Mary Ann Sharits

Mary Ann Sharits serves as a Contract Negotiator within the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Propulsion Directorate (FA8650), where she plays a pivotal role in securing advanced aerospace technologies critical to U.S. air and space dominance. She specializes in negotiating complex research and development contracts for next-generation propulsion systems, hypersonic flight technologies, and high-performance functional materials. Her work directly supports the agency’s mission to accelerate innovation in propulsion, adaptive flight control, and mission-critical materials by ensuring technically sound, compliant, and strategically aligned procurement outcomes. Sharits manages a portfolio of high-stakes, science-driven acquisitions that bridge fundamental research with operational deployment. She maintains longstanding contractual relationships with leading aerospace and defense contractors including UES INC, General Electric Company, DCS Corporation, Spirit Aerosystems Inc, and Advanced Thermoplastic Composites LLC. These partnerships are characterized by deep technical collaboration, iterative proposal evaluations, and structured negotiation cycles focused on performance-based outcomes. Sharits routinely engages with prime contractors possessing advanced engineering capabilities in propulsion systems, composite materials, and computational fluid dynamics, fostering long-term vendor alignment with AFRL’s technical roadmaps. Sharits’ contracting portfolio reflects a strict focus on open competition, with 100% of awards issued under no set-aside classifications. This underscores her alignment with the agency’s priority to access the broadest possible pool of technical expertise, particularly for mission-critical R&D requiring specialized capabilities not typically found in small business portfolios. While socioeconomic set-asides are not utilized, her procurement practices remain fully compliant with federal acquisition regulations and emphasize merit-based selection. Her primary procurement focus lies in NAICS 541712 and 541715, encompassing physical and engineering research in aerospace propulsion, materials science, and flight control systems. She consistently procures advanced computational modeling services, high-temperature composite fabrication, and experimental validation of hypersonic components, demonstrating deep familiarity with the technical domains underpinning next-generation air and space systems.