Margaret Echard

Margaret Echard serves as a key procurement professional within Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport, supporting the Department of the Navy’s mission to advance maritime warfare capabilities through cutting-edge technology development. She manages complex acquisitions centered on software-intensive systems critical to undersea, surface, and aerial domain dominance, with a focus on sensor integration, electronic warfare components, and secure communication architectures. Her work directly enables the testing, evaluation, and fielding of next-generation naval systems, ensuring operational readiness through rigorous contract execution and technical oversight. Echard maintains consistent partnerships with leading defense and aerospace contractors including Science Applications International Corporation, Aerospace & Commercial Technologies, LLC, Astronics Test Systems Inc, Serco Inc, and Mikel Inc. These relationships are built on long-term collaboration to deliver high-assurance software solutions and specialized test equipment for naval platforms. Her contracting approach emphasizes performance-based outcomes, technical compliance, and vendor reliability, fostering stable, mission-critical supply chains for sensitive naval systems. Echard’s procurement portfolio reflects a singular focus on full and open competition, with 100% of awards issued without set-asides for 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, or other socioeconomic categories. This reflects the highly specialized nature of the technologies required, where technical expertise and system integration capabilities take precedence over socioeconomic preferences, aligning with NUWC’s operational imperatives for mission-critical capability delivery. Her primary procurement activity is concentrated in NAICS 513210 (Software Publishers), underscoring her deep specialization in acquiring custom-developed software, embedded firmware, signal processing algorithms, and mission-critical applications for sonar, navigation, and electronic warfare systems. She routinely procures secure, real-time software architectures tailored to naval combat systems, demonstrating expert command over software lifecycle management, cybersecurity compliance, and defense-specific development standards.