Shayla Boylan

Shayla Boylan serves as a Contract Negotiator within the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Propulsion Directorate (FA8650), where she plays a pivotal role in securing advanced aerospace technologies critical to U.S. air and space dominance. She specializes in negotiating complex research and development contracts focused on next-generation propulsion systems, hypersonic flight technologies, and high-performance functional materials. Her work directly supports the agency’s mission to accelerate innovation in adaptive flight control and mission-critical components by ensuring timely, compliant, and technically sound acquisition outcomes. Boylan handles primarily cost-reimbursement and other transactional agreements under FAR Part 35 and 37, engaging with industry partners on long-term, high-risk R&D initiatives requiring deep technical alignment. She maintains consistent, high-impact relationships with leading aerospace and materials science contractors including UES INC, General Electric Company, DCS Corporation, Spirit Aerosystems Inc, and Advanced Thermoplastic Composites LLC. These partnerships are characterized by sustained collaboration on multi-year technology maturation programs, often involving prototype development, subscale testing, and integrated system validation. Boylan’s negotiation approach emphasizes technical risk-sharing, performance-based milestones, and structured transition pathways from laboratory prototypes to flight-ready systems. Boylen’s procurement portfolio reflects a strict focus on unrestricted competition, with 100% of her awards issued under no set-aside preferences. This underscores a mission-driven prioritization of technical capability and schedule certainty over socioeconomic targeting, aligning with the highly specialized nature of propulsion and hypersonics R&D where only a limited pool of qualified vendors exists. Her primary procurement activity centers on NAICS 541712—Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences—where she procures advanced materials, computational fluid dynamics modeling, propulsion system integration, and high-temperature structural components. Her expertise lies in managing acquisitions that bridge fundamental science and operational deployment, requiring deep engagement with engineering teams and technical evaluators to ensure contractual language accurately captures performance requirements and innovation milestones.