Melissa Prickett

Melissa Prickett serves as a Grants Negotiator within the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Propulsion Directorate (FA8650), where she plays a pivotal role in securing and structuring cooperative research agreements that advance next-generation aerospace propulsion, hypersonics, and high-performance materials. Her responsibilities include negotiating terms, evaluating technical proposals, and ensuring compliance with federal grant regulations to accelerate the transition of innovative technologies from lab to field. She primarily handles non-traditional, research-focused acquisitions under FAR Part 35 and other grant authorities, aligning with the agency’s mission to maintain U.S. air and space dominance through cutting-edge R&D. Prickett maintains consistent working relationships with leading defense and aerospace contractors including UES Inc., General Electric Company, DCS Corporation, Spirit Aerosystems Inc., and Advanced Thermoplastic Composites LLC. These partnerships are characterized by long-term, technically complex collaborations centered on propulsion system prototyping, adaptive flight control architectures, and advanced material development. Her negotiation approach emphasizes technical rigor, performance-based outcomes, and intellectual property alignment, fostering deep engagement with industry leaders possessing specialized expertise in high-temperature materials and hypersonic flight systems. Her procurement portfolio reflects a strong preference for open competition, with 100% of her acquisitions classified as No Set-Aside. This underscores a focus on technical merit and capability over socioeconomic classifications, prioritizing mission-critical innovation over set-aside programs such as 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB. While small business participation is not structurally mandated, she evaluates all offerors based on technical feasibility and readiness to deliver on high-risk R&D objectives. Prickett’s acquisitions are exclusively scoped under NAICS 541712—Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)—reflecting her deep specialization in fundamental and applied aerospace engineering research. She procures advanced computational modeling services, materials characterization, propulsion system integration, and experimental flight test support, consistently targeting contractors with proven capabilities in hypersonics, combustor design, and thermoplastic composite systems.