion
020103 - ENG/DMII

SUBJECTS
Cover Submit via FastLane
Title of Proposal
Proposal ID Kit Number
Proposal
FastLane Down for Maintenance
FastLane Could Not Print Cover,

1108 -    ..
1109 - Summary/Objective
1110 -
111001 - Follow up ref SDS 11 0000, ref SDS 9 0000.
111002 -
111003 - Completed and submitted proposal via Internet to Rick Shindell for
111004 - submission to NSF, because FastLane was down today. ref SDS 0 9760
111005 -
111006 -     [On 990610 Rick received proposal, sent to NSF. ref SDS 16 3366]
111007 -
111008 -     [On 990614 NSF requested re-submission. ref SDS 18 0001]
111009 -
111010 -     [On 990616 proposal re-submitted. ref SDS 21 0001]
111011 -
111012 -     [On 990629 NSF to review proposal on the merits. ref SDS 22 0987]
111013 -
111014 - The next day, was able to get online at FastLane to complete various
111015 - forms and make submission of the proposal.  At the conclusion of the
111016 - submission process, FastLane returned a proposal number.  Transmitted
111017 - a printed version of the proposal with an explanation that the cover
111018 - sheet and certification required to be printed not could be done,
111019 - because the system failed to work.
111020 -
111021 -     [On 990611 submitted letter to NSF with feedback on using
111022 -     Fastlane, which may help improve system. ref SDS 17 0001]
111023 -
111024 -     [On 990614 NSF reported problems using FastLane. ref SDS 18 0324]
111025 -
111026 -
111027 -  ..
1111 -
1112 -
1113 - Progress
1114 -
111401 -  ..
111402 - Complete Prepare Proposal to NSF on Communication Metrics
111403 -
111404 - Follow up ref SDS 11 5672.
111405 -
111406 - Today, received into the record a letter from Rick Shindell on 990524,
111407 - ref DRT 1,0001 which answers questions on 990522 about finding
111408 - proposal forms cited in the NSF instructions. ref SDS 11 5672
111409 -
111410 -
111411 -       http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1999/nsf9957/Attach/Formlist.htm
111412 -
111413 -
111414 -    [On 990615 forms still not available at NSF specified address, so
111415 -    got them at alternate address above. ref SDS 20 1333]
111416 -
111417 -  ..
111418 - Prepared ref DIT 1 6781 using NSF web page reported on 990522,
111419 - ref SDS 11 TQ5F, as the technical proposal.
111420 -
111421 -     Proposal responds to NSF objective to improve traditional
111422 -     information technology embodied by the paradigm of "documents," by
111423 -     enabling in common parlance a "paperless office" that is enabled
111424 -     by SDS to perform Communication Metrics using Knowledge Space in
111425 -     place of "documents," as indicated by the record on 990522 showing
111426 -     the government strives to improve productivity. ref SDS 11 9077
111427 -
111428 - Explain need for NSF to review the proposal online, ref DIT 1 1069,
111429 - per objective on 990225. ref SDS 1 0840
111430 -
111431 -      [On 990614 reviewed this objective with NSF staff. ref SDS 18
111432 -      5673]
111433 -
111434 -      [On 990616 submitted revised proposal. ref SDS 21 0001]
111435 -
111436 -      [On 991213 proposal was not reviewed online. ref SDS 23 0788]
111437 - ..
111438 - Set research objectives from work on 990225, ref SDS 1 0788, and
111439 - ideas suggested by Morris on 990427, ref SDS 4 5624, to provide search
111440 - capability. ref DIT 1 1148
111441 -
111442 -       ..
111443 -      Morris requested this again on 990521. ref SDS 10 4118
111444 -
111445 -      ...and again on 990524. ref SDS 12 4774
111446 -
111447 - Cited commendation by Bill Benkavitch on 990602, ref SDS 15 0001, as
111448 - evidence of commercial potential for SDS as disruptive technology....
