Amanda Morris

Amanda Morris serves as a key procurement professional within the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Propulsion Directorate, supporting the FA8650 organization’s mission to accelerate next-generation aerospace propulsion, hypersonics, and high-performance materials research. She manages complex research and development acquisitions aligned with the Department of the Air Force’s strategic imperatives in air and space dominance, overseeing contracts for advanced propulsion systems, adaptive flight control technologies, and mission-critical functional materials. Her work bridges cutting-edge scientific innovation with federal acquisition compliance, ensuring timely delivery of technically demanding solutions to sustain U.S. aerospace superiority. Morris maintains consistent partnerships with industry leaders including UES INC, General Electric Company, DCS Corporation, Spirit Aerosystems Inc, and Advanced Thermoplastic Composites LLC. These relationships reflect a focus on established defense contractors with deep expertise in propulsion systems, composite materials, and systems integration. Her procurement approach prioritizes technical capability and proven performance, often engaging vendors with mature R&D infrastructures and demonstrated success in high-risk, high-reward aerospace programs. She fosters collaborative, long-term vendor relationships grounded in technical rigor and mission alignment. Morris’s contracting portfolio reflects a strict preference for full and open competition, with 100% of her acquisitions issued without set-aside designations. This indicates a deliberate focus on accessing the broadest possible pool of technical expertise, rather than targeting socioeconomic categories such as 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB firms. Her approach underscores the mission-critical nature of the technologies being procured, where specialized capability and performance reliability take precedence over socioeconomic objectives. Her primary procurement focus lies within NAICS 541715—Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences—reflecting deep expertise in advanced propulsion systems, hypersonic vehicle technologies, and next-generation composite materials. She consistently procures services involving computational fluid dynamics, materials characterization, propulsion system prototyping, and flight-test support, ensuring the Air Force remains at the forefront of aerospace innovation.