Karen Dempster

Karen Dempster serves as a key procurement lead at NASA Langley Research Center, supporting the agency’s mission to advance aeronautics and space exploration through research and development. She manages a specialized portfolio of contracts focused on physical, engineering, and life sciences R&D, ensuring alignment with NASA’s strategic priorities in hypersonics, advanced materials, remote sensing, and spacecraft instrumentation. Her work directly enables the development of next-generation aerospace systems by facilitating timely and compliant acquisition of technical services and experimental research capabilities. Dempster operates within the full spectrum of federal contracting procedures, with a focus on cost-reimbursement and time-and-materials arrangements for complex, mission-critical projects. Her primary contractor relationships include Jackson Bond Enterprises, LLC, the University of Utah, and Roche Diagnostics Corporation, reflecting a balanced mix of small business contractors, academic research institutions, and corporate R&D providers. These partnerships are characterized by long-term, collaborative engagements centered on technical innovation, prototype development, and systems integration. Dempster fosters relationships with entities capable of delivering high-risk, high-reward research outcomes, often requiring specialized laboratory infrastructure and scientific expertise beyond standard commercial offerings. Dempster’s procurement patterns reflect a strong preference for total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5, accounting for 37.5% of her awards, while the majority of acquisitions remain open to all competitors. This approach demonstrates a deliberate commitment to expanding opportunities for small businesses in the aerospace and scientific research sectors, particularly those with niche capabilities in experimental testing and systems engineering. Her entire acquisition portfolio is concentrated under NAICS 541715, emphasizing research and development in physical, engineering, and life sciences. She procures advanced analytical services, flight test instrumentation, materials characterization, and computational modeling solutions, supporting NASA’s core technical domains in atmospheric flight and planetary exploration systems.