Max Carrera-Newport Email & Phone Number

Los Angeles, Ca, Us

San Francisco Bay Area

Performance and simulation engineer on Vehicle Fluids team. Responsible Engineer for propellant estimation system for the Terran R launch vehicle. Owner and core developer of Reaver, our in-house C++ physics simulation team.

Long Beach, California, United States

As a Product Engineer I joining the company during its first launch campaign for the Terran-1 rocket, I juggled integrated test planning for the second mission with active launch-site support of our debut vehicle, TM-1. My roles included the following: • organizing the engine alignment campaign, ensuring we met GNC criteria for total thrust alignment at liftoff using laser-tracking and custom tooling to measure engine orientation • verifying and tracking vehicle health using automated scripts and manual sensor checkouts before/after tests • performing analysis to assess telemetry loss rates during tests to inform "watchdog" timeout redlines • organizing data reviews and contributing to post-test data analysis • wrote test plans and performed tests with input from systems REs to verify the functionality of sub-systems during the integration of the second Terran-1 rocketAfter the TM-1 campaign, my team led the effort to document lessons learned from our first launch attempt - working with team leaders to create technical documentation with a focus on practical lessons to be applied to future designs.As the company now looks ahead to our next vehicle, Terran-R, I've taken on ownership of our in-house 1D physics simulation tool (written in C++ w/ a QT user interface), used by teams across the company to perform system analyses, develop plant models for physics-in-the-loop testing, and verify automation. I've also worked to support development testing of our level sense system, and aided in creating tools to track fluid system budgets.

Stanford, Ca

As co-lead of SSI's first-ever propulsion team, led a team in the design, construction, and test of a liquid bipropellant rocket engine. A pressure-fed nitrous oxide and kerosene engine operating at~400lbf max thrust, the engine was designed to compete in the Friends of Amateur Rocketry DPF (Dollar Per Foot) competition.My contributions: • Designed and sourced the tank + manifolds for a second iteration of our 700psi MAWP propellant tanks • Developed simulation tools to more easily connect our in-house propulsion simulation tool to OpenRocket, an open-source rocket flight analysis tool, to better understand the impacts of engine trades on vehicle performance • Designed, sourced, and fabricated the ground fluid systems • Created a Python command-and-control GUI to ingest telemetry from our custom ground controller electronics • Helped stand up an initial minimum-viable-product for our ground controller software, written in C++ for a custom board using the FreeRTOS scheduler • Organized testing opportunities on-campus with school administration, developing SOPs in conjunction with the campus EHS • Served as primary operator during cold flow and hot fire testing

Stanford, Ca

As the Rockets team co-lead, I helped to plan, coordinate, and manage a five-figure budget and oversee the flagship team of Stanford University's largest hands-on engineering group. My co-lead and I helped to guide the development of (and participate in) a high-altitude liquid propulsion project and an attempt at the first ever collegiate spaceshot, using rockoon technology to break the von Kármán line. During my time as co-lead, the team roster increased from ~30 students to more than 80 active students.

Stanford University

My freshman year, I joined SSI and became a part of the Staging subteam, in charge of developing a stage separation mechanism. I designed and manufactured an electromechanical system that used a stepper motor to release. In the following quarters, I organized manufacturing and rigorous testing of the staging system, emphasizing rapid prototyping and ease of manufacturing to meet deadlines and ensure the long-term viability of our solution. After destructive testing and iterative development, we presented a viable solution that met all ground test criteria.

The Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program is a highly selective internship and mentorship program that provides extraordinary summer opportunities to current college juniors, seniors, and graduate students passionate about commercial spaceflight - through a rigorous application and interview process, 30 of 168 applicants were selected, and paired with a host company + mentor in the "new space" industry. Read more about the Fellowship using the link included.

Stennis, Mississipi

Working at Relativity's propulsion test site at Stennis Space Center, I helped to overhaul an engine test cell to prepare for the hotfire test of the Terran 1 second stage. I designed a new fluids panel to source the needed vehicle gas interfaces, specing and sourcing components. I also created a prototype design for a self-retracting test cell floor to improve test cadence and technician safety, and performed structural analysis to determine if existing infrastructure could support the testing of Relativity's next generation engine, Aeon-R.

