Nina Smith
About Nina Smith
Nina Smith is the Project Controls Lead for BE-4 Engine Combustion at Blue Origin, with extensive experience in project management and controls across various industries.
Current Role at Blue Origin
Nina Smith currently works at Blue Origin as the Project Controls Lead for the BE-4 Engine Combustion. She has been in this role from 2020 and is based in Kent, Washington. In her capacity, she develops and maintains the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) for the Combustion Integrated Product Team (IPT). Her responsibilities include managing engineering development, coordinating test, qualification, and production efforts for the BE-4 Engine. Nina also identifies critical paths for hardware delivery and manages multiple concurrent builds in various stages.
Professional Experience
Nina Smith has a diverse background in project controls, having worked in various roles across multiple industries. Before joining Blue Origin, she was the Project Controls, Austin Market Manager at Quanta Telecommunication Services from 2019 to 2020 in Austin, Texas. She also served as an Earned Value / Scheduling Consultant at Humphreys & Associates, Inc. from 2015 to 2019. Nina has held several positions at Sikorsky Aircraft, including Program Planning & Control Manager and Lead Scheduler. Other roles include working at CitiGroup in Application Development/Programming and Otis Elevator Company as a New Equipment Project Manager.
Educational Background
Nina holds a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) in Management from the University of New Haven, obtained in 2006. She also has a Bachelor's degree in Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical/Space Engineering from Charter Oak State College, achieved in 2001. Additionally, she studied Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering at Boston University and University of New Haven. Her educational foundation has equipped her with the technical and managerial skills necessary for her roles in project controls and engineering.
Technical Expertise and Skills
Throughout her career, Nina Smith has developed a robust skill set in project controls and scheduling. At Blue Origin, she acts as a liaison between engineering, manufacturing, procurement, and leadership. She also facilitates Estimate At Complete (EAC) discussions and conducts gap analysis for the implementation of cost/schedule integration software. Her technical expertise includes familiarity with tools like Primavera for resource planning and Cobra for cost and schedule integration.