Aircraft Engine Component Design for Life: The industry, requirements, and how it’s done

Marty Ross was raised in Amherst, MA, and attended Amherst Regional High School. He studied at UMass Amherst, and graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1986.

He started his career in 1986 at IBM in Poughkeepsie, NY as a manufacturing equipment and process engineer, working on the main frame computer assembly line. Taking a sincere interest in heat transfer, he left IBM to study graduate level Fluids/Heat Transfer at RPI. After completing an M.S. Degree, he received a graduate internship at Los Alamos National Laboratory working in the Combustion Science field, and continued this work at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA. After his studies, he entered the aerospace industry with AlliedSignal, and learned the skill of designing and fabricating compact heat exchangers for aircraft applications.

Marty relocated to the Hartford area in 2003, and has worked for UTC for 17 years. His primary career track is expertise in Heat Exchanger design, manufacturing, test, and fielding specific to aircraft engine applications. He has literally did some work on every heat exchanger flying, in some capacity. He held design roles on the PW GP7000, PW1000 commercial engines, as well as F22 Raptor and F135 Lightning fighter engines. In addition, he has also held engineering positions with submarine equipment, fuel cells, and green power generating equipment with UTC’s Space and Sea Systems and UTC Power systems.

Marty proudly serves in the US Navy Reserve as a qualified Engineering Duty Officer, and presently holds the rank of Commander. While working in the aerospace industry as a civilian, he took military assignments at Supervisor of Shipbuilding in Groton, CT and in Bath, ME. He was selected and served two Command positions in the New England area, and recently served three years as Executive Officer in a regional shipyard command in Portsmouth, NH. He has been serving at the US Navy’s Supervisor of Salvage for the past three years as an XO, Operations Officer, and Project Officer.

Marty is a strong proponent of green power and solar power systems, with particular interest in solarization in developing countries, especially Haiti. He is a board member with Opportunities for Communities, which provides resource support of education in Haiti, and has traveled there to complete installations.

He has held ASME Hartford area leadership positions for the last 16 years, and has recently has been serving at the national level with the promotion and dedication of ASME Engineering National Landmarks. He has served on the UMass Industrial Advisory Board for 15 years, and gives guest lectures for Heat Transfer and manufacturing classes annually at UMass Amherst. He is a registered Technical Education teacher in the State of Connecticut, and has tutored mathematics, chemistry, and physics at local education centers in central Connecticut.