Stephen Samples Email & Phone Number

El Segundo, California, United States

Subject Matter Expert (SME) on Electric Propulsion and RF breakdown/Multipactor. I consult and perform R&D in a few areas:- Electric thruster (Hall-Effect, Ion, etc) development and characterization- Plasma diagnostics - RF Breakdown and Multipactor analysis, testing, and mitigation

El Segundo, California, United States

Greater Los Angeles Area

• I obtained my PhD in the UCLA Plasma and Space Propulsion Laboratory. My research focus was on the technical development of MiXI, a miniature DC ion thruster, as part of an NSTRF Fellowship. This work included:
• Design, simulation, manufacture, characterization, and analysis of plasma devices
• Plasma diagnostics including Langmuir, Faraday, ExB, and emissive probing
• Thermal, stress, and electromagnetic computational simulations of plasma devices including ion thrusters, micro-hollow cathodes, and split-ring resonators
• Technical mentorship to a team of undergraduates (UