Dr. Richard Warren

Dr. Richard Warren serves as the Technical Point of Contact for the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Propulsion Directorate (AFRL/PZL), where he provides critical technical oversight for high-priority research and development acquisitions in aerospace propulsion, hypersonics, and advanced materials. In this role, he bridges scientific innovation with acquisition execution, ensuring that contract requirements align with mission-critical propulsion system development goals. He primarily supports R&D contracts involving experimental hardware, computational modeling, and materials characterization, working closely with program managers and engineers to define technical performance metrics and evaluation criteria for competitive solicitations. Dr. Warren maintains longstanding technical partnerships with industry leaders including UES Inc., General Electric Company, DCS Corporation, Spirit Aerosystems Inc., and Advanced Thermoplastic Composites LLC. These relationships are built on sustained collaboration across complex, multi-year R&D efforts requiring deep domain expertise in turbine systems, adaptive flight control architectures, and high-temperature composite structures. His procurement approach emphasizes technical rigor, iterative prototyping, and performance-based contracting, fostering long-term vendor engagement over transactional procurement cycles. Dr. Warren’s portfolio reflects a strict focus on open competition, with 100% of acquisitions conducted without set-asides, indicating a preference for technical excellence over socioeconomic categorization. While small business participation is not structurally mandated, his team evaluates all offerors based on technical capability and mission readiness, ensuring that the most qualified entities—regardless of size—deliver cutting-edge solutions. His primary procurement focus is on NAICS 541712, encompassing physical and engineering sciences research, with an emphasis on propulsion system design, hypersonic flight validation, and functional materials development. He routinely procures services involving computational fluid dynamics, additive manufacturing of ceramic matrix composites, and thermal protection system testing, underscoring his specialization in next-generation aerospace propulsion technologies.