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, 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 and has successfully led process
ownership teams involved with establishment of best
practices 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 coatings manufacturing processes. From 1983 through
2002 he held various engineering leadership, technical
marketing, technology management and process ownership
positions with Howmet Corporation (the world leader in
superalloy casting production). In these roles he helped to
significantly expand product offerings and enhance process
capability for the coating and repair markets and improve
manufacturing process technologies used for gas turbine
component production.
Among
his professional interests are coating process development,
product commercialization, manufacturing process improvement
and repair technology for engine run components. He is
recognized as one of the world’s leading experts in the
field of aluminide and platinum modified aluminide diffusion
coatings, and has extensive experience with superalloy
investment casting, 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, is a past 3 M committee Chairman
and has served on the National Materials Advisory Board
committee on Coatings for High Temperature Structural
Materials. He holds ten US patents and has successfully
managed the commercialization of EB-PVD (Electron-Beam
Physical Vapor Deposition) thermal barrier coatings, CVD
(Chemical Vapor Deposition) and VPA (Vapor Phase Aluminide)
gas phase coatings, CA-PVD (Cathodic Arc) erosion resistant
coatings, advanced repair techniques and numerous other
technologies related to gas turbine airfoil manufacture. He
is a member of ASM Intl., TMS-AIME, and ASME.