111449 - ref DIT 1 0704
111450 -
111451 - Prepared table of contents for technical proposal using same format as
111452 - NSF instructions. that omits page numbers, since these are irrelevant
111453 - in knowledge space. ref OF 7 4144
111454 -
111455 -
111456 -     [On 990615 revised table of contents. ref SDS 20 1825]
111457 -
111458 -
111459 -  ..
111460 - Section 3.3 has requirements for entire proposal. ref OF 13 0303
111461 -
111462 -      1.  Cover page and certification, Attachment B. ref OF 13 7990
111463 -
111464 -      2.  Project Summary, Attachment C. ref OF 13 5913
111465 -
111466 -          This was done online, 990522. ref SDS 11 5222
111467 -
111468 -          [On 990615 created local file, ref OF 33 0001 for project
111469 -          summary. ref SDS 20 1289]
111470 -
111471 -      3.  Information about Principal Investigator/Project Directors
111472 -          Attachment A. ref OF 13 6480
111473 -
111474 -      4.  Technical Proposal (12 parts), including graphics, and
111475 -          starting at page 3 with a table of contents. ref OF 13 3481
111476 -          ..
111477 -          See below... ref SDS 0 4785
111478 -
111479 -      5.  Summary Proposal Budget, Attachment D and Budget Explanation
111480 -          Page (also required for each subawardee). ref OF 13 6241
111481 -
111482 -      6.  Company Commercialization History (Section 3.5, Part 12),
111483 -          see, ref OF 13 1482
111484 -
111485 -
111486 -  ..
111487 - Section 3.5 has requirements for technical proposal. ref OF 13 0305
111488 -
111489 - It needs...
111490 -
111491 -      Part 1:  Table of Contents
111492 -      Part 2:  Identification and Significance of Innovation
111493 -      Part 3:  Phase 1 Technical Objectives
111494 -      Part 4:  Phase 1 Research Plan
111495 -      Part 5:  Commercial Potential
111496 -      Part 6:  Company Information and Management Team
111497 -      Part 7:  Consultants and Subawards
111498 -      Part 8:  Equipment, Instrumentation, Computers and Facilities
111499 -      Part 9:  Equivalent or Overlapping Proposals to other Federal
111500 -               Agencies
111501 -      Part 10: Current and Pending Support of Principal
111502 -               Investigator and Senior Personnel
111503 -      Part 11: Summary Proposal Budget
111504 -      Part 12: Prior SBIR/STTR Prior Awards
111505 -
111506 -  ..
111507 - On 980610 when FastLane was up and running again, it provided for
111508 - preparation online of Parts 6 - 12, and for submission via FastLane.
111509 - Section 6.1 of NSF instructions say submit only the cover page and
111510 - project summary hrough FastLane. ref OF 16 0601
111511 -
111512 - This is a bit confusing to know what should be printed and submitted
111513 - separately.
111514 -
111515 -     [On 990614 NSF advises technical proposal parts 1 - 5 can be
111516 -     submitted via FastLane by clicking on "Description of Proposal,"
111517 -     and using a PDF format. ref SDS 18 2860]
111518 -
111519 - Did not change the "proposal summary," which was created from the
111520 - record on 990522. ref SDS 11 5222
111521 -
111522 -  ..
111523 - Did an order of magnitude budget for part 11 based on disruptive
111524 - technology character of proposal, reviewed on 990527. ref SDS 14 5258
111525 - FastLane provides project duration and makes calculations.
111526 -
111527 -     [On 990614 NSF requested submission of budget as part of overall
111528 -     re-submission using NSF "Attachment D" form. ref SDS 18 5673]
111529 -
111530 - Where and how do we submit this thing?
111531 -
111532 - They want to send it via Internet, but this seems to conflict a bit
111533 - with the requirements in chapter 6, ref OF 16 0604, that talk about
111534 - sending in a printed proposal.
111535 -
111536 -  ..
111537 - So some of it needs to be sent online, and some is sent both online
111538 - and in printed format.  Possibly some is sent only in printed format.
111539 -
111540 - I found an address for mailing the printed proposal in Chapter 6 at
111541 - ref OF 16 0605
111542 -
111543 -  ..
111544 - Section 6.4 says to submit original and 9 copies of phase I
111545 - proposal... ref OF 16 0604
111546 -
111547 - Section 6.4 says...
111548 -
111549 -     NSF forms may be copied as needed, however, one copy of the
111550 -     Certification Page and Summary Proposal Budget must have original
111551 -     signatures of the appropriate individuals and shall be marked
111552 -     "Original". The other copies of the proposal need not have
111553 -     original signatures. ref OF 16 4565
111554 -
111555 - The Certification and Budget page are prepared online, and submitted
111556 - along with everything else, so these parts have to be printed online
111557 - in order to comply with this requirement.
111558 -
111559 -     [On 990615 Joe Hennessey wants 9 copies of technical proposal and
111560 -     one copy of cover page, certificate, etc. ref SDS 19 0899]
111561 -
111562 -     [On 990615 prepared technical proposal. ref SDS 20 1825]
111563 -
111564 -     [On 990616 submitted 9 copies. ref SDS 21 2944]
111565 - ..
111566 - See below, was not able to print this stuff. ref SDS 0 0332
111567 -
111568 -
111569 -  ..
111570 - Submitted Proposal via Email to Rick Shindell
111571 - FastLane Down for Maintenance, Cannot Complete Submission
111572 -
111573 - Logged onto Fastlane to submit the proposal, and found that FastLane
111574 - is down for maintenance.  Checked back a few times, but could not log
111575 - on to complete proposal and submit it.
111576 -
111577 - As a result, could not finish submitting the proposal on 990609, as
111578 - required by section 6. ref OF 16 0603
111579 -
111580 - Prepared ref DIT 2 to send technical proposal ref DIT 1, to Rick
111581 - Shindell at SBIR Conference Center because he was helpful previously
111582 - on 990522 in solving FastLane access problems. ref SDS 11 5672
111583 -
111584 -     [On 990610 Rick received proposal, sent to NSF. ref SDS 16 3366]
111585 -
111586 -     [On 990614 NSF reported problems using FastLane. ref SDS 18 0324]
111587 -
111588 -  ..
111589 - Actually, section 1.5.2 has has an email address for notifying NSF
111590 - about problems using the system, ref OF 11 6237...
111591 -
111592 -        SBIR Program Support Office:
111593 -
111594 -           1.  E-mail.
111595 -
111596 -               The e-mail address for contacting NSF with questions
111597 -               regarding the 1999 SBIR/STTR Phase I Solicitation and
111598 -               Phase II Instruction Guide is:
111599 -
111600 -               sbir@nsf.gov
111601 -
111602 -     [On 990911 submitted feedback to NSF on problems using the system
111603 -     for consideration in future improvements. ref SDS 17 0001]
111604 -
111605 -
111606 -  ..
111607 - The next day was able to log on to FastLane at...
111608 -
111609 -                 http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a1/A1Prep.htm
111610 -
111611 - Completed the various forms required for the proposal, including a
111612 - budget, per above. ref SDS 0 7360
111613 -
111614 - Somewhere we encountered notice that submission of proposals returns a
111615 - number beginning with 996..., and that this 996... number is to be
111616 - incorporated into the proposal in some manner.  This is a different
111617 - number from the proposal kit number #1015800, we received on 990522,
111618 - which controls access for proposal preparation in FastLane. ref SDS 11
111619 - 3110
111620 -
111621 -  ..
111622 - Could not find any reference to this procedure in NSF instructions.
111623 - ref OF 7 4144
111624 -
111625 - Explained in the proposal and in another section that the budget is an
111626 - order of magnitude estimate. ref DIT 1 1332
111627 -
111628 -
111629 -
111630 -  ..
