REQUEST #70776
Lightweight Transparent Material Replacing Inorganic Glass
RESPONSE DUE DATE: July 4th, 2014
MANAGER: Mark Takatsuji
Opportunity
contract research and development, Technology licensing,
Sales
SOLUTION PROVIDER HELP DESK
EMAIL: [email protected]
PHONE: +1-216-283-3901
Timeline
Establish technology within 2 years
Financials
Negotiable, depending on scope
LINK: Proposal Template Download
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL DESCRIPTION
NineSigma, representing a leading automobile
manufacturer, is seeking a lightweight,
scratch-resistant, and weather-resistant
transparent base material that is capable of
replacing the inorganic glass in automobiles, or,
otherwise a hard coating technology that can
achieve the same performance.
Ideal requirements to be met by the expected
technology.
 Weather resistance: Must have no
performance degradation even after being
used outdoors for 15 years
 Scratch resistance: Hardness rating of H or
greater
 Weight: Reduction of 40% or more
compared to inorganic glass
 Visible light transmittance: 80% or more
Weather resistance and scratch resistance are
particularly important to this request. Therefore,
the client welcomes proposals for materials that
are superior in this regard, even if the other
specifications are not strictly met. Proposals for
weather resistant materials will be considered as
long as they are likely to achieve a comparable
performance even if it has never been evaluated
in outdoor conditions. Please note that the client
looks favorably upon proposals that provide
evaluation samples.
BACKGROUND
A variety of technological developments have
been made that improve the fuel efficiency in
automobiles. Automobile weight reduction is very
effective in this regard; this is because the use of
lightweight materials directly improves the fuel
efficiency. The tempered glass used for windows
is heavy and should be replaced by a lightweight,
transparent organic material; however, for the
purpose of weather resistance and scratch
resistance, this replacement is only done on
some parts of the vehicle such as the headlights
and roof windows.
There are existing technologies relating to
transparent materials that have been developed
or proposed, such as polycarbonate (PC) base
materials with hard coatings that are both weather
resistant and scratch resistant. Technology like
this has replaced some of the glass components
in trains, heavy machinery, and buildings;
however, the parts that are appropriate for
replacing automotive tempered glass are limited.
In addition to automobiles, there are many
applications where the material must be
lightweight, weather-resistant, and scratchresistant; for example, the construction of
windows for buildings and smartphone screens. R
& D is also being actively carried out for new
types of coating materials. The client believes that
promising technologies can be found from all
around the world and, as a result, has issued this
Offices: Cleveland - USA, Tokyo - Japan, Leuven – Belgium, Melbourne – Australia, Seoul – South Korea
RFP format and graphics© Copyright 2014 NineSigma, Inc.
NineSigma Request #70776
Lightweight Transparent Material Replacing Inorganic Glass
Page 2
open request to further accelerate technological
development.
Proposal Template. Supplemental files may be
submitted in addition to the proposal document.
EXPECTED APPROACHES
Anticipated approaches for this challenge include,
but are not limited to, the following:
 Hard coating agents
○ Silicon-based coating agents
○ Acrylic coating agents
○ Organic/inorganic hybrid coating agents
○ Other coating agents
 Self-healing coating agents
 A novel type of transparent organic material
 Ultra-lightweight glass
For assistance, please contact the Solution
Provider Help Desk ([email protected]).
REQUEST GUIDELINES
Non-Confidential Disclosure
By submitting a response you represent that the response
does not and will not be deemed to contain any
confidential information of any kind whatsoever.
Response Evaluation
ANTICIPATED PROJECT PHASES OR PROJECT PLAN
The client will review submitted proposals and
possibly ask clarifying questions or request
supporting data before selecting suitable
candidates. The client will execute non-disclosure
agreements (NDA) with selected candidates, if
necessary, seek further information disclosure,
and discuss specific development approaches.
The client will visit the proposers’ premises and/or
obtain samples for preliminary evaluation in order
to select the most suitable candidate(s).
The client will execute necessary agreement(s)
with the best candidate(s), if any, and proceed to
a collaboration starting with in-depth feasibility
validation as a step toward establishing
technology. Specifics of any collaboration will be
determined through consultation with concerned
parties.
ITEMS TO BE INCLUDED IN THE PROPOSAL
Responses will use the proposal template and
include the following items:
 Overview of the proposed technology
(abstract, key principle, unique selling point,
use-case and others)
 Development stage
 Current performance(weather-resistant,
scratch-resistant, weight, transmittance)
 Development plan
 Expected collaboration style
 Achievements so far (papers, patents, test
data, etc.)
 Brief overview of the organization
NineSigma’s client will evaluate the response using the
following criteria:





Overall scientific and technical merit of the proposed
approach
Approach to proof of concept or performance
Potential for proprietary position (i.e., is the
technology novel or protectable)
Economic potential of concept
Respondent’s capabilities and related experience
 Realism of the proposed plan and cost estimates
Response Selection
By submitting a response, you acknowledge that
NineSigma’s client reserves the sole and absolute right
and discretion to select for award all, some, or none of the
responses received for this announcement. NineSigma’s
client also may choose to select only specific tasks within a
proposal for award. NineSigma's client has the sole and
absolute discretion to determine all award amounts.
NineSigma will contact respondents with highly responsive
proposals for next steps, or the client may contact
respondents directly.
SUBMITTING A RESPONSE
All proposals should be submitted online at
NineSights, the NineSigma open innovation
community, according to the instructions in the
Offices: Cleveland - USA, Tokyo - Japan, Leuven – Belgium, Melbourne – Australia, Seoul – South Korea
RFP format and graphics© Copyright 2014 NineSigma, Inc.