Jennifer Calandra-Willson

Jennifer Calandra-Willson serves as a Contracting Specialist within the Air Force Research Laboratory’s FA8750 organization, where she plays a pivotal role in advancing cutting-edge aerospace and defense technologies through strategic procurement of R&D services and specialized equipment. She manages complex acquisitions in physical sciences, engineering, and life sciences, with a focus on autonomous systems, resilient communications, AI-enabled battle-space awareness, and quantum-enabled technologies. Her portfolio centers on high-technical-risk, mission-critical contracts that require deep domain expertise and agile contracting methodologies to support rapid innovation cycles for the Department of the Air Force. She maintains longstanding relationships with leading defense and technology contractors including Booz Allen Hamilton, Lockheed Martin, Eaton Corporation, Technergetics, LLC, and Caelight, Inc., consistently engaging prime vendors with proven capabilities in advanced instrumentation, communications systems, and sensor development. Her contracting approach emphasizes performance-based outcomes, technical risk mitigation, and collaborative vendor engagement to ensure alignment with AFRL’s scientific objectives and delivery timelines. While the majority of her acquisitions are unrestricted, she demonstrates a meaningful commitment to small business participation, with approximately 28% of her portfolio structured as Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5. She actively fosters partnerships with small, innovative firms capable of delivering niche technical solutions, ensuring broad competition and fostering the growth of the national security industrial base. Her procurement focus is concentrated in NAICS 334515 (instrumentation for electrical signal measurement), 334220 (wireless communications equipment), and 334516 (analytical laboratory instruments), reflecting her specialization in high-precision sensing, signal processing, and test and evaluation systems. She routinely procures advanced hardware and software solutions that enable next-generation aerospace platforms, demonstrating deep familiarity with technical domains ranging from free-space optical communications to quantum sensing architectures.