Connecting People, Growing Economies, and Protecting Freedom: A Career Designing and Developing Gas Turbine Engines

Jennifer Duke, Sr. Director, Propulsion Systems Analysis Pratt & Whitney

Economic demand and concern for the environment has stimulated innovations in the gas turbine aero engine industry. With aircraft performance improvements depending largely on the engines, the cost of jet fuel driving airline operating cost, and the consideration of new regulatory requirements, engine manufacturers must innovate to realize step change improvements. Pratt & Whitney has created the game changing Geared Turbofan™ engine as a solution for our commercial customers; and we power new capability to the military warfighter. This lecture will explore a look into a career designing and developing gas turbine jet engines.

An aerospace engineer must create solutions to problems that are multi-physics in nature while integrating across disciplines for an optimal design that operates safely and reliably over a wide range of conditions. The challenge now becomes the speed of developing and integrating new technologies into the product, as well as cost effectiveness and reliability of technologies. An overview of the recent advances in propulsion system design will be presented, with focus on the aerospace engineer’s role in development, realization and deployment of gas turbine aero engine products for unprecedented performance, operability, and reliability.

About the speaker...

Jennifer Duke is senior director of the Propulsion Systems Analysis organization at Pratt & Whitney, a United Technologies Corp. (UTC) company and a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines and auxiliary power units. In this new role since July 2018, Jennifer provides strategic leadership of a multi-site engineering organization to architect, design, develop, and support engine performance systems, bringing value to the commercial and military business. She is responsible for engine functional metrics including mission fuel efficiency, thrust assurance, time on wing, operability, and environmental sustainment of noise and emissions.

Previously, Jennifer was Sr. Director of the Aerodynamics and Thermal Fluids organization. In this role since 2013, she provided both strategic and technical leadership for Pratt & Whitney Engineering’s Aerodynamics organization, with oversight of turbines, compressors, combustors, acoustics, inlets, nacelles & nozzles, CFD methods, internal air systems and heat transfer.

Duke has been with Pratt & Whitney since 1992 and has held roles of increasing responsibility in the Performance Systems Analysis, Turbine Aerodynamics, and the Turbine Module Center organizations. She also served as Performance Systems Chief for the Operational Commercial Engines group and the Executive Assistant to Pratt & Whitney’s Chief Operating Officer.

She sits on the industry advisory board for the University of Michigan Aerospace Engineering Department and the advisory board for the University of Connecticut Department of Mechanical Engineering. She is a member of the FAA Environment and Energy Research, Engineering & Development advisory subcommittee and the United Way Women’s Leadership Council. In 2015, Duke received a United Technologies Chairman’s award and in 2016 received the University of Michigan Aerospace Engineering Alumni Merit Award.

Duke earned a B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan and an M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Connecticut.