Lieutenant Commander Jillian J. Lewis is currently a Developmental Test Pilot for VX-20 at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, as a P-8A Poseidon, MQ-4C Triton, and UC-12M Huron Project Officer for the United States Navy, leading multiple engineering teams in the development and flight test of mission-critical capabilities.

LCDR Lewis holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and M.S. in Systems Engineering from Naval Postgraduate School. She is a graduate of the United States Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS), Fixed Wing Test Pilot Syllabus, and has acquired over 1,550 hours of piloting more than 26 different types of military aircraft including multi-engine maritime aircraft, fighter jets, helicopters, light civil aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and a bomber.

While enrolled at GT, she completed a cooperative program as an Operational Support engineer with Delta Air Lines and worked part-time as a research assistant at Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory (ASDL) under partnership with Naval Engineering Education Consortium (NEEC). Jillian was selected by the Mars Society to participate in intensive research studies at the Mars Desert Research Station, as the Executive Officer of the test crew, for two 2-week duration site visits.

Following college graduation, she served as a Naval Air Systems Command Fuel Systems Engineer for biofuels integration for all platforms, systems design and test of the P-8A and MQ-8C, and external fuel tanks upgrades for applicable Navy platforms. She was promoted to Deputy Program Manager for Systems Engineering for Aerial Refueling and External Fuel Tanks in 2012.

Jillian obtained a Direct Commission to Aerospace Engineering Duty Officer (Reserve) in 2011, where she served as a P-8A flight test engineer and an Aircraft Survivability Equipment subject matter expert. In 2013, she laterally transferred to active-duty student pilot and reported to Pensacola, FL, for flight training. Jillian has deployed to several theatres, to include the Middle East, Europe, South America, and Asia, to fly critical warfare missions as a P-8A Patrol Plane and Mission Commander, and lead a multi-national detachment in Hawaii, where she facilitated imperative testing, training, and reporting with multiple high-level commands. Subsequently, in 2021, she served as an Operational Test Pilot and Operations Officer, earning P-8A Functional Check Flight Pilot and Acquisition Professional Member, for VX-1. She assumed the role of Division Deputy Chief for U.S. Naval Forces Central Command at the Combined Air Operations Center until mid-2023 to which she reported to USNTPS.

She is a recipient of several military decorations to include the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, the NAVAIR Commander’s Award, and the Society of Experimental Test Pilots’ Leroy Grumman Award.

Jillian is a devoted mentor and passionate in recruiting for STEM and military careers and is looking forward to assisting you in obtaining your goals in your future endeavors.