Michele A. Martinelli

Michele A. Martinelli serves as a Contract Specialist within the Air Force Research Laboratory’s FA8750 Rik office, where she plays a critical role in executing complex research and development acquisitions to advance next-generation aerospace and defense technologies. She manages the full lifecycle of contracts supporting foundational innovation in autonomous systems, resilient communications, AI-driven battle-space awareness, and quantum-enabled technologies. Her portfolio primarily consists of scientific and engineering service contracts, prototype development efforts, and advanced technology demonstrations aligned with the Department of the Air Force’s strategic modernization priorities. Martinelli ensures compliance with federal acquisition regulations while fostering agile, performance-based contracting approaches tailored to high-risk, high-reward R&D environments. She maintains established working relationships with leading defense and aerospace contractors including Booz Allen Hamilton, Lockheed Martin, Eaton Corporation, Technergetics, LLC, and Caelight, Inc., frequently engaging these firms on classified and unclassified technical projects requiring specialized expertise in physics, systems engineering, and advanced materials. Her procurement approach emphasizes technical rigor, performance metrics, and long-term partnership over transactional vendor relationships, often involving multiple award task orders and cooperative research agreements to accelerate innovation cycles. Martinelli’s contracting activity reflects a strong preference for open competition, with 100% of her awards issued without socioeconomic set-asides. This pattern underscores a mission-driven focus on technical capability and speed of delivery over socioeconomic targeting, consistent with the high-priority, classified nature of AFRL’s R&D portfolio. While small business participation is not formally prioritized in her awards, she remains attentive to the capabilities of qualified small firms through unrestricted solicitations and industry engagement events. Her technical domain expertise centers on procurement for advanced aerospace systems, including free-space optical communications, AI-enabled sensor fusion, quantum sensing, and resilient electronic warfare technologies. She routinely supports acquisitions under NAICS categories related to scientific R&D, engineering services, and defense electronics, ensuring alignment with the Air Force’s most critical technological imperatives.