Notice Of Intent To Sole Source By:

Vendor Name:

Contract Amount:

$263,017.92

Notice Publish Date:

February 1, 2023

Agency Procurement Manager:

Email:

Telephone:

The Agency hereby provides notice that it intends to enter into a sole source contract per S.C. Code Ann. §11-35-1560 with Vendor for the following supplies, services, information technology, or construction:

Clemson University's Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology & Forest Science is conducting research on microplastics in a variety of environmental samples. Processed environmental samples contain numerous particles of unknown composition, size, and color. We need the ability to scan areas with many particles, as opposed to one particle at a time, without damage to the particles. The instrument must have a wavelength tunable external cavity Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) utilizing an angle tuned immersion grating as a wavelength selection filter covering spectra from 1,800 cm-1 to 975 cm-1 to determine particle composition along with automated focus, background in reflectance, and visible image collection capabilities to quantify particle attributes, such as the number of particles in the viewing area, their dimensions, and their colors. It is also necessary to be able to capture images within the original scanned image to examine particles in more detail without manual adjustments to the optics. The instrument must come with a library of known particle compositions that can easily be updated as new spectra are acquired for automatic referencing during the scans. The automated system will decrease sample process time (no need to manually count particles using a microscope prior to analysis) and sample cost. Agilent is the only vendor that allows for the QCL technology along with these scanning optics, automatic referencing of spectra, and simultaneous evaluation during measurement to determine particle attributes. This equipment cannot be purchased from any other distributor or reseller. For these reasons, this is a sole source procurement.

Agency's justification for a sole source procurement may be viewed or immediately obtained at:

SC Young - scy@clemson.edu

PROTESTS:
Any actual or prospective bidder, offeror, contractor, or subcontractor aggrieved in connection with the intended award or award of this sole source contract, shall notify the appropriate chief Procurement officer in writing of its intent to protest within five (5) business days of the date this notice is posted. Any actual or prospective bidder, offeror, contractor, or subcontractor who is aggrieved in connection with the intended award or award of this sole source contract and has timely notified the appropriate chief procurement officer of its intent to protest, may protest to the appropriate chief procurement officer in the manner set forth below within fifteen days of the date this notice is posted; except that a matter that could have been raised as a protest of the solicitation may not be raised as a protest of the award or intended award of a contract.
A protest must be in writing, filed with the appropriate chief procurement officer, and set forth the grounds of the protest and the relief requested with enough particularity to give notice of the issues to be decided. The protest must be received by the appropriate chief procurement officer within the time provided above. Days are calculated as provided in S.C. Code Ann. §11-35-310(13).

Any notice of intent to protest and protest must be addressed to the chief procurement officer:

Materials Management Officer

(a) by email to:

Protest-MMO@mmo.sc.gov

(b) by post or hand delivery to:

1201 Main Street, Suite 600, Columbia, SC 29201

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