Tara Thomasson

Tara Thomasson is a fellow at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. She is a subject-matter expert in the areas of advanced materials and processing, thermoplastic additive manufacturing and manufacturing technology and strategy. In Thomasson’s current role as aeronautics operations digital transformation lead, she is focused on collaborative efforts across the Lockheed Martin Corp. design to bring the benefits of operating in a model-based environment to manufacturing. Previously, Thomasson served as the manufacturing technology contract research and development/small business innovation research manager where she was responsible for collaborating with Navy ManTech and Air Force ManTech organizations to shape development programs to solve manufacturing challenges while enabling forward-thinking innovation on future production systems. In addition to Thomasson’s work at Lockheed Martin, she serves as an adjunct professor at Texas Christian University in the College of Science & Engineering, teaching manufacturing and mentoring up-and-coming engineers. Over the past five years, Thomasson has supported SME as an AeroDef Conference advisor and as an SME Education Foundation scholarship reviewer. She is passionate about increasing formal mentoring of college students to broaden their knowledge of opportunities in manufacturing. SME Member Since 2018