Ben Durkee Email & Phone Number

Cape Canaveral, FL, US

Cedar Park, Texas, United States

Responsible for the mechanical assembly, integration, and test of Firefly's Blue Ghost lunar lander spacecraft.

Chandler, Arizona, United States

• Launch Vehicles Division - Minotaur Design, Integration, & Test Team
• The Minotaur DI&T team is broadly responsible for all mechanical aspects of the Minotaur launch vehicles.
• Emphasizing the streamlining of future builds while designing for multiple missions in concert.
• Performing structural, corrosion, contamination, & radiation analyses to verify vehicle flight readiness.
• Led the integration & test of many components incl. 2 Hazardous Operations at Vandenberg SFB.

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

• Airborne Multifunction Sensors Division - Mechanical Technology Team
• Conducted mech. design for radar power electronics in the Airborne Multifunction Sensors Division.
• Used NX & Xpedition to design & test Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs), test kits, & heat sinks.
• Overhauled legacy servo signal processor to maintain compatibility & thermal/structural integrity.
• Created a parametric 3D-printable wrench in NX for techs’ use on valves, eliminating valve breakage.
• Found & diagnosed an Ethylene-Glycol Water (EGW) leak shortly before product delivery to customer, potentially saving the program tens of thousands of dollars in damage assessment & correction.

Riverdale, Maryland, United States

• Performed regression tests on proprietary software for NOAA’s second Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS).
• Learned Perl and wrote custom orbit prediction scripts for use in Orbit Operations and Mission Management.
• Used Visual Basic for Applications to update and create Excel macros for use with JPSS Backorbit Calculator.
• Communicated firsthand with customers to patch and improve satellite software items in Ops-like environment.

Houston, Texas, United States

• Designed and manufactured a coring drill bit and stabilizing jig for use on the lunar surface with NASA’s upcoming Artemis Program under the guidance of Dr. Steven Collicott.
• Worked with retired astronauts and NASA liaisons to iterate assembly and deliver design reviews.
• Gave presentations to elementary and middle school students to inspire interest in the aerospace world.

West Lafayette, Indiana, United States

• Headed the design reiteration and improvement phase of high-end L-Class rocket (5,000 N·s total impulse) with teammates for launch from Purdue Orbital’s innovative balloon rocket platform (Rockoon) system.
• Guided team members through personal rocket construction and High Power Rocketry Certification.
• Coordinated and delivered design reviews to keep teammates and shareholders up to date with progress.

Lafayette, Indiana Area

• Used OpenRocket and SolidWorks to design the aforementioned L-Class rocket with the team.
• Manufactured design using 5-axis CNC, Water Jet, resin 3D printing, and more engineering tech.
• Built custom vacuum chamber capable of sustaining -29.7 inHg for ignition & electronics testing.
• Secured $6,500 Student Organization Grant Allocation (SOGA) Grant for Rockoon research & development.

West Lafayette, Indiana, United States

• Applied teamwork and leadership skills to guide bass line and inspire camaraderie.
• Coordinated with band directors and fellow SLs to navigate the season in uncertain pandemic circumstances.

Hanksville, Utah, United States

• Lived on-site with five other Purdue researchers for two weeks in the Utah desert at simulation Mars Habitat.
• Built 437-MHz Yagi antenna from scratch and surveyed geography around Habitat for signals research.
• Performed signals analysis research on periodic EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity) expeditions.
• Created programs in Python & Ruby to parse signal-to-noise ratio data and create a heatmap of values.
• Assisted crewmates with research projects, including geophone seismic response collection, human factors analysis, and observation of solar phenomena.
• Documented and photographed entire mission to keep records and inform Capcom of the goings-on.

Albuquerque, New Mexico Area

• Designed and analyzed warhead components and ordnance for the United States Air Force and the Department of Defense
• Used SolidWorks to model complex components and to verify design drawings, gaining upwards of 250 hours of hands-on experience in SolidWorks
• Used hand calculations and SolidWorks Analysis to perform structural analysis on joints and bolt interfaces
• Configured and administered SolidWorks Product Data Management network for entire office to increase efficiency and productivity
• Communicated with material suppliers and manufacturing shops to verify information and certify proper production
• Worked in lab to create prototypes of parts for demonstration and analysis

1963, 9415 Lorton Market St, Lorton, VA 22079

• Taught important life skills through the vehicle of martial arts to over 200 students (Age 5-18).
• Achieved Tae Kwon Do 4th Degree Black Belt.
• Honed teamwork, leadership, and peer mediation skills to create the best environment for students to learn.
• Mastered Tae Kwon Do forms and techniques to teach them to students.

Master Of Science - Ms, Space Studies

Concentrating in Space Engineering while pursuing a multidisciplinary understanding of the space domain. Coursework includes: • Space.

Bachelor Of Science - Bs, Aerospace, Aeronautical And Astronautical Engineering