Exhaust Duct Manufacturing, Unmanned Fighter Jet
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What Was Manufactured?
This composite exhaust duct was manufactured using a high-temperature composite prepreg. The individual components were assembled with high precision to meet AS9100 quality requirements and have been flown as part of the development of next-generation unmanned aircraft systems. Due to confidentiality requirements, I am unable to share detailed images or technical information about the final product. However, a photograph of the complete aircraft in flight is provided on the left for reference.
For this program, I led the manufacturing development, including creating work instructions, developing manufacturing processes, and managing teams of up to seven technicians throughout production to ensure quality, efficiency, and schedule adherence. The success of this program has led to follow-on production efforts, with a full-rate production process currently being developed.
My Role in the Manufacturing Process
While serving as the Lead Manufacturing Engineer on this program, I gained valuable hands-on experience in both composite processing and precision assembly. I was responsible for developing manufacturing processes, generating work instructions, managing teams of technicians, and ensuring production remained on schedule while maintaining the highest quality standards.
Composite processing included ply cutting, laser-guided hand layup, and autoclave curing. I also led the onboarding and implementation of our in-house laser projection system, improving manufacturing accuracy and efficiency.
Assembly of the exhaust duct required the development of detailed manufacturing processes that met customer quality specifications and tight dimensional tolerances. Operations included trimming, bonding, drilling, stamping, and final inspections. Throughout the program, I worked directly with the customer to resolve manufacturing challenges, maintain strong working relationships, and consistently deliver high-quality products. The success of these efforts contributed to securing follow-on production work.