NEWPORT – Two Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport teams have won Excellence in Partnership Awards from the Coalition for Government Procurement.
The Other Transaction Authority team won in the acquisition category, and the Office of Naval Research team took honors for innovation, according to a news release.
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The awards recognize organizations that create innovative solutions or processes for a federal agency that improves its mission performance.
According to NUWC Newport, OTAs are contract-like vehicles that differ from traditional government contract mechanisms. They can include access to nontraditional defense contractors and deeper collaborations between industry and government, involving greater technology and speed.
The OTA team researched the best way to establish an OTA to ensure flexibility and acquisition speed. Its team members include Thomas Carroll, OTA program manager; Tejal Patel, technical project manager, Submarine Warfare Federated Tactical System; Beata Jones, contract negotiator; Kaitlin Simoes, contracting officer; Christopher Kenney, head of the acquisition policy and oversight division; and Robert Turnbull, Virginia-class chief engineer. Three other team members are from Naval Sea Systems Command, according to NUWC Newport.
The ONR team, meanwhile, collaborated across organizations to implement the first U.S. Department of Defense Prize Challenge from the NAVSEA enterprise.
Team members include Christopher Hebert, contracting officer; Kerry Hotopp, NAVSEA associate counsel; Stephen Lamb, head of the contracts department; Michelle Estaphan Owen, engineer; and Kenney, who was also part of the OTA team. NUWC headquarters team members were Denise Abraham, contracts director; Vittorio Ricci, NUWC chief technology officer; and Maria Medeiros, ONR program officer.
Traditional Federal Acquisition Regulations-based contracting, with rigid regulations and compliance, can work against innovation, according to NUWC, causing nontraditional industry partners to potentially shy away from U.S. Navy contracts.
The team created the Prize Challenge. The initiative is set up in three phases with a prize purse of up to $775,000 and the opportunity for a prototype development contract under OTA.
“An overwhelming number of nontraditional companies and universities at the forefront of technological innovation responded to the challenge and are now being evaluated,” according to the NUWC statement. Two more Prize Challenges are in the works.
Both NUWC Newport teams were honored in November at the Excellence in Partnership Awards dinner in Falls Church, Va.
Susan Shalhoub is a PBN contributing writer.
