Wilma L. Estrada

Wilma L. Estrada serves as a key procurement professional at NASA Ames Research Center, supporting the agency’s mission to advance aerospace innovation through strategic acquisitions in research, testing, and advanced systems development. She manages a diverse portfolio of contracts aligned with NASA’s priorities in aeronautics, planetary exploration, and high-performance computing, with a focus on technical services and specialized hardware. Her acquisitions typically support the development and validation of autonomous navigation systems, thermal protection technologies, and experimental flight platforms, ensuring that cutting-edge research transitions from laboratory to operational readiness. Estrada maintains a consistent working relationship with Aerospace & Commercial Technologies, LLC, a primary contractor delivering specialized engineering and testing services critical to Ames’ experimental programs. Her procurement patterns reflect a preference for established technical partners with proven expertise in aerospace systems integration, while also engaging a broad base of vendors capable of supporting rapid prototyping and mission-critical validation. Her approach emphasizes performance-based contracting and technical compliance, fostering long-term partnerships grounded in technical rigor and mission alignment. Her contracting activity shows a strong inclination toward open competition, with 88.9% of awards issued without set-aside designations, reflecting a focus on technical capability over socioeconomic categorization. Nevertheless, she consistently reserves 11.1% of opportunities for total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5, demonstrating a measured but intentional commitment to small business participation in high-technical domains. Estrada’s procurement focus centers on NAICS 541380 (Testing Laboratories and Services) and 541715 (Research and Development in Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences), reflecting her emphasis on experimental validation and systems analysis. She also regularly procures industrial process furnaces and aeronautical navigation systems, underscoring her technical expertise in thermal systems engineering and flight instrumentation. Her work bridges fundamental research and applied aerospace engineering, ensuring that NASA Ames maintains its leadership in next-generation flight and space technologies.