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ENGINEERING EXECUTIVE

Dr. John F. Ayala

Business Development | Capture Management | Process Improvement | Statistical Analysis

Respected for vision and strategic focus with strong bias-to-action and ability to drive initiatives to successful conclusion.

Trusted advisor and strategic technology leader with deep expertise in defense contracting and business development and leading teams of high performers. Leverage experience to impact business, identify creative solutions to complex problems, and transform at-risk projects. Solid business acumen in diverse organizational settings demonstrated through communication, vision, and analytical problem-solving skills coupled with holistic perspective to guide and influence executive leadership. Subject matter expert and mentor with expansive network and background in government contracts, enabling organizations to shape and win opportunities in federal marketspace.

Inspirational and influential leader with success in curating talent and building high-performing teams, heightening capabilities; committed to cultivating values-based, performance-driven culture, enabling teams to execute quality outcomes in challenging environments.

Areas of expertise

  • Process Engineering & Technology 
  • Project Execution & Realization
  • Scalability & Sustainability 
  • Visionary Direction
  • Program Management 
  • Employee Engagement 
  • Mentoring & Advising 
  • Strategic Partnerships 
  • Contracts Management & Negotiation
  • Merger & Acquisition / Due Diligence 
  • Budgeting & Profit and Loss (P&L)
  • Data Collection & Analytics

Selected Accomplishments

Business Growth & Development: Directed business development and operations as company founder and owner. Formed joint venture to enhance value-added service offerings for the government.

  • Envisioned, built, and launched highly profitable firm to provide professional engineering and technology transfer services, landing military and defense sector customers.
  • Garnered recognition as nationwide leader in systems engineering, business process improvement, program management, and training. 
  • Championed capture and proposal development activities and secured $28M+ in government contracts.

Process improvement: Spearheaded transformation and innovation initiatives to improve program service delivery. Developed strategic roadmaps with focus on process improvements, creating long-term business solutions.

  • Streamlined and optimized solutions by employing lean manufacturing techniques to sustain cost-effective processes; achieved $16M in cost avoidance.

Talent Leadership: Infused collaborative and empowerment leadership style to develop and fuel high-performing teams to deliver rapid solutions and achieve extraordinary outcomes. 

  • Attained top talent and achieved long-term employee retention by fostering diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment, encouraging employees to venture outside of comfort zones and achieve unprecedented results.
  • Created solid quality and HR programs for Department of Labor that built and sustained people-centered culture; cultivated collaborative climate, marked by employee inclusion and trust.

Communications: Channeled strong communication skills to author and deliver 30+ publications and presentations, rendering advice and expertise on systems and process engineering solutions in the defense industry. 

  • Invited to present at conferences as subject matter expert on engineering, technology, aerospace weapon systems, research and development, project management, and process improvements.

Professional experience

2023–Present

Ayala Engineering & Consulting LLC, San Antonio, TX

President & CEO | Certified Instructor & Trainer

Constructed and executed business plan and mission to help small and large growth-focused companies to attain government contracts and position for success in federal marketspace. Serve as expert advisor and executive coach, teaching simple, deliberate, engineering-based approach to win government contracts. Currently consulting to small, accomplished firm to diversify and expand business and navigate new government contract with DoD; train teams on federal government operations.

Leveraged network and background in government contracts to advise on capture analysis and strategies for winning business opportunities from inception through completion of award.

Advised on proposal development activities to include win-theme, proposal strategy, technical and management approach, value statement, transition plan, and executive summary formulation.

 2008–2023

Falcona Management & Technology LLC, San Antonio, TX

CEO | President & Owner | Certified Instructor & Trainer

Established lucrative federal contracting company by formulating business strategies to increase revenue, improve profitability, accelerate business growth, driving company growth to multimillion-dollar revenue. Shaped operational strategy, defined direction, and executed plans to optimize organizational structure. Leveraged industry knowledge and subject matter expertise in engineering to lead technical capability development and maturation. Identified new markets and product development opportunities to transform opportunities into successful business endeavors.

  • Developed and deployed strategy to expand and strengthen engineering business across federal space; conducted due diligence during joint venture to maintain quality services and ensure successful expansion.
  • Instituted high-impact changes resulting in operational excellence, business improvements, and process optimization. Identified and analyzed industry trends to determine business strategy implications.
  • Planned and implemented process improvement methods and concepts to acquire ISO 9001 quality management certification, building sustainability, product quality, and customer satisfaction.
  • Managed programs and projects; evaluated deliverables, cost-effectiveness, and efficiency of initiatives. Devised and implemented short- and long-term goals and strategies to prioritize, organize, and accomplish program objectives.
  • Served as certified instructor, developing curricula and courses, and instructing military and government personnel. Created and maintained conducive learning environments.
  • Built and led cross-functional team of 40+ professionals. Fostered culture of inclusion and empowerment, encouraging staff to be creative and innovative in developing solutions, resulting in long-term employee retention.
  • Provided key insight on logistics and supply-chain activities, policies and organizational effectiveness and efficiency.
  • Steered operational excellence and executed systematic leadership approach to maintain smooth operations, harnessing flexibility and resilience to navigate global pandemic.
  • Ignited and catalyzed change by identifying gaps and areas for improvement and constructing innovative approaches to problems and issues that crossed organizational boundaries and impacted accomplishment of objectives.
  • Led technical demonstration of nuclear enterprise tracking system, USAF Nuclear Weapons Center; provided turn-key item identity management solution with data and systems integration tools and voice biometric authentication.

