Matthew Vaughan

Matthew Vaughan serves as a key procurement professional at NASA Langley Research Center, supporting the agency’s mission to advance aeronautics and space exploration through strategic acquisitions of cutting-edge technologies. He manages a portfolio of contracts focused on aerospace research and development, particularly in hypersonics, advanced materials, spacecraft instrumentation, and remote sensing systems. His work directly enables the design, testing, and validation of next-generation flight and planetary exploration systems, ensuring alignment with NASA’s technical priorities and mission-critical timelines. Vaughan typically handles complex, high-risk R&D contracts requiring specialized engineering expertise and rigorous compliance with federal acquisition regulations. His primary contractor relationships include Jackson Bond Enterprises, LLC, a specialized engineering services provider; the University of Utah, a leading academic research partner in aerospace systems and materials science; and Roche Diagnostics Corporation, which supports life sciences instrumentation for spaceflight applications. These partnerships reflect a balanced approach to procurement, combining industry innovation with academic research capabilities and medical technology integration for space environments. Vaughan fosters long-term, performance-driven collaborations that emphasize technical rigor, rapid prototyping, and mission adaptability. Vaughan’s contracting activity shows no reliance on socioeconomic set-asides, with 100% of awards issued under full and open competition. This reflects a procurement strategy prioritizing technical excellence and mission readiness over socioeconomic preferences, consistent with NASA Langley’s focus on mission-critical capabilities where specialized expertise is scarce and performance is non-negotiable. While small business participation is not formally targeted, vendors of all sizes are evaluated strictly on technical merit and proven capability in high-stakes aerospace domains. His procurement focus centers on advanced aerospace engineering, scientific instrumentation, and systems integration—domains that align with NAICS categories such as 541715 (Research and Development in Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences) and 336411 (Aircraft Manufacturing). He routinely procures custom-built test rigs, flight-certified sensors, hypersonic wind tunnel components, and space-qualified data acquisition systems, demonstrating deep expertise in technical procurement for extreme-environment applications.