Request for Proposals Open Until August 28; Informational Webinar August 8
MILPITAS, Calif. – The Nano-Bio Materials Consortium (NBMC), a SEMI Technology Community, released a Request for Proposals (RFP) to advance sensing, diagnostic, and augmentation technologies at the intersection of defense, healthcare, industrial bio-innovation, and environmental threat detection.
Proposals should address foundational technologies for extreme environments, including advanced materials, power management, and edge computing—along with biosignal sensing and user interface technologies, real-time monitoring of industrial bioprocesses, and bio-inspired sensors capable of detecting a broad spectrum of environmental threats. RFP topics were selected based on a strategic technical gap analysis conducted by NBMC.
This initiative is part of a collaborative program between SEMI and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). Selected projects will receive awards ranging from $250,000 to $750,000.
NBMC encourages proposals that address one or more of the above topic areas and aim to close identified technical gaps. Submissions may range from high-risk, novel innovations to evolutionary enhancements of existing capabilities. Projects should aim to raise the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) and Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) of the targeted solutions in alignment with the goals of RFP topics.
Following the white paper review process, selected organizations will be invited to submit full proposals. The evaluation criteria include:
- Technical rationale and innovation
- Budget and cost realism
- Collaborative value
- Dual-use applicability (commercial and Air Force/DoD)
- Alignment with RFP technical priorities
- Schedules and milestones
- Tangible deliverables
- Overall proposal quality
Proposals will also be evaluated based on the proposing organization’s capabilities, past performance, and team strength.
NBMC will host a live webinar to review the RFP and submission process on
- August 8, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. PDT
Registration is open to all interested parties, and a recording will be made available following the event.
NBMC encourages collaborative proposals involving industry partners, research institutions, and academic teams. All NBMC-funded projects require cost sharing from recipients. Development partners retain full ownership of any intellectual property developed under the NBMC contract.
White papers, the first stage in the application process, are due by August 28, 2025.
For full details, visit the NBMC 2025 RFP webpage.
About NBMC
NBMC was founded in 2013 to bring together scientists, engineers, and business development professionals from industry, government, and universities to collaboratively initiate research and development of electronic technologies to improve human performance monitoring and performance augmentation capabilities. To date, industry partners have advanced electronic technologies for human performance monitoring and augmentation through 48 projects. Advancements include subsystems designed for ECG, functionalized biomarker sensors, and hydration sensors.
