Tim Hannah

Tim Hannah serves as a Contracting Officer within the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Propulsion Directorate (FA8650), where he manages complex acquisitions supporting cutting-edge aerospace propulsion, hypersonics, and advanced materials research. His portfolio encompasses mission-critical R&D contracts aimed at accelerating the transition of next-generation propulsion technologies from laboratory prototypes to operational systems. He specializes in engineering services, technical integration, and flight system support contracts, ensuring alignment with DoD innovation mandates and National Defense Strategy priorities. His work directly enables the Air Force’s long-term dominance in air and space domains through disciplined contract execution and technical oversight. Hannah maintains consistent, high-impact relationships with leading aerospace and defense contractors including UES INC, General Electric Company, DCS Corporation, Spirit Aerosystems Inc., and Advanced Thermoplastic Composites LLC. These partnerships are characterized by deep technical collaboration, often involving proprietary materials development, flight control system integration, and hypersonic test infrastructure support. His contracting approach emphasizes performance-based outcomes, technical risk mitigation, and long-term vendor engagement to sustain mission-critical capabilities across multiple acquisition phases. Hannah’s procurement portfolio reflects a strong emphasis on open competition, with 100% of awards issued under no set-aside categories. While he does not prioritize socioeconomic set-asides such as 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB programs, his contracting strategy prioritizes technical excellence and mission readiness over socioeconomic criteria, ensuring that the most capable and experienced industry partners are selected based on merit and proven capability in high-consequence domains. His primary procurement focus lies in NAICS 541330 (Engineering Services), where he procures advanced propulsion system design, computational fluid dynamics modeling, and materials characterization services. He also regularly acquires specialized freight logistics (484230), flight training (611512), and facilities support (561210) to enable test and evaluation operations. His expertise spans the full lifecycle of propulsion system development—from fundamental research to flight validation—making him a key enabler of the AFRL’s technological edge in aerospace propulsion.