Some ASU administrators are working virtually around the clock to finish work on a proposal designed to bring in $43.8 million from the U.S. Army.
"I'm anticipating an 'all-nighter' in the last push," said Greg Raupp, associate vice president for research and one of three principal authors of the "best and final" proposal, which is due Tuesday.
The University of Texas at Dallas is the only other school still up for the contract to develop and build lightweight, flexible computer displays that will enable soldiers of the future to have "full situational awareness" of the battlefield, Raupp said. Princeton and Cornell universities were among the original group vying for the contract.
Jonathan Fink, vice president for research and economic affairs, said the latest proposal is more detailed and answers questions the Army had about the original proposal.
For example, he said, more corporate partners have been found for the project, including DuPont Displays, Kodak, Honeywell, FlexICs, Universal Display Corporation, Kent Displays, Optiva, General Dynamics, Raytheon, Three-Five Systems, General Atomics, Southwall and AGI.
Academic partners include Cornell, Penn State, the Univer-sity of Southern California and the UA.
Fink said ASU is in a very strong position.
"We think that our major strengths are our industrial partnerships, both the number of important companies and the amount they are committing to the project, and the quality of the facility in which the project would be carried out, which we are committed to purchasing for nearly $25 million if we win the award," Fink said.
The official decision date will be Dec. 31, but Fink said he expects to hear the results before Christmas.
Reach the reporter at jesse.christopherson@asu.edu.
