SAMPE Journal - March/April 2023 - 8

Q&A
hazardous materials reduction.
Where did you go to school?
received my BS in Chemistry from the University
of Minnesota and my Ph.D. in organometallic
chemistry from Texas A&M University. I then
discovered a love for the hands-on nature of materials
science by taking an MSE class while writing my final
dissertation - my professor was not thrilled that I
was not finishing up my writing, but I was suddenly
more interested in playing with the materials made by
combining molecules. I decided to pivot my technical
career and did a year and a half postdoctoral research
appointment in the Materials Science & Engineering
Dept at the University of Washington before moving
into industry.
Where do you work?
M
y current role as a Senior Technical Fellow in
Boeing allows me the good fortune of looking at
the big picture and strategies for developing and using
materials technologies across our entire company
and the industry. I have spent time in most of our
materials groups, starting with metals, moving to
specialty materials and ceramics, composites and
bonding, sustainable finishes, and novel surface
modification technologies, and I am now learning
about additive technologies. My background as a
chemist allows me to see themes that exist across
all of these disciplines and often look at problems in
different ways. I am currently working on developing
energetic methods (i.e., plasma, laser, etc.) to modify
surfaces for different applications. It is cool that we
8 | SAMPE JOURNAL | MARCH APRIL 2023
I
I
MEMBER NEWS | LEADERSHIP
Chris Locke
Director of Marketing and Membership Services
christine@sampe.org
Kay Blohowiak (kay.y.blohowiak@boeing.com) is a Senior Technical Fellow in Materials and
Manufacturing Technologies for Boeing Research & Technology, Seattle, Washington, with a focus
on adhesive bonding, sustainable chemical technologies, finishes, sealants, interfaces, and additive
manufacturing. Kay has over 50 patents and 90 publications in areas ranging from adhesive bonding and
corrosion control to inorganic polymers, superconductors, and coatings development. Her team's efforts
in sol-gel technologies and new energetic surface modification technologies, including laser and plasma
surface preparations, have resulted in new technology implementations on commercial, military, and
space products to solve manufacturing and performance issues and result in production cost savings and
could potentially replace all the dirty, ergonomically
unfriendly sanding processes that we perform on our
super high-tech materials with a clean, non-contact,
automated laser system. Opportunities exist across
multiple applications, from tool cleaning to composite
surface preparation of thermosets and thermoplastics
to depainting of aircraft. One can also think about
modifying surfaces to create unique multifunctional
microstructures. So much to do!
What first got you started with SAMPE?
was influenced by some wonderful mentors,
including Sylvester Hill and John Hoggatt. They
were heavily involved in SAMPE and showed me how
SAMPE can create a lifelong network of colleagues
and collaborators. There is always something new to
learn-SAMPE is a great place to learn and debate the
latest trends in emergent areas.
Kay catching a foul ball at a Washington State University baseball
game with daughter Denise.
www. sampe.org

http://www.sampe.org

SAMPE Journal - March/April 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SAMPE Journal - March/April 2023