Erica Ogundadegbe

Erica Ogundadegbe serves as a key procurement lead within the Air Force Research Laboratory’s FA8750 organization, driving the acquisition of advanced research and development services critical to next-generation aerospace and defense capabilities. She manages a portfolio focused on foundational scientific innovation in physical, engineering, and life sciences, ensuring alignment with the Department of the Air Force’s strategic imperatives in autonomous systems, resilient communications, AI-driven battle-space awareness, and quantum-enabled technologies. Her acquisitions are primarily performance-based, non-commercial R&D contracts awarded through competitive sealed bidding and other negotiated methods, emphasizing technical excellence, rapid prototyping, and transition readiness. She maintains sustained working relationships with leading defense and aerospace prime contractors including Booz Allen Hamilton, Lockheed Martin, and Eaton Corporation, as well as specialized small firms such as Technergetics and Caelight, Inc. These partnerships are characterized by long-term collaboration on high-priority R&D initiatives, often involving complex technical requirements in free-space optical communications, sensor fusion, and adaptive signal processing. Her procurement approach prioritizes deep technical engagement, early vendor involvement, and agile contract structures to accelerate innovation cycles. Ogundadegbe’s contracting activity shows no reliance on socioeconomic set-asides, with 100% of awards issued under full and open competition. This reflects a mission-driven focus on securing the highest technical capability regardless of vendor size, while still enabling small business participation through subcontracting opportunities and teaming arrangements. Her primary procurement focus is squarely on NAICS 541715—Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences—where she secures advanced capabilities in quantum sensing, machine learning for sensor networks, and radiation-hardened electronics. She consistently procures services involving experimental design, modeling and simulation, prototype development, and laboratory validation, supporting the Air Force’s transition from basic research to operational technology insertion.