Sam Wight Email & Phone Number

San Francisco, Ca, Us

San Francisco, California, Us

Technical director for our next set of four spacecraft, "Block 2". Responsibilities include:- Program management and technical point of contact for block 2 spacecraft customers- Owning spacecraft development budgets for schedule, mass, power, thermal, etc.- Technical direction of new development and upgrades systemwide on the payload and bus- Coordination of launch opportunities- Director ownership from a people and budgetary perspective for the mechanical and thermal teams, a ~16 person and growing organization

San Francisco, California, Us

Technical and people manager for mechanical and thermal teams at Astranis.- Responsible for everything you see when you look at the spacecraft; design, analysis, and a significant role in manufacturing and test- Grew a team up to 10 direct reports, mentored half a dozen interns as well as new grad hires and experienced hires- Completed design of the spacecraft mechanical and thermal systems through PDR and CDR as well as the tooling and processes required to build the qualification spacecraft- Successfully built and tested the qualification spacecraft during the height of the COVID pandemic, including travel to test sites, organization and test planning, as well as turning wrenches and applying thermal tape myself- Trained team members to become leaders of expanded and separate thermal and mechanical teams as I transitioned to a larger role

San Francisco, California, Us

Working as a manager, designer, analyst, test engineer, technician, etc. for a small start-up making a novel satellite platform. Initial mechanical and thermal architect of the MicroGEO platform from a blank slate.

Hawthorne, California, Us

- Responsible for mechanical and structural vehicle level design trades on the Mars vehicle and for updating Elon on a weekly basis- Laid out the Interplanetary Transport System as shown in the cross section below and discussed in Elon's presentation about making humans a multiplanetary species.- Designed, analyzed and assisted with construction on the very large composite cryotank we built for this program, also pictured below.- Integrating inputs from propulsion, aerodynamics, guidance, thermal and other disciplines to generate loads and requirements, and using these requirements to design and analyze composite and metallic structures and thermal protection systems

Hawthorne, California, Us

- Responsible for all structures and release mechanisms to adapt satellites to the Falcon 9 rocket or cargo in the Dragon spacecraft; coordinated more than 20 projects simultaneously. Projects ranged from interface confirmation with a purchased adapter to design, analysis and production of new structures and mechanisms- Active and avid technical personal contributor in addition to management; regularly designed, analyzed, drafted and tested metallic and composite structures and mechanisms with a variety of manufacturing techniques

Hawthorne, California, Us

- Designer and analyst for the Iridium NEXT constellation satellite dispenser from concept through flight qualification,flying 10 satellites per rocket for the most valuable non-government launch contract in history ($500M)- Founded payload accommodation group, hired all five group members and developed standard processes, schedules and deliverable products. Mentored direct reports including college graduates and an engineer twenty years my senior- Presented at design reviews both internally and to government, commercial, and foreign national customers- Supported proposal development and review; listed as a critical person on $14B NASA space station resupply proposal

Hawthorne, California, Us

- Designed the micrometeorite and orbital debris protection system for the Dragon capsule, tested at NASA White Sands hypervelocity light gas gun facility- Conceptualized, analyzed and created the Dragon external cargo rack for unpressurized payloads- Packaged avionics boxes; designed and analyzed machined and sheet metal brackets

- Researched, developed and prototyped a novel neurosurgical implant in cooperation with surgeons- Presented a formal product demonstration and marketing presentation to Stryker Instruments- Published results and applied for patent. Licensed by Allied Minds, Inc.- Publication: Limbrick et. al, “The Baric Probe […]” Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics, vol. 10, no. 6, Dec 2012

Irving, Texas, Us

- Designed hydraulic brake line systems for large mining truck product development using Pro/E- Resolved new product development and manufacturing issues in coordination with outside contractors- Conducted a serviceability audit of new product systems and presented results and suggestions

Masters Of Science, Dynamics And Mechanical Design

Bachelor Of Science (B.S.), Mechanical Engineering