Long Beach, California, United States

Worked part-time (10 hr/wk) while enrolled in classes to contribute to Relativity's in-house physics solver, used for analyzing the company's engine balance. The solver is a 1D-physics toolkit, similar to SINDA/FLUINT or MATLAB Simulink, written in C++.Created a visualization framework to better display steady-state solutions, implemented upwinded nodes to improve solver convergence time, and performed initial comparisons of a new surface-fit library that attempted to replace REFPROP (the industry standard for fluid property lookups) with a more performant alternative.

Long Beach, California, United States

Tackled the preparation of a WAAM 3D-printed test article for proof and hotfire campaigns.Worked on mechanical layout of fluid systems, sourced fluids hardware components, designed valve manifolds in NX, and developed and maintained integration schedule and BOM for the tank + support equipment. Working in a new factory, I helped to source contents for "integration toolkits" and worked hands-on to meet deadlines, fabricating tube assemblies to prepare for hydro-proof testing.

Stanford University

Over the course of an academic quarter, I prototyped a small-scale ion thruster design with emphasis on simple design and lack of external flow neutralizer. I iteratively developed a thruster housing in Solidworks, 3D-printed the casing using SLA machines, and developed a test set-up in a small vacuum chamber. The results of the research, while preliminary, show great promise. Read the final report below.

Redondo Beach, Ca

During my 2019 summer, I worked with the Operational Analysis department's Advanced Threat team to develop tools to analyze future military threats; this analysis supports the design requirements for new or revised Northrop Aerospace products. Through Python and MATLAB, I developed visualization tool packages for radar network laydowns in the team’s preferred simulation framework, AFSIM. The tool packages generated & plotted vertical coverage diagrams and created custom color maps of sensor coverage. These tool packages were created with usability and adaptability in mind, and included thorough documentation. I applied the tools to an existing classified lay-down, shedding light on simulation results.Additionally, I added items to my summer project list to address inefficiencies in team operation. I tasked another intern to aid me in developing a Python GUI to replace a deprecated AFSIM function, generated a script to automate a time-consuming simulation initialization process (reducing simulation start-up time from a few minutes to a few seconds), and created tools to visualize common file types outside of legacy applications. Already, my simulation initialization script has become the team's default method of launching their multi-run simulations.In the final week of my internship, I also wrote a MATLAB tool to parse & summarize the large data output of the team's many Monte Carlo runs. This tool has already been used extensively to understand the results of a large parameter-space study.

Albuquerque, New Mexico Area

Working in the Space Environment lab, I studied dynamic plasma diagnostics (with practical applications on-board small satellites and in ion propulsion) to develop a new sensor packaged in a 0.5u CubeSat formfactor. Designing in Solidworks and manufacturing with a Mini-CNC PCB maker, I iteratively prototyped a planar Langmuir-style sensor, testing in a high vacuum chamber with plasma source and LabVIEW control panel. I learned LabVIEW to create a custom control panel and automated tests, interfacing with a variety of lab tools (multi-axis rail system, DC voltage supplies, electrometers). After learning about plasma diagnostics and becoming familiar with tools available in the lab, I used a well-documented spherical Langmuir probe to characterize the plasma source. By adjusting all available controls for the Argon plasma source, I fully characterized the parameter-space of the chamber. I automated the process using LabVIEW, leaving the code behind for future characterizations. This characterization (the most thorough done on the source, and the only since installation ~10 years prior) provided the lab supervisors with a greater understanding of the range of the device for future experiments.In order to process experiment output, I familiarized myself deeply with data analysis tools in Python, creating well-commented data parsers for future use in the lab.My final work was prepared for distribution and presented by my mentor, Dr. David Cooke, at the 2018 American Geophysical Union (AGU) Conference. The poster presented is attached.

Master Of Science - Ms, Aerospace, Aeronautical And Astronautical Engineering

Coterminal degree, overlapping with final year of undergraduate program.

Bachelor'S Degree, Engineering Physics, Senior

Activities and Societies: Student Space Initiative, Intramural Sports (Volleyball, Football)Cumulative GPA: 4.030