ENGAGEMENTS
Four rungs, stepping by depth of evidence.
Most first engagements start at S0, which is priced so a manager can commit without procurement, and the whole fee credits into whatever comes next. Every fee is fixed in a written contract before work starts, so the number you are quoted is the number you pay.
| RUNG | BEST FOR | FEE | DURATION |
|---|---|---|---|
| S0Threshold Study | A first, small, low-risk piece of work with a supplier you have not used | $3,800 - $6,500 | 2 weeks |
| S1Verification Study | Is our numerical answer sound on its own terms? | $16,000 - $28,000 | 3 to 5 weeks |
| S2Validation Study | Does it agree with a measurement we did not produce? | $38,000 - $68,000 | 6 to 10 weeks |
| S3Design Closure | Now use it to pick the design, and show what lost | $75,000 - $145,000 | 10 to 18 weeks |
Threshold Study
- Fee
- $3,800 - $6,500
- Duration
- 2 weeks
- Best for
- A first, small, low-risk piece of work with a supplier you have not used
We write the check matrix for your case before anyone runs it. You get every threshold with the procedure number or published statistic it was set from, a named comparator with its provenance and a written answer on whether it is actually obtainable, the tooling and versions we would pin, and the wall clock and cost of the study that would close it. If no comparator exists for your context of use, we say so in writing and the study stops there. That answer is worth the fee on its own.
What you hold at the end
- Three-band check matrix, every row carrying quantity, threshold and published basis
- Comparator dossier: source, publisher, licence position, stated experimental uncertainty, and a go or no-go on obtainability
- Tooling and version pin list, hardware spec, and machine-hour estimate from a measured timing rather than a guess
- The checks we expect to be hardest, named in advance, with the mechanism
- A fixed-fee SOW for the rung above, valid 60 days
DONE MEANS: YOU HOLD A CHECK MATRIX YOUR REVIEWER CAN RED-LINE BEFORE A SINGLE CORE-HOUR IS SPENT. THE FULL FEE CREDITS INTO ANY RUNG ABOVE IT IF COMMISSIONED WITHIN 60 DAYS.
Verification Study
- Fee
- $16,000 - $28,000
- Duration
- 3 to 5 weeks
- Best for
- Is our numerical answer sound on its own terms?
Your geometry, your conditions, closed against the verification and requirements bands. Mesh quality audited and published, near-wall resolution reported as an area fraction rather than a maximum, iterative convergence demonstrated by solution stationarity rather than a residual floor, a three-grid convergence study with the observed order of accuracy and the discretisation uncertainty stated as a number, and domain and boundary-condition sensitivity quantified.
What you hold at the end
- Case archive that re-runs from a clean checkout with one command
- Container definition with a published image digest
- Verification report with the full convergence tables, histories and mesh quality
- Verification and requirements bands filled with measured values against declared thresholds
- Per-run wall clock and core hours, and a SHA-256 manifest
DONE MEANS: EVERY VERIFICATION AND REQUIREMENTS ROW CARRIES A MEASURED VALUE AGAINST ITS DECLARED THRESHOLD, NO ROW REMOVED AND NO THRESHOLD EDITED AFTER THE FIRST RESULT WAS READ.
Validation Study
- Fee
- $38,000 - $68,000
- Duration
- 6 to 10 weeks
- Best for
- Does it agree with a measurement we did not produce?
Everything in the verification study, plus the comparison against measured data with the delta stated as a number against the band it was judged on. Where the comparator carries its own experimental uncertainty, that uncertainty sets the band rather than a tolerance we picked.
What you hold at the end
- All verification deliverables
- The validation band filled, every row with its delta against the declared threshold
- Comparator provenance, retrieval date and licence position
- The rows that failed, published at the same weight as the rows that passed
- A report written in the form your reviewer or surveyor expects
DONE MEANS: AGREEMENT, OR DISAGREEMENT, IS STATED AS A NUMBER AGAINST A THRESHOLD THAT WAS FIXED FIRST, AND THE ARCHIVE REPRODUCES IT.
Design Closure
- Fee
- $75,000 - $145,000
- Duration
- 10 to 18 weeks
- Best for
- Now use it to pick the design, and show what lost
The model becomes a design tool. Candidates screened against the declared objective, the winner closed, the rejected candidates published with the number that disqualified each one, and release geometry generated from the closed solution.
What you hold at the end
- All validation deliverables
- The design space explored, with the screening criteria declared first
- Rejected candidates published with their disqualifying numbers
- Release geometry generated from the closed solution
- A design report that traces every figure to an artefact
DONE MEANS: YOU HOLD A CHOSEN DESIGN, THE EVIDENCE IT WAS CHOSEN ON, AND THE RECORD OF WHAT IT BEAT.
STARTING AT S0 The full S0 fee credits into any rung above it if commissioned within 60 days, so the downside of starting small is a calendar delay rather than a loss. If the comparator your case needs does not exist, S0 says so in writing and stops there, which saves the cost of a validation study that could never have closed.
What we need from you
The geometry, or enough of it to mesh. The conditions you care about and the range they cover. The limit each quantity has to stay inside, and where that limit came from. Any measured data you already hold. Your decision date.
The published proof of this pattern is the Orion reference release: a closed cycle, generated geometry, and a 19 line check matrix, each line carrying its measured value and the requirement it was held against.