Mr. David E. Shahady, member of the government civilian corps, is the Managing Director of the Air Force Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Program. Mr. Shahady directs an over $325M research budget focused toward qualified small businesses in the nation's high-tech arena as critical source of innovative technologies for our air, space, and cyberspace force. Through a competitive awards-based program, Mr. Shahady leads nearly one-thousand yearly contract efforts sponsored by over fifty Air Force organizations from across the nation. Mr. Shahady also enables small businesses to explore their technological potential and provides the incentive to profit from its commercialization.
Mr. Shahady began his career as an active duty officer supporting air combat training, robotics, blast effects research, anti-terrorism, explosive ordnance disposal, and airbase automation. In 2004, he entered federal civil service as a technology development engineer at the Headquarters Air Force Research Laboratory. In 2008, he was the Deputy for AFRL’s Innovation and Rapid Reaction Team providing near-term solutions to the warfighter's highest priority urgent needs and directing an array of experimental initiatives designed at pushing the limits of innovation and collaborations across military and other government laboratories.
Prior to his current assignment he was the Chief of the Human Analyst Augmentation Branch, 711th Human Performance Wing, responsible for leading a $10M/year research portfolio focused on developing, testing, evaluating, and transitioning solutions to maximize intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) efficiency and effectiveness by exploiting human cognitive processes. He has written numerous publications including several features on the White House Innovation website and blog.
David Shahady is also an active Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force Reserves and is currently assigned as the Senior IMA to the Director of Plans and Programs at AFRL and is the Commander for AFRL’s annual Tech Warrior Exercise.