Aidan Orchard Email & Phone Number

Denver, Co, Us

Tustin, Ca, Us

Tustin, Ca, Us

Spaceship Delta - Aero Lead• Led discipline of 10 engineers through the performance and flying qualities development for the SS Delta Spaceship. • Established and executing team strategy to support major milestones: CoDR, PDR, & CDR. • Supported transonic wind tunnel testing preparation, execution, data processing.• Developed the flying qualities compliance criteria for part 400 space-plane. • Led conceptualization and development of integrated aerodynamic model.• Led process improvement initiatives for flight clearance analysis & trajectory software. • Guided trajectory trade studies related to rocket configuration and trajectory guidance.

Tustin, Ca, Us

• Led and managed an aerodynamics team comprised of 20 skilled engineers.• Recruited, interviewed, hired 10 new engineers. Facilitated onboarding, initial training. • Championed growth and development of team, fostering goal setting, personal development.• Led process improvement initiatives for trajectory analysis software, flight clearance analysis.• Authored SOWs and managed contract work, thereby expanding team’s bandwidth.

Tustin, Ca, Us

SS Unity Interiors IPT• Collaborated with Chief Engineer to oversee and execute projects related to astronaut facing systems, including customer seats, interior cameras, and interior structure. • Led the integration and testing of structural systems within the flight vehicle, ensuring functionality and reliability. • Facilitated effective communication between various stakeholders, including suppliers, engineering, manufacturing, and operations.• Pioneered the creation of quality control processes for design and build configuration mgmt.

Tustin, Ca, Us

• Designed and implemented a robust thermal hazard monitoring and mitigation system for Spaceship Unity within mission control. • Operated the thermal console during critical powered flight testing and envelope expansion.• Established clear & effective rules of engagement for communication during testing aborts and anomalies, ensuring quick and decisive actions in critical situations. • Developed operator training programs and qualification processes to ensure team proficiency. • Contributed to flight test plans and flight readiness reviews.

Tustin, Ca, Us

• Strategically optimized the thermal protection system for SS Unity, emphasizing weight reduction while maintaining airframe safety margins. • Developed specialized software for in-depth thermal analysis and accurate airframe temperature estimation, using comprehensive 3D models and thermal physics. • Created 3D models of aerothermal heating and plume radiation heating using CFD derived convection data and empirical thermal radiation data. • Contributed to rocket ground tests by conducting radiation measurements. • Programmed 10k+ lines of code in C++ & Matlab for thermal analysis software, alongside supporting code libraries for computational surface mesh mathematics and thermal physics. • Showcased expertise by publishing methods and findings in AIAA.

Tustin, Ca, Us

• Established a streamlined process and toolchain to facilitate submission and quality control of aerodynamic CFD simulations. • Created a comprehensive aerodynamics database for SS Unity using Fun3D.

Hawthorne, California, Us

• Assisted in planning and successful execution of the Falcon Heavy buffet wind tunnel test. • Contributed to the calibration, assembly, and validation of high fidelity pressure sensors. • Developed custom frequency domain data processing code. • Conducted investigations into the aerodynamic sources of buffeting and aeroacoustics, comparing processed test data with findings from existing literature.

• Developed software for launch vehicle trajectory simulation in C and C++.

Master Of Science (Ms), Aerospace Engineering

Bachelor Of Science (B.S.), Aerospace Engineering And Mechanics