Susan Corah
Susan Corah is an accomplished research scientist and innovation leader with more than four decades of experience in materials science, chemistry, and engineering. Based in Schenectady, New York, she currently serves as a Research Scientist at Electro Fiber Technologies, where she leads innovation efforts focused on advanced coatings and electroplating applications across industries such as aerospace, energy, and advanced manufacturing. Her work spans cutting-edge technologies including electrolyzer coatings for green hydrogen systems, thermal and environmental barrier coatings, and ceramic matrix composites, contributing to both performance and sustainability advancements.
Susan’s career began in the early 1980s and includes a significant tenure of nearly 20 years at GE Research, where she worked on a wide range of materials and aerospace-related projects while also taking on key responsibilities in environmental health and safety. Over the years, she has built deep expertise in ceramics, polymers, alloys, and sol-gel systems, as well as quality systems and laboratory design. Her career has included leadership roles in both R&D and EHS, demonstrating her versatility and commitment to safe, high-performing work environments. She holds multiple U.S. patents and has consistently contributed to innovation and operational excellence throughout her career.
Beyond her technical achievements, Susan is deeply committed to mentorship and community engagement. She is an active supporter of STEM education and has mentored young women through programs like Girls Inc., helping to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers. Known for her integrity, collaborative approach, and dedication to continuous learning, Susan brings both technical depth and a people-centered perspective to her work, leaving a lasting impact on her field and her community.
• Certified Safety Professional (lapsed)
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts- B.A.
• Elms College- B.A.
• 7 U.S. Patents
• 2023-24 Who's Who
• Bartender of the Year Award at Proctor's Theater (2023)
• American Chemical Society (active member)
• American Ceramic Society (former member)
• Council of Women for Girls through Girls Inc. of the Capital District of New York
• Volunteer Bartender at Proctor's Theater
• Group Sales Leader at Proctor's Theater
• STEM Programs Mentor for Students Ages 10 through Graduate Level
• Mentor on Council of Women for Girls through Girls Inc. of the Capital District of New York
• Developed Engineering Institute for Young Women at GE Research
• City Mission of Schenectady Support (Backpack Drive
• Christmas Shop Donations
• Summer Lunch Program)
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to hard work and establishing good relationships with the people I work with. A key component is having the right attitude and accepting the fact that you do not know everything, and that other people may be able to provide you with some inspiration or direction. You have to be able to politely accept criticism and suggestions as to a direction to move into, because that is the key to professional growth. You have to have a little bit of a hard skin. If somebody says what you're saying is totally wrong, you can't blow up at that. You have to look inside yourself and look at the data you presented clearly and concisely, and try to understand where you might have gone wrong. Or, if you haven't gone wrong and you think they're totally wrong, then you have to be able to defend your work.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've received revolves around professional growth. Early in my career at GE, when I had three little kids and my husband traveled all the time, my manager asked what I was going to do to grow that year, and I said I could barely find time to work 40 hours a week and didn't want to grow. But I've since come to understand what that means, and now I try very hard to provide growth opportunities to my direct reports, because that's the way you learn and move forward. Years later, with a different manager who just got promoted, she offered me growth opportunities at a point when my kids were older and more independent, and I had space to grow. You have to be aware of growth opportunities because it's the way we learn. Sometimes we decide we don't like what we're doing, and that's okay too. You have to take chances, and sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. I took an environmental health and safety job in my hometown in 2022, and I was there for six weeks before I realized I couldn't do it. You can't be afraid to make changes.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
You have to be prepared to have an open mind, and you have to be prepared to look at growth opportunities as a means to move forward, potentially in a different direction. What I tell my girls and graduate students is that what you first start working on when you get into business is not what you're going to be working on when you're getting ready to retire. I was working on ceramic dielectric capacitors when I was 21, and I moved in many different directions. I worked on quality management systems for a portion of my time, and I jumped ship and went to environmental health and safety because the opportunities were there. But in the long run, you have to understand what it is you really want to do and what your passion is. Your first job out of college, don't think that's the thing you're going to be doing all your life. It's not. You have to take the growth opportunities that are offered to you, and you move along and you morph into whatever. That's why mentoring is so important, because when you have really supportive mentors, they steer you in the right direction.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges right now include the work we're doing on electrolyzer coatings for green hydrogen fuel cells. The challenge there is that the U.S. market is kind of challenged right now because of the refocus on non-green direction. Our parent company in the UK is better postured for the green hydrogen work because Europe has a better infrastructure for that. From aerospace applications that have to do with governmental stuff, we're challenged by financial boundaries because of funds being tied up. I don't want to get too political, but there are things that are making things difficult right now. Materials engineering is very cyclical - if you were to chart it on a graph, you'd probably see every three years you have a high, and then it goes down, you have a low, and you've got to refocus on things. But it's just a cost of doing business, and sometimes you just have to be cognizant of that.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Integrity is the most important value to me. I was at GE for 20 years, and one of the basic traits was integrity, and if you don't have that, you don't have anything. That goes for life too. You learn pretty fast in industry that integrity is fundamental, and sometimes it's a learned thing. I worked with a young engineer who is now a very good friend, but when he first came on the scene at one of my jobs at GE, he did not consider giving credit where credit was due with regards to papers and publications. That was something he had to learn, and he had come from a different culture. To this day, if anybody works on any portion of a project of mine, they're going to get recognized. Their name goes on the paper or the PowerPoint or whatever it is. That's an integrity thing, and sometimes that's learned.