Jeff D. Smith is a senior aerospace and defense executive with more than 40 years of experience driving innovation, digital transformation, and enterprise-scale business growth. He currently leads Business Development at the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR), where he is focused on expanding strategic partnerships, scaling recurring revenue, and accelerating the adoption of advanced digital engineering and manufacturing solutions.
Previously, Jeff served as Senior Director of Corporate Aerospace & Defense Strategy and Innovation at Dassault Systèmes, where he co-developed the Wichita State University Innovation Campus model and helped pioneer integrated digital twin environments that demonstrated up to 50% reductions in lifecycle cost and time. His leadership helped establish global 3DEXPERIENCE innovation ecosystems across industry, academia, and government.
Jeff spent 27 years at Lockheed Martin in roles spanning engineering, program leadership, and enterprise transformation, led major program execution with 100% mission success, and delivered breakthrough cost and performance improvements across national defense systems.
He is recognized for aligning strategy to execution, building high-impact partnerships, and delivering measurable value at scale.