Research Interests:

Susan Skemp started her career with Pratt & Whitney. As a senior analytical engineer from 1981 to 1990, Susan Skemp worked on a variety of Pratt & Whitney’s acclaimed engine programs for the United States military, NASA, and commercial markets. On the company’s PW220 and PW229 projects, Ms. Skemp was the lead engineer in charge of qualifying the fighter aircraft engines for critical operating regimens in the U.S. military. Ms. Skemp also contributed to the PW4000 and PW5000 engines of Pratt & Whitney and managed programs to meet ISO 9001 as well as U.S. government standards and regulations. During her initial career with Pratt & Whitney, she performed systems analysis and test verification on the 250K engine and RL10, the first liquid hydrogen-fueled rocket in space, which is an ASME Mechanical Engineering Landmark. In 1990, Ms. Skemp became program manager of advanced technology, a position she held until 1999. She worked on Pratt & Whitney’s Advanced Technology Engine Gas Generator Core Demonstrator, an ambitious $100 million program focused on increasing the thrust and weight capabilities of the military fighter jet. Ms. Skemp also managed the $8 million NASA Test Engine System Technology program, developing combustion technologies that reduced emissions of nitrogen oxides by 50 percent. This engine was later refined and placed in commercial service.