Responsible for clean-slate design of high reliability hybrid solar/fuel cell power distribution system for human-crewed lunar lander. Provides technical leadership and project management to team of engineers to design, prototype and deliver power system hardware in fast-paced, agile environment.

Co-founded ArcFlash Labs Inc. & was first-to-market with portable electromagnetic accelerator technology for recreational & defense applications. Performs product design & development, including battery sizing & selection, high voltage DC-DC converter & capacitor bank design, linear motor design & performance modeling, control circuit design, electronic component selection, prototype assembly & transition to production.• Invented coilgun featured in blockbuster film “The Dark Knight Rises”• Invented world’s 1st fully automatic coilgun• Invented world’s 1st commercial coilgun, achieved revenue stream & 35k+ followers• Invented world’s 1st weapon-grade coilgun, design won U.S. Army XTech Search Phase I award in 2018 & led to company profit in 2021• Developed Lua-based electromagnetic simulation tool to solve circuit differential equations & integrate finite element magnetic simulations to accurately predict coilgun muzzle velocity & efficiency.

Responsible for design, development & testing of power distribution system for the Starship Human Landing System for future missions to the moon & Mars.• Performed power distribution architecture trade study, designed & analyzed 20+ architecture options. Identified optimal solution, doubling fault tolerance with no mass increase.• Owned interface between power system & 60+ motors. Self-taught basics of motor sizing & control, worked across multiple teams to create motor drive requirements database. Performed motor drive trade study, resulting in min. mass/max. reliability design for motor controller integration with vehicle systems.• Designed & built 30 kW power distribution module on tight 6 month schedule, delivered to power system hardware testbed, achieving $72M NASA milestone demo• Designed & built 14,000 amp pulsed power test rack, resulting in ability to simulate high voltage short circuit events too energetic for off-the-shelf power supplies. Test rack validated functionality of numerous hardware components through fault clearing transients.• Created detailed circuit model of thrust vectoring power distribution system to investigate concern that electrical faults would propagate between engines. Model showed ability to safely isolate faults & prevented costly redesign of Booster hardware.• Designed & conducted battery short-circuit test as ultimate validation of circuit model; test data precisely matched model predictions.• Conducted radiation testing of electronic components & exposed susceptibility in key MOSFET. Created & oversaw execution of plan to replace faulty MOSFET for future missions.• Designed circuit to protect Starship from damage from frequently malfunctioning launch pad power supplies. Performed analysis demonstrating function over full range of tolerances & pad conditions. Circuit installed on 20+ power supplies, resulting in no further instances of related vehicle damage.

Led space vehicle design for next generation satellite constellation. Translated customer requirements into DODAF-compliant vehicle functional architecture & mission CONOPS with traceability to requirements. Performed engineering trade studies to design bus meeting payload thermal, power, mechanical & reliability requirements.

Planned & executed $1M/1-year study for U.S. Gov customer exploring space vehicle design & CONOPS in new mission domain. Conducted numerous planning sessions & design reviews to influence customer desires & converge on final requirements. Led astrodynamics & hardware teams to define performance, mass & power budgets. Performed electrical power analysis, designed propulsion systems, structures & vehicle configurations integrating all hardware capabilities into 3 novel vehicle designs meeting customer requirements & opening new business area for company. Also served as team lead for 6 satellite proposals with combined $354M potential value to vital customers.

Conducted design, analysis, costing, procurement & qualification testing of monopropellant, bipropellant & solar electric propulsion systems in support of numerous flight programs & design studies. Performed propulsion trade studies & system sizing, including selection of propellants, thrusters, valves, tank sizing & tube routing. Authored propulsion specifications & interface documents, conducted peer & milestone reviews of components & entire systems. Developed comprehensive test programs meeting AFSPCMAN 91-710 v3 standards. Reviewed test data & chaired acceptance reviews for new thrusters, valves, ignitors & tanks. Designed propulsion system combining next-gen ion thruster with exotic propellant, resulting in 10x spacecraft acceleration over SOA. Served as project manager for revolutionary "green" electrolysis propulsion module, resulted in qualification & delivery of 3 propulsion modules for flight missions. Performed scientific investigation into thruster valve leak impacting 3 high-stakes flight missions, uncovered materials compatibility issues & identified corrective actions. Served as concept designer & project manager for compact hypergolic propulsion system, balanced high performance requirements with tight mass, volume & power constraints resulting extreme capability for company flagship program.

