Carolyn Toney

Carolyn Toney serves as a Contract Specialist within the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Propulsion Directorate (FA8650), where she manages the acquisition of advanced aerospace technologies critical to U.S. air and space dominance. Her responsibilities include planning, soliciting, awarding, and administering complex research and development contracts focused on next-generation propulsion systems, hypersonic flight technologies, and high-performance functional materials. She plays a pivotal role in translating mission-critical R&D objectives into legally compliant, technically robust procurement actions that accelerate innovation across the Department of the Air Force’s propulsion ecosystem. Toney maintains consistent contracting 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 collaboration on classified and unclassified R&D initiatives requiring deep technical expertise in materials science, propulsion integration, and adaptive flight control systems. Her procurement approach emphasizes technical merit, performance-based outcomes, and sustained vendor engagement to ensure mission readiness and technological superiority. Her contracting portfolio is exclusively non-set-aside, with 100% of awards issued under full and open competition, reflecting the specialized, mission-critical nature of the work and the limited pool of qualified entities capable of meeting stringent aerospace performance requirements. While small business participation is not formally prioritized through socioeconomic set-asides, her awards are structured to allow subcontracting opportunities that enable broader industry involvement where technically viable. Toney’s primary focus is NAICS 541712—Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences—where she procures advanced engineering services, prototype development, materials characterization, and computational modeling for hypersonic and propulsion systems. Her expertise lies in acquiring high-risk, high-reward R&D efforts that bridge laboratory innovation with operational deployment in next-generation aerospace platforms.