Colleen McDonald

Colleen S. McDonald serves as a Contract Negotiator for the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Propulsion Directorate (FA8650), where she plays a pivotal role in securing advanced aerospace technologies critical to U.S. air and space dominance. She leads the negotiation and award of complex research and development contracts focused on next-generation propulsion systems, hypersonic flight technologies, and high-performance functional materials. Her work directly supports the agency’s mission to accelerate the transition of cutting-edge engineering solutions from laboratory innovation to operational capability, ensuring the Department of the Air Force maintains technological superiority in propulsion and adaptive flight control domains. McDonald maintains longstanding contractual relationships with industry leaders including UES INC, General Electric Company, DCS Corporation, Spirit Aerosystems Inc, and Advanced Thermoplastic Composites LLC. These partnerships are characterized by deep technical collaboration on classified and unclassified R&D initiatives, often involving proprietary materials, computational fluid dynamics, and advanced manufacturing processes. Her negotiation approach emphasizes performance-based outcomes, technical risk mitigation, and long-term sustainment planning, fostering trust-based vendor relationships grounded in mission alignment and engineering excellence. McDonald’s procurement portfolio is exclusively non-set-aside, with 100% of contracts awarded under full and open competition. This reflects the agency’s reliance on specialized, high-capability vendors with the infrastructure and security clearances necessary to execute mission-critical propulsion and materials research. While small business participation is not formally prioritized through socioeconomic set-asides, contractors are evaluated on technical merit, past performance, and ability to meet stringent DoD compliance standards. Her primary focus lies in NAICS 541715 and 541712, encompassing physical and engineering research services for aerospace propulsion systems, thermal protection materials, and adaptive control algorithms. She routinely procures services involving wind tunnel testing, composite material development, scramjet integration, and hypersonic vehicle prototyping, demonstrating deep expertise in defense R&D procurement within the aerospace propulsion ecosystem.