Two members of the Naval Postgraduate School community recently received The Future of Pricing and Procurement Award from the Pricing for Contract and Government Professionals magazine. The award is presented to five individuals who are up and coming in the industry, and five individuals who are in leadership roles. At both levels, these individuals represent resilience, boldness, and innovation. We are proud to note that NPS has both an established leader and a rising innovator in this year’s recipients–and both are part of the Acquisition Research Program community.
Richard Wahidi is a U.S. Air Force Contracting Officer currently studying at the Naval Postgraduate School, where he is researching Information Age business strategy to improve acquisition outcomes. Wahidi is pursuing a Master of Business Administration degree with a focus on Acquisition and Contract Management, and his thesis research is supported by ARP.
Prior to studying at NPS, Richard served as a Procuring Contracting Officer at Robins Air Force Base, where he participated in the 2020 – 2021 National Contract Management Association Leadership Development Program. He supported development of a pilot digital acquisition training course, led by OUSD(A&S). He also accelerated modernization initiatives at the Electronic Warfare and Avionics Program Office through the enhanced adoption of strategic partnerships (with organizations including University Affiliated Research Centers and Federally Funded Research and Development Centers) and unique contracting authorities that enable rapid engineering and industrial mobilization.
Professor Kelley Poree was recognized for an innovative course design that introduced ProPricer Government Edition (GE) to students in two NPS courses in the Graduate School of Defense Management: Contract Cost & Price Analysis and Federal Contract Negotiations. Students used this software to gain insight into buyer/seller perspectives, motivations, and job tasks throughout the contract life cycle. ProPricer GE is the complementary software platform for ProPricer Contractor Edition, the proposal development software used by most major defense contractors.
ProPricer GE creates a simulated business environment in which students can compare contractor cost estimates for elements such as labor, material, and subcontracting efforts with Government cost estimates for performance. They can also establish pre-negotiation objectives across cost elements to support the Government's business clearance decision and conduct fact-based negotiations through Comparison Cost Detail Breakdown Reports, all in near real-time. These comparison reports and several others enable fair and reasonable price determinations in an active negotiations environment and inform the Government's contract clearance decision. By using this tool, students are enhancing professional competencies they will need as acquisition and contracting leaders, including partnering, problem-solving, risk analysis, and relationship management.
Congratulations to these innovators! Keep watching their work to see what new initiatives they create next.