Amanda C. Collins

Amanda C. Collins serves as a Contract Specialist within the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Propulsion Directorate (FA8650), where she manages complex acquisitions supporting cutting-edge aerospace propulsion, hypersonics, and advanced materials research. Her role is central to the agency’s mission of sustaining U.S. air and space dominance through rapid technology transition. She specializes in procuring research and development services and specialized manufacturing solutions, often navigating high-risk, high-reward technical programs requiring stringent performance metrics and rapid prototyping cycles. Her contracts frequently involve early-stage technology maturation, flight-test instrumentation, and novel composite material integration, ensuring alignment with AFRL’s strategic roadmap for next-generation propulsion systems. Collins maintains consistent working relationships with leading aerospace and defense contractors including UES INC, General Electric Company, DCS Corporation, Spirit Aerosystems Inc., and Advanced Thermoplastic Composites LLC. These partnerships are characterized by long-term technical collaboration, often involving cost-reimbursement and time-and-materials contracts for R&D-intensive efforts. She engages vendors with proven expertise in propulsion system design, adaptive flight control hardware, and high-temperature functional materials, fostering innovation through structured technical oversight and performance-based acquisition strategies. Her procurement portfolio reflects a strong preference for full and open competition, with 100% of her awards issued under no set-aside classifications. This underscores a mission-driven focus on technical capability over socioeconomic categorization, prioritizing the most qualified industry partners to meet stringent performance requirements. While small business participation is not formally mandated in her portfolio, she actively considers qualified small businesses when they demonstrate technical superiority and programmatic alignment. Her primary NAICS focus areas are 541712 (Research and Development in Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences) and 334511 (Aeronautical System and Instrument Manufacturing), reflecting her deep engagement in fundamental propulsion science and mission-critical avionics development. She routinely procures advanced combustion systems, hypersonic test hardware, and high-performance thermoplastic composites, supporting programs that bridge laboratory innovation to operational air and space platforms.