About Us

Blade Diagnostics develops cutting-edge tools and methods for turbine blade diagnostics and maintenance.

Blade Diagnostics unique technologies help the U.S. military control how mistuning affects the vibratory response of Integrally Bladed Disks (IBDs) and help commercial partners monitor the health of energy turbines. Our automated technologies help predict and prevent High Cycle Fatigue (HCF) failure, and extend an IBD’s lifetime. Our patented software (EzID/FMM) and automated, customized measurement systems (EzVIBES) can be used to inspect a part at every step in the IBD life cycle – from design and manufacturing to repair and root cause analyses.

A business founded by the world’s expert on blade mistuning, Blade Diagnostics has been supported by SBIR/STTR awards and a Rapid Innovation Fund contract to complete the transition of its IBD inspection technologies for the U. S. Air Force. The USAF has integrated the BDC SmartBlend inspection technologies into the repair workflow at Tinker Air Force Base.

In 2014, BDC granted an exclusive license to Siemens Energy to use BDC’s health monitoring technologies for their land-based power systems worldwide.

BDC Team Members

Dan Ryan

President & CEO

With nearly 30 years of combined engineering and legal expertise, Dan Ryan leads the BDC team as President and CEO. Dan’s background in power generation compliments BDC’s world leading capabilities in turbomachinery dynamic characterization and analysis.

Jerry H. Griffin, Ph.D.

Founder & Vice President of Engineering

Blade Diagnostics' unique technologies are based on Dr. Jerry H. Griffin's 40 plus years of experience in the areas of mistuning and blade vibration. As a chaired professor of engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, Jerry’s success in this field has led to Blade Diagnostics' patented methods that identify and predict the effects of mistuning and vibration on engine blades. Jerry provides technical expertise for current projects and research and development.

Drew Feiner, Ph.D.

Founder & Vice President for Technology Development

Working with Jerry at CMU through his PhD and post-doctoral experience resulted in the Fundamental Mistuning Model and corresponding patent in 2006. Drew continues his analytical work on blade HCF management and turbine health monitoring.

Blair Echols

Director of Product Development

With extensive experience in the industry, Blair Echols brings his expertise to the development of Blade Diagnostics' unique testing abilities. BDC’s SmartBlend System relies heavily on Blair for the SBS design, development, integration and documentation.

Mike Cushman

Senior Research Engineer

Mike Cushman uses his expertise to manage BDC's IT and data management efforts for BDC customers. Mike uses BDC's patented analytical tools, FEM and CAD models for data analysis and experimental projects.

Alex Kowalski

Experimental and Analytical Testing Engineer

Alex Kowalski uses his programming skills to continue to develop and improve BDC's unique analytical tools. Alex works with the rest of the team to coordinate experiments, analyze data, and present findings.

Kate Tucker

General Manager

Kate manages business operations for BDC, including post-award support, HR, purchasing, working with accounting and legal consultants, and general office management.