Dana L. King

Dana L. King serves as a Contract Specialist within the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Propulsion Directorate (FA8650), where she manages complex acquisitions supporting cutting-edge aerospace propulsion, hypersonics, and advanced materials research. Her role is central to the agency’s mission of accelerating next-generation air and space dominance through rapid technology transition. She oversees the full lifecycle of contracts for R&D services, prototype development, and high-performance system integration, ensuring compliance with federal acquisition regulations while aligning procurement strategy with technical objectives. Her portfolio primarily supports mission-critical engineering efforts requiring specialized scientific and technical expertise. King maintains consistent working relationships with industry leaders including UES INC, General Electric Company, DCS Corporation, Spirit Aerosystems Inc., and Advanced Thermoplastic Composites LLC. These partnerships reflect a focus on high-technology contractors with proven capabilities in propulsion systems, adaptive flight controls, and advanced composite materials. Her procurement approach emphasizes performance-based contracting and technical evaluation, fostering long-term collaborations with vendors who demonstrate innovation, reliability, and deep domain expertise in aerospace engineering. King’s contracting activity shows no set-aside preferences, with 100% of awards issued as full and open competitions. This reflects a mission-driven prioritization of technical capability and schedule fidelity over socioeconomic categorizations, consistent with the high-stakes, time-sensitive nature of propulsion research. While small business participation is not formally targeted, all vendors are evaluated on merit, ensuring the most qualified entities deliver mission-critical outcomes. Her primary NAICS focus includes 541712 for physical and engineering R&D, alongside 337214 and 337211 for specialized office furniture manufacturing and 314110 for carpet and rug mills—indicative of facility support and infrastructure needs for research laboratories. While the majority of her work centers on propulsion and materials science, she also manages ancillary acquisitions essential to sustaining operational research environments, demonstrating a nuanced understanding of both technical and facility-based procurement requirements.