JEFFERY
S. SMITH
serves as President and Principal Metallurgical Consultant
for Material Processing Technology LLC (MPT), a firm that he
founded in 2002 to provide metallurgical engineering
consulting services in the field of high temperature
materials and coatings for gas turbine engines. MPT
specializes in technology assessment, process improvement
and product commercialization for gas turbine materials,
coatings and component repair. MPT also provides
intellectual property reviews, technology landscapes, vendor
qualifications, supplier audits, expert witness and
litigation support among other services for clients.
With 30
years of professional experience, Mr. Smith has an in-depth
knowledge of all major aerospace coating systems, investment
casting technologies, turbine component production methods
and repair processes for engine run hardware. He has
extensive experience with research, development and
production introduction of high temperature materials and
coating processes for gas turbine airfoil manufacture. Mr.
Smith is adept at identifying opportunities for improving
process capability and product yield through establishing
appropriate process metrics and engineering control
strategies. He has successfully led process ownership teams
involved with establishment of best practices for superalloy
investment casting processes across multiple domestic and
international manufacturing sites.
He holds
B.S. and M.S. degrees in Metallurgical Engineering from the
University of Wisconsin. Upon completion of his studies, he
joined General Electric’s Aircraft Engine Group in 1978,
working in the areas of advanced material development and
advanced manufacturing processes. From 1983 through 2002 he
held various engineering leadership, technical marketing,
technology management and process ownership positions with
Howmet Corporation (a world leader in superalloy investment
casting production). In these roles he helped to
significantly expand product offerings and enhance process
capability for the casting, coating and repair markets and
improve manufacturing process technologies used for gas
turbine component production.
Among
his professional interests are process development, product
commercialization, and manufacturing process improvement for
gas turbine component manufacture and refurbishment. He is
recognized as one of the world’s leading experts in gas
turbine coating development and manufacture, and has
extensive experience with superalloy investment casting,
brazing, heat treatment, coating and refurbishment
manufacturing operations. He is active as a technical
session organizer for the Manufacturing, Materials and
Metallurgy (3 M) committee of the International Gas Turbine
Institute of ASME and is a past 3 M committee Chairman. He
has served on the National Materials Advisory Board
committee on Coatings for High Temperature Structural
Materials, is a member of ASM Intl Metals Handbook Advisory
Committee and ASTM’s G02 committee on wear and erosion. He
holds ten US patents and has successfully managed the
development and commercialization of numerous technologies
related to gas turbine airfoil manufacture, repair and
coating. He is a member of ASM Intl., TMS-AIME, ASME and
ASTM.
DOUG
CARLSON,
aerospace materials and special process consultant, has
gathered over 35 years of professional experience in
aerospace and gas turbine materials. During his tenure at GE
Aviation from 1973-2010, his responsibilities ranged from
R&D and process scale up to production component manufacture
and quality system management. He has worked with gas
turbine materials and processes for aluminum, titanium and
composite components in the front of the engine to high
temperature materials and coatings required in the gas
turbine hot section.
After
graduating with a BS in Metallurgical Engineering from the
University of Minnesota, Mr. Carlson joined GE Aircraft
Engines as a Materials Engineer working on the development
and application of gas turbine alloys and processes. He then
had the opportunity to work in the Low Observables field,
developing and applying coatings suitable for controlling
the radar and IR signatures of aircraft propulsion systems.
For the last half of his GE career, he transferred to the
production end of the aviation business, originally as a
Component Manufacturing plant Special Process Leader and
later as the plant’s overall Quality Leader. He was
certified in GE’s Lean/Six Sigma Program.
He has
been responsible for the development and control of a wide
range of special processes used in gas turbines. He has
introduced new product/process combinations both at in-house
facilities and at outside suppliers. The processes he has
worked on include Pack and Vapor Phase Aluminide Coatings,
HVOF Environmental and Wear Coatings, Plasma Sprayed Wear
and Ceramic Thermal Barrier Coatings, Vacuum Sintered Wear
and Environmental Coatings, Aluminum Anodizing, Vacuum
Brazing, Laser and EDM Drilling and Heat Treatment of
Aluminum, Titanium and Superalloys. He holds 3 US patents in
the coatings field.
In the
quality arena, he has both domestic and international
experience in conducting quality and special process audits.
As Plant Quality Leader, he was responsible for the plant’s
quality and metallurgical lab and maintaining the plant’s
quality system, in compliance with GE, NADCAP, ISO, FAA and
the US military quality standards.
Among his
current professional interests are aerospace special process
introductions especially in the coatings field, and the
methodology of developing and maintaining a Quality system
in accordance with accepted OEM and international quality
metrics.
