Tamiko Aikens

Tamiko Aikens serves as the primary procurement lead for the 693JJ3 Acquisition and Grants Management unit within the Federal Highway Administration, where she oversees the strategic acquisition of engineering services, transportation research, and operational consulting to support national highway infrastructure initiatives. Her role is central to advancing data-informed decision-making in transportation design and safety, ensuring that procurements align with federal regulations and agency mission goals. She manages a diverse portfolio of contract actions, primarily focused on professional technical services, with an emphasis on research-driven solutions that enhance the resilience and innovation of the nation’s transportation systems. Aikens maintains established relationships with key contractors including K & M Transportation Services LLC and the University of California, Los Angeles, reflecting a balanced mix of private-sector engineering firms and academic research institutions. Her procurement patterns favor long-term, performance-based partnerships that deliver technical expertise in transportation systems analysis, infrastructure modeling, and safety evaluation. These collaborations are typically structured as indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contracts or task orders under GSA schedules, ensuring agility and technical depth in responding to evolving highway program needs. Her contracting approach prioritizes open competition, with 90.8% of awards issued without set-asides, indicating a preference for full and open procurement under FAR Part 15. However, she consistently allocates 9.2% of opportunities to total small business set-asides, demonstrating a deliberate commitment to fostering small business participation in high-impact transportation projects without compromising technical rigor. Aikens’ procurement focus is concentrated in NAICS 541330 (Engineering Services) and 541712 (Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences), reflecting her specialization in securing advanced technical services for highway design, traffic operations, and infrastructure resilience studies. She routinely procures analytical tools, field data collection systems, simulation modeling, and consulting services that directly inform federal transportation policy and asset management strategies.