Katy Day

Katy Day serves as a Contract Specialist responsible for managing the full lifecycle of complex procurement actions within a federal technical acquisition environment. She specializes in soliciting, evaluating, and awarding contracts for research and development services, ensuring compliance with federal acquisition regulations and mission-driven objectives. Her work supports critical scientific and engineering initiatives by translating agency needs into legally sound, competitively awarded contracts. She typically handles non-personal services contracts under FAR Part 12 and Part 36, focusing on performance-based acquisition strategies that emphasize outcomes over inputs. Katy Day cultivates relationships with a broad range of contractors, primarily engineering firms, independent research organizations, and technical service providers specializing in physical, engineering, and life sciences. While no single contractor dominates her portfolio, she consistently engages with vendors possessing deep domain expertise in experimental design, data analysis, and laboratory instrumentation. Her contracting approach emphasizes transparency, competitive bidding, and vendor collaboration to ensure technical excellence and timely delivery of mission-critical R&D outcomes. Katy Day’s procurement patterns reflect a strong preference for open competition, with 100% of her awards issued under the “No Set-Aside” category. This indicates a deliberate focus on selecting the most qualified offerors regardless of socioeconomic status, prioritizing technical capability and past performance over set-aside classifications. While she does not routinely utilize 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB programs, her process remains fully compliant with small business goals and promotes equitable access through clear solicitation requirements and fair evaluation criteria. Her primary procurement focus is centered on NAICS 541712—Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology). She regularly acquires services such as applied physics research, materials testing, environmental modeling, and engineering prototyping. Her technical domain expertise spans laboratory automation, analytical instrumentation, and scientific data systems, making her a key liaison between technical stakeholders and procurement operations in mission-critical science initiatives.