The DAU Alumni Association, a cooperative program with the DAU Director of Research, awards cash prizes to the top three papers submitted;for the Edward Hirsch Acquisition and Writing Award Competition.. The articles selected are published in the Defense Acquisition Research Journal and the authors present a synopsis of their research at the annual DAU Acquisition Training Symposium. The 2019 competition saw 2 papers (instead of 3) selected and published in the April 2019 edition of the Journal. The first paper examined a relatively new and powerful contracting tool - Other Transactions. The presentation provides an overview of the OT process and examines whether to advocate expansion or seek curtailment of this powerful instrument. The second paper describes a case study covering best practices ;in using "Agile" and "DevOps" for successful information systems. Both articles are timely in view of the desire to deliver capabilities faster to the warfighter.