Materials & Process Engineer- Blue Origin

Ilana Lu is a Materials and Process Engineer for Blue Origin where she is part of a cutting-edge team performing friction stir welding for the New Glenn Rocket.

Ilana graduated in 2017 from University of South Carolina, Columbia, with her bachelor’s of science degree in Mechanical Engineering. While there, she performed research with friction stir welding of aluminum alloys and graduated in 2019 with a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Afterwards, Ilana partnered with GKN Aerospaceattended at Oak Ridge National Laboratory while she was attending graduate school, supporting development of a laser wire additive process for metallic aerospace components.

Ilana has accrued several years experience as a certified welder in metal fabrication.