Mechanical designer for entire ESPA-class satellite from initial concept to launch, resulting in 3 vehicles on-orbit. Designed satellite structure & configured component layout, enabling huge mission capability in small package. Collaborated across engineering team & iterated design to meet evolving thermal, electrical, avionics & payload requirements. Accommodated mass & volume growth for every internal component & late addition of 4 components. Reported progress to program manager & customer on weekly cadence, authored & presented SRR, PDR, CDR & MRR materials. Created part-level & assembly drawings & procedures for entire spacecraft, iterated with technicians to ensure manufacturability. Worked with machinists & technicians to perform aluminum honeycomb panel layup & cutting on CNC router, insert potting, frame & bracket machining & match-drill operations. Performed dynamic qualification testing of representative structure. Worked with integration & test teams to perform complex mechanical assembly & verification, resolved build issues in real-time resulting in successful on-time launch, deployment & operation of three-satellite constellation. Delivered 17 additional spacecraft mechanical designs in support of numerous proposals resulting in win of 2 high-value programs.

Led team of 7 mechanical, electrical, software & GNC engineers to design, build & deliver prototype gyroscope assembly meeting aggressive cost & manufacture rate targets, resulted in internal product line flying on multiple missions. Responsible for engineering & project management for $2M IRAD; reported directly to company executives & key customers. Selected team members, conducted team meetings, provided technical direction, team building & conflict resolution. Balanced evolving & often conflicting requirements from multiple internal & external customers with cost & sched. constraints. Developed innovative design integrating high performance COTS motors & sensors into low cost, easy-to-build package. Manufactured & assembled test articles, conducted random vibration, shock & cycle testing to identify & eliminate failure points. Developed comprehensive qualification & acceptance test plans meeting NASA, DoD & internal mission assurance specifications. Delivered prototype on demanding 6 month schedule, led to product line with 24+ units launching in next 3 years.

Responsible for design & testing of two-wing solar array for GEO satellite, resulted in on-time delivery to #1 company program. Managed solar array requirements & defined verification plan meeting NASA GEVS & internal mission assurance specifications. Designed electrical & mechanical interfaces to spacecraft, authored specifications, interface drawings & contractual documents. Conducted numerous design & test data reviews with peers, program leadership & customer to ensure design compliance. Oversaw subcontractor photovoltaic laydown, performed UV fluorescence inspections & located & dispositioned various defects. Performed thermal vacuum & acoustic testing of fully assembled arrays, reviewed test data & conducted customer sell-off.

Astronautical Engineer for USAF Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite program. Managed production, testing & integration of of satellite hardware for $138M portfolio delivering command and control for President, SecDef and Warfighters. Responsible for structural, mechanical, thermal control & electric propulsion subsystems. Chaired manufacturing, acceptance test & failure reviews for propulsion components, structures & mechanisms to ensure flight worthiness of thrusters, tanks, manifolds, valves, transducers, composite structures, motorized assemblies & hinges. Conducted root cause analysis for hardware failures in manufacturing & acceptance test phases, resolved technical issues. Lead Officer for Hall thruster anomaly investigation, coordinated multiagency DoD/NASA/contractor team performing thruster ground testing & data analysis to determine root cause of in-flight thruster performance fluctuations. Authored CONOPS for safe return to full thruster power resulting in AEHF-3 reaching orbit 27 days ahead of schedule. Program office lead for Hall thruster test aboard X-37 OTV-4 mission, data resulted in design improvements for strategic thruster. Led technical evaluation of satellite hardware production proposals, identified 80,000 man hours and $18M in potential savings.

Shift Lead for 20+ member flight operations team, supervised AEHF-2 orbit transfer while reporting to top Air Force leadership. Conducted investigations to resolve in-flight satellite hardware malfunctions, determined root cause & instituted corrective actions in high schedule-pressure operational environment.

Prepared EELV acquisition reports to advise launch community’s strategic decision makers. Performed Earned Value analysis for cost reviews & maintained contract insight on mission assurance to support rocket production & launch activities.