Kelly McClurg is a Metallurgical Engineer III in the Metallic Materials and Processes department at Bell Textron Inc. in Grand Prairie, Texas. This department controls many special processes including shot peening. She started her career with Avion Solutions, working with Ultrasonic Shot Peening on repair procedures for military helicopters and fixed-wing aviation. Her research with mini-Almen strips ultimately led to her position as a PhD candidate at the Clausthal University of Technology in Germany. Kelly’s dissertation focuses on the further qualification of Ultrasonic Shot Peening on aerospace-grade materials.
In addition to her responsibilities at Bell, Kelly has been an active member in the SAE Surface Enhancement Committee and Aerospace Surface Enhancement Committee since 2013. Kelly was the secretary for these committees from 2018-2019.
Due to Kelly’s contribution to the advancement of Ultrasonic Shot Peening and her work on the SAE committees, Kelly was named the 2019 Shot Peener of the Year by The Shot Peener magazine.
Kelly graduated from Texas A&M University with a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering. She graduated with her master’s degree in Material Science and Engineering from the University of Texas in Arlington.