Tim Smith

Tim Smith is the principal investigator for three separate NASA research projects. In this role, he has lead research that directly resulted in over a dozen research licenses, four commercial licenses, and contributed to numerous collaborative agreements with industry. He leads both high temperature alloy development and characterization efforts within the High Temperature and Smart Alloys Branch at NASA Glenn Research Center.  

Tim graduated with a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from The Ohio State University in 2016.  Tim was a NASA intern during graduate school, and he joined the NASA Glenn Research Center full-time after graduation. During his time at NASA, he has contributed to 37 peer-reviewed publications including prestigious journals such as Nature, Nature Communications, and Nature Communications Materials. His research has also produced 10 new technology reports and 2 awarded patents.  

Tim has earned numerous awards over the course of his career both within NASA and by outside organizations. He received the Early Career Achievement Medal in 2020, the Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal in 2022, and the NASA Group Achievement Award in 2023.  His publications have also been recognized for Superalloys 2020 Conference Best Paper, 2020 Materials and Structures Division Best Paper and the 2023 Glenn Research Center Distinguished Publication Award. In 2023, He and his colleagues were awarded an R&D100 Award NASA Commercial Invention of the Year for the creation of a new high temperature alloy named GRX-810.