"Being accepted into the Purdue School of Aeronautics and Astronautics was a pivotal moment in my life. The education I received and the skills I learned provided the foundation for my successful and fulfilling career in commercial aviation. As I approach the final decade of my career, I find myself reflecting on the amazing things I have done and the amazing places I have seen, which would not have been possible without my degree from Purdue.”
Rhonda Walthall is a Technical Fellow, Enterprise Engineering, at Collins Aerospace in Charlotte, N.C., a division of United Technologies Corporation (UTC). She leads the Design for Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) Initiative for the Connected Aircraft. She is an industry recognized leader in the development of standards and best practices for PHM and Integrated Vehicle Health Management. She holds three patents.
Walthall started her career with UTC in 2003 as a Systems Integration Engineer and has held numerous positions of increasing responsibility before being promoted to Fellow in 2018.
Prior to joining UTC, Walthall worked for Northwest Airlines Technical Operations as an Engine Condition Monitoring Powerplant Engineer and for McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Company as an Engine Performance Flight Test Engineer.
Walthall is a member of the SAE International Board of Directors and a member of the Audit and Risk Committee. She is the Vice President and member of the Board of Directors of the PHM Society.
Walthall is the 2018 recipient of the SAE Rodica Baranescu Award for Technical Excellence & Leadership and the 2016 recipient of the SAE James M. Crawford Technical Standards Award for Outstanding Achievement. She has held numerous SAE leadership positions on Standards development committees and awards committees.
Walthall has authored chapters in SAE publications and in IEEE publications.
She is a member of the Purdue Industrial Advisory Council to the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in 1986. In 1993, she earned a master’s degree in Business Administration from Pepperdine University.
Class of 2020 OAE feature series: Rhonda Walthall