2020 Tibbetts Award Winner

David Noel

Having served the U.S. Navy for a combined 46 years, Mr. Noel has spent the past 20 of those years providing leadership and vision to spearhead the charge to support new Phase III SBIR development for the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command.

Impact & Achievements

Mr. Noel understands the value of partnerships between the Department of Defense (DoD) and industry, and continues to be a strong supporter of small businesses while leveraging SBIR contracts to further mature small business technologies and assist with integration of those technologies into essential DoD processes.

Mr. David Noel is the Force Maintenance Director (N435) for the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) located at Little Creek, Virginia, and is responsible for organizing, staffing, training, equipping, and sustaining the Navy Expeditionary Combat Force (NECF) to execute combat, combat support, and combat service support missions across the full spectrum of naval, joint, and combined operations which enable access from the sea and freedom of action throughout the sea-to-shore and inland operating environments. In this position, he is the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) on a Phase III Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Task Order, which provides NECC with decision aid tools and analysis with technical and support services for program management, business process automation, subject matter and domain expertise, and engineering services, and conducts $25 million annually in business.

In his role at NECC, Mr. Noel has championed ways to incorporate small business innovation through the SBIR program by enhancing SBIR tools. Just as the SBIR program emphasizes rapid innovation to help warfighters, Mr. Noel and his staff have used several SBIR analytical tools such as Integrated Cost as an Independent Variable (I-CAIV), Readiness Assessment Engine (RAE), Extensible Load-Adaptive Processing System (ELAPS), and Metric Progress Analysis Engine (MPAE), which have improved efficiency, realized cost savings, and improved decision making within his organization while working closely with contractors and government agencies to drive the success of the Phase III SBIR within NECC. For example, on one project using I-CAIV, Mr. Noel was better able to make informed decisions resulting in $11.5 million in savings over a three-year period.

Mr. Noel is a strong advocate for implementing SBIR contract solutions. He not only promotes SBIR through his own Contracting Office, but he also helps small businesses navigate SBIR projects through other contracting offices. This type of innovation in contracting helps government teams by reducing the timeline to award and maturing new technologies and products more rapidly to help the warfighters. Mr. Noel understands the value of partnerships between the Department of Defense (DoD) and industry, and continues to be a strong supporter of small businesses while leveraging SBIR contracts to further mature small business technologies and assist with integration of those technologies into essential DoD processes. Mr. Noel’s combination of acquisition management, contracts management, innovative contracting solutions, and advocacy for the SBIR program makes him uniquely qualified to plan and stand up future SBIR projects.

Mr. Noel has served the United States Navy for a combined 46 years – 26 years of active duty and retired as an E8/Senior Chief, and the remaining 20 years as a contractor and government employee. He has worked tirelessly to coordinate the efforts of small business toward the improvement of NECC. His leadership and vision are spearheading the charge to support new Phase III SBIR development. His advocacy and foresight pave the way for success as he fosters an environment conducive to the growth of the SBIR program.