Maria D. Nelson, Contracting Officer, ACC (APG) RTP

Maria D. Nelson serves as a Contracting Officer with the U.S. Army’s W6QK Acc-apg Durham under the W911NF contract vehicle, where she leads the acquisition of research and development services critical to Army modernization. Her portfolio centers on advancing disruptive technologies in autonomy, quantum systems, and intelligence horizon scanning, primarily through competitive solicitations under NAICS 541720. She plays a pivotal role in translating strategic Army science and technology priorities into executable contracts, ensuring alignment with national security innovation goals. Her acquisitions typically involve complex, performance-based R&D contracts requiring technical rigor, agile contracting methodologies, and rigorous compliance with federal acquisition regulations. Maria works with a broad spectrum of research institutions, commercial R&D firms, and academic partners engaged in social sciences and humanities research with national defense applications. While no single contractor dominates her portfolio, she routinely engages with entities specializing in behavioral analytics, human-machine teaming, strategic forecasting, and policy simulation modeling. Her contracting approach emphasizes merit-based competition, technical evaluation rigor, and long-term partnership development with organizations capable of delivering high-impact, mission-critical insights. Maria’s procurement patterns reflect a strong preference for open competition, with 100% of her acquisitions issued as non-set-aside contracts. She does not currently utilize 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB set-asides, instead prioritizing technical capability and mission alignment over socioeconomic preferences. This reflects the specialized nature of her R&D requirements, where the depth of expertise often outweighs socioeconomic targeting criteria. Her primary industry focus is NAICS 541720, encompassing research in social sciences and humanities with direct relevance to military decision-making, adversary behavior modeling, and strategic communication analysis. She procures services including qualitative and quantitative research, cognitive science studies, ethnographic analysis, and predictive modeling—capabilities essential to informing Army doctrine, force structure, and future operational concepts.