Chief Engineer for the Arrow 450 Configuration 2 Spacecraft Bus

Spacecraft Engineering/Consulting Services

Member of executive team reporting to the CEO – VP of EngineeringResponsible for company technical direction and product validationCompany strategy and business development decisionsCompany Acquired by Astra Space Inc. July 2021

Member of a small team chartered with identifying, vetting, and generating the architecture of future spacecraft systems.

Propulsion expert onsite in France for the development of the first-generation OneWeb system. Responsible for requirement adherence and robust design for mass production.Oversight of spacecraft partner during design and development phaseOversaw project through CDR completion and onset of hardware deliveryContinually challenged existing design and test philosophies to reduce cost while maintaining reliability for high volume production

Responsible for developing technology roadmaps for the SSL propulsion subsystem. Led an effort to identify second source hardware for use on the SSL electric propulsion subsystem, resulting in a subcontract with SNECMA of France. Point of contact for propulsion subsystem design/architecture to the SSL business development team on both commercial and government pursuits.Electric propulsion lead at SSL for Joint JPL/SSL Discovery Class mission proposal. Proposal was down selected from group of 28 and is currently active as of June 2016.

Led team of engineers in the electric propulsion products group within the bus power electronics department. Group responsibilities included delivery of all flight and development power processing units (PPUs) and ancillary power electronics of the SSL electric propulsion subsystem. Responsible for the development and qualification of the PPU-140 as part of SSL’s new high power electric propulsion subsystem.

Responsible for overall product cost, schedule, and technical aspects for the integration, test, and flight of the propulsion subsystem on four SSL spacecraft programs. Subsystem includes the propellant storage and distribution system, thruster and flow control system, thermal radiators, gimbals, structural support, and harness assemblies. Responsible for all technical interfaces with the spacecraft team including subsystem design, integration and testing as well as spacecraft level non-conformance, qualification activities and customer interactions as directed by the spacecraft team. Technical lead on an innovative DARPA program investigating green dual mode propellants.Engineer responsible for the Russian manufactured Hall Effect Thrusters at SSL. Worked closely with systems, thermal, electrical, structural, and controls engineers to integrate and test the SPT-100. Planned and coordinated Hall Effect Thruster test and qualification activities, such as plume characterization and dynamic testing, at NASA Glenn Research Center, The Aerospace Corporation, and the unit vendor EDB Fakel. Led in an effort to qualify the SPT-140 thruster and subsystem to western aerospace standards. Responsible engineer for the propellant management assembly (PMA) which delivers regulated xenon propellant to the Hall Thrusters. Sixty-four (64) Hall Thrusters and four (4) PMAs delivered for integration on sixteen SSL spacecraft.Responsible for xenon propellant loading on seven SSL spacecraft. Led propulsion engineering activities during launch base propulsion operations on campaigns with Sea launch & Ariane 5. Tasks at launch site include spacecraft performance testing and propellant loading (MMH & NTO). Technical lead on console for in orbit test activities and support on in orbit anomaly investigations.