111631 - Submitted proposal on-line and received following ID:
111632 -
111633 -                         9961176
111634 -
111635 -      ...supplements kit number received on 990522. ref SDS 11 3110
111636 -
111637 - Submission process is fairly complex, at least for first time and for
111638 - infrequent users, because it requires a lot of bouncing around.  I
111639 - will be suprised if there is not a lot of frustration and questions to
111640 - NSF on this matter.
111641 -
111642 -
111643 -  ..
111644 - Submisson is only by SRO, which is a different screen from proposal
111645 - preparation.
111646 -
111647 - Accomplishing this feat, required a lot of steps....
111648 -
111649 - In the main FastLine page, click on...
111650 -
111651 -                  Institutional Management
111652 -
111653 -   ...under the heading...
111654 -
111655 -               Sponsored Research Office Functions
111656 -
111657 - ...this is the SRO thing.
111658 - ..
111659 - In "Institutional Management" there was an item for our proposal
111660 - number... 1015800
111661 -
111662 -  ..
111663 - Scrolled to the bottom and clicked on...
111664 -
111665 -                      Submit
111666 -
111667 - This returned an error message that said we needed
111668 -
111669 -                     Duns number, 9 digits
111670 -
111671 - We also needed,...
111672 -
111673 -                     Fax telephone number
111674 -
111675 - Since we don't have either of these, and since the system would not
111676 - accept the proposal without either, I posted the following...
111677 -                     ..
111678 -                     Duns:  0000009999
111679 -
111680 -                     Fax:   4157815701
111681 -
111682 - However, posting this information took 3 or 4 tries.  I entered it and
111683 - clicked okay.  The system seemed to take it.  There was no error
111684 - reported.  Then I clicked submit again, and was told these fields were
111685 - empty.  Checking showed that what had been entered was now blank, so I
111686 - entered it again and repeated the process.
111687 -
111688 - NSF needs to provide popup helps explanations on how to fill out
111689 - fields, so the instructions are visible while they are being
111690 - implemented.
111691 -
111692 - Finally, I changed the sequence somehow, and the system accepted the
111693 - field values entered.
111694 -
111695 -  ..
111696 - The system then accepted the proposal and gave a proposal number shown
111697 - above. ref SDS 0 5070
111698 -
111699 - There was a message that an email would be sent to the SRO, which is
111700 - in this case is the same as the principal investigator.
111701 -
111702 -     [On 990610 received this notice. ref SDS 16 0968]
111703 -
111704 -
111705 -  ..
111706 - Cover and Certification Page Would Not Print
111707 -
111708 - NSF instructions in section 6.4 say to submit the Cover page and
111709 - Certification page in printed format along with the printed technical
111710 - proposal. ref SDS 0 1078
111711 -
111712 - Tried to print the cover page and certification page prepared on
111713 - FastLane, but this did not work.  FastLane showed these elements in
111714 - PDF format using Adobe, but when we clicked on "print" nothing
111715 - happened.  I did this three or four times and got the same result. The
111716 - printer folder shows it has a document, which should mean it is being
111717 - sent to the printer, but the printer never gets it.  After about 15 or
111718 - 20 seconds, the document item simply goes away from the printer
111719 - folder.
111720 -
111721 -  ..
111722 - We assume NSF has access to the on-line materials.
111723 -
111724 - Prepared ref DIT 3 to transmit a printed version of the report.
111725 -
111726 -     [On 990911 submitted feedback to NSF on problems using the system
111727 -     for consideration in future improvements. ref SDS 17 0001]
111728 -
111729 -     [On 990614 Joe Hennessey with NSF advised a number of people had a
111730 -     similar problem. ref SDS 18 2623]
111731 -
111732 -     [On 990614 Joe found our proposal and also was unable to print it
111733 -     from Adobe. ref SDS 18 3450]
111734 -
111735 -     [On 990629 NSF permits lattitude in meeting format requirements.
111736 -     ref SDS 22 6916]
111737 -
111738 -
111739 -
111740 -
111741 -
111742 -
111743 -
111744 -