Bio
Captain Katherine E. Welsh is an instructor of Mechanical Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the United States Air Force Academy. She instructs the Fundamentals of Mechanics course.
Captain Welsh previously served as the systems engineering lead for a $330M Advanced Technology Demonstrator (ATD) for the Air Force Research Lab at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. She was responsible for leading a multi-disciplinary 20+ government team in all areas of the systems engineering lifecycle as well as leading risk management for the demonstrator. Her technical leadership led to the delivery of the lowest size, weight, and power (SWAP) airworthy subsystem to date in directed energy.
Captain Welsh commissioned in 2018 out of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) detachment 150 at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. She graduated cum laude from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and membership in the Phi Kappa Phi honor society.
Following her commission Captain Welsh attended graduate school at the Air Force Institute of Technology in residence at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio to study Systems Engineering focusing on autonomous systems and test & evaluation. Her research investigated test methods and metrics for autonomy in collaboration with the Autonomy & Navigation Center (ANT) and the Scientific Test & Analysis Techniques Center of Excellence (STAT COE). Her research culminated in receiving a 2020 Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) award from the Air Force Chief Scientist for the largest contribution and impact to the field of systems engineering. She was also inducted into the Air Force Institute of Technology chapter of Tau Beta Pi honors society.
Education
Master of Science, Systems Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio (2020)
Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida (2018)
Professional Experience
Student, Department of Systems Engineering and Management, Air Force Institue of Technology, Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio (August 2018-March 2020)
Systems Engineering Deputy, Directed Energy, Air Force Research Lab, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico (May 2020-May 2021)
Systems Engineering Lead, Directed Energy, Air Force Research Lab, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico (May 2021-March 2023)
Instructor of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, United States Air Force Academy, Colorado (March 2023-Present)
Honors & Awards
Cum Laude, University of Florida
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, University of Florida
Tau Beta Pi, Air Force Institute of Technology
2020 Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) Award, Air Force Chief Scientist
Air Force Commendation Medal
Air Force Recognition Ribbon
Air Force Insitute of Technology Department of Systems Engineering & Management, Company Grade Officer of the Second Quarter, 2019
Division Company Grade Officer of the Year, 2021
Division Company Grade Officer of the Quarter, 2021-2023
Research and Scholarly Interests
Test & Evaluation, Autonomy, Modeling & Simulation, Systems Engineering
Specific Sub-disciplines: automated test, design for testability, collaborative autonomy, collaborative autonomous systems, digital engineering, system architecture
Publications
K. E. Cheney and J. M. Colombi, “ Model Based Systems Engineering for Test Driven Design,” The International Test & Evaluation Association Journal of Test and Evaluation, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 102–110, Jun. 2020.
D. King, D. Jacques, J. Gray, and K. Cheney, “Design and simulation of a wide area search mission: An implementation of an Autonomous Systems Reference Architecture,” 2020 Winter Simulation Conference (WSC), 2020. doi:10.1109/wsc48552.2020.9384112
K. E. Cheney and D. King, “Development, Test and Evaluation of Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Systems in A Simulated Wide Area Search Scenario: An Implementation of the Autonomous Systems Reference Architecture” (2020). Theses and Dissertations. 3242. https://scholar.afit.edu/etd/3242