Seth Edick

Seth Edick serves as a key procurement professional within the Air Force Research Laboratory’s FA8750 Rik office, supporting the Department of the Air Force’s mission to advance foundational research in aerospace and defense technologies. He manages complex R&D contracts focused on autonomous systems, resilient communications, AI-enabled battle-space awareness, and quantum-enabled capabilities, ensuring that scientific innovation is rapidly transitioned into operational advantage. His acquisitions are predominantly research-oriented, emphasizing fundamental science and engineering breakthroughs rather than commercial off-the-shelf solutions, and he operates within a highly technical acquisition environment requiring deep domain expertise in physical and engineering sciences. Edick maintains strategic relationships with leading defense and research contractors including Booz Allen Hamilton, Lockheed Martin, Eaton Corporation, Technergetics, LLC, and Caelight, Inc. These partnerships are characterized by long-term, high-value collaboration on classified and unclassified R&D initiatives, often involving prototype development, systems integration, and advanced materials testing. His contracting approach favors established industry leaders with proven technical capabilities in aerospace systems, optical communications, and AI/ML infrastructure, while maintaining flexibility for agile, mission-critical innovation. There is no set-aside preference in Edick’s procurement portfolio; all awards are competed without socioeconomic restrictions, reflecting the specialized nature of the work and the need for access to top-tier technical talent and infrastructure. This reflects a mission-driven prioritization of technical excellence over socioeconomic targeting, consistent with the laboratory’s focus on national security innovation at the highest technological thresholds. His procurement activity is exclusively aligned with NAICS 541715—Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences—encompassing advanced physics, electromagnetics, signal processing, free-space optical systems, and quantum sensor development. He procures services and prototypes related to next-generation sensing, autonomous decision-making architectures, and resilient networked systems, requiring contractors with deep expertise in experimental validation and defense-grade engineering.