2000–2011

Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, San Antonio, TX Texas A&M University System

Director | Principal Investigator
Aerospace Manufacturing & Systems Engineering Division

Oversaw capture plans, capability briefings, contracts, logistics, customer relations, and proposals; secured $18M in contracts. Established alliances with government and academic institutions to promote economic development in aerospace industry. Developed long term strategic business plan, enabling first hand problem-solving technology demonstrations and strategic alliances critical to handling complex commercial integration concerns. Partnered with 20 professors and 40 graduate students on various projects; introduced students to DoD to present findings. Expanded research and technical expertise of The Texas A&M University System.

  • Catapulted business from 1 employee to 50+ researchers, faculty, and students and generated $16.7M+ in revenue.
  • Built and executed capture strategy for technology transfer and insertion projects into aerospace weapon systems for DoD. Ranked as top 5 Principal Investigators for securing contracts, grants, and funding.
  • Engaged with congressmen and senators as key point of contact for congressional earmarks.
  • Served as chairman and academic representative on national council; advised on 6 aircraft projects.
  • Partnered with U.S Army Logistics Agency (LIA) to support weapon system program offices in forecasting life-cycle impacts of equipment and process changes within operations, repair, and support.
  • Secured $8.4M as principal investigator on aging aircraft research; created Academic Center for Aging Aircraft (ACAA) serving as advisor to Joint Council on Aging Aircraft (JCAA).

Additional Experience

U.S. Army

Civil Service
1988 - 2000

Oct 1998 - Aug 2000
U.S. Army Medical Department (AMEDD)
Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics
Directorate of Combat and Doctrine Development
Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, TX
Combat Developer
Oct 1998 - Aug 2000
Apr 1998 - Oct 1998
Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army
for Research Development & Acquisition (RDA)
MANTECH, RM&S, COSSI, DARPA Programs
Washington D.C., Pentagon
U.S. Army Liaison
Apr 1998 - Oct 1998
Aug 1992 - Apr 1998
Corpus Christi Army Depot (CCAD)
Engineering Directorate
Manufacturing Technology (MANTECH) Program Manager
Industrial Engineer
Aug 1992 - Apr 1998
Dec 1989 - Aug 1992
Corpus Christi Army Depot
Quality Assurance Directorate
Quality Engineering Branch
General Engineer
Dec 1989 - Aug 1992
Mar 1988 - Dec 1989
U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC)
School of Engineering and Logistics
Red River Army Depot, Texarkana, TX
General Engineer
Mar 1988 - Dec 1989

Education and additional information

Texas A&M University, College Station, TX – Doctor of Engineering – Engineering (DE) 

Texas A&M University, College Station, TX – Master of Science – Industrial Engineering (MSIE)

St. Mary’s University; San Antonio, TX – Bachelor of Science – Electrical Engineering (BSEE)

U.S. Army School of Engineering & Logistics, Texarkana, TX – Quality and Reliability Engineering Program 

Licensure & Certifications
  • Professional Engineer (PE) License, #74241, Present
  • Project Management Professional (PMP), #1413076, Present
  • Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt (LSSMBB), #4101554, Present
  • Contracting Officer Representative, Present
  • Program Management – Level II, Defense Acquisition University (DAU), Present
  • Manufacturing Production and Quality Assurance – Level II, DAU, Present
  • Test and Evaluation – Level II, DAU, Present
Academic Appointments
  • Texas A&M University – Commerce, TX
    Industry Advisor, Department of Engineering, Industrial & Systems Engineering, 2007-2011
  • St. Mary’s University – San Antonio, TX 
    Adjunct Professor, Department of Engineering, Industrial Engineering, 1999–2002
  • Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi, TX
    Industry Advisor, Department of Engineering Technology, Mechanical Engineering Technology, 1996-1998
Selected Awards & Honors

National

  • Recipient of the 1998 Army Materiel Command (AMC) Engineer of the Year
  • Finalist for 1998 Federal Engineer of the Year
  • Recipient of 1997 Hispanic Engineer National Award (HENAAC) – Military Technical Achievement

Regional

  • San Antonio Business Opportunity Council, Minority Enterprise Development Week, Contracting Excellence, 2021
  • San Antonio Business Opportunity Council, Minority Enterprise Development Week, Contracting Excellence, 2017
  • Alamo City Chamber of Commerce, Entrepreneurial & Professional Institute Connection, Scholar Class Graduate, 2015
  • IIE Applied Ergonomic Conference Runner-Up – Training and Education Solutions, 2004

Employer

  • DoD Ergonomics Coin of Excellence, 2003
  • ASARDA Coin of Excellence, 1998
  • AMC Chief of Staff Coin for Outstanding Performance, 1998
  • AMC Competitive Developmental Assignment – ASARDA, U.S. Army Liaison, 1998
  • CCAD Special Act/Service Award, 1994
  • CCAD Performance Award, 1993
  • AMC Competitive Long-Term Training at Texas A&M – Doctor of Engineering Program, 1993
  • Department of the Army “I Saved My Salary” for AH-1 Hydraulic Servos, $392K, 1993
  • AMC Competitive Long-Term Training at Texas A&M – Master of Science, Industrial Engineering Program, 1989
  • Department of the Army Commandant’s List – U.S. Army School of Engineering and Logistics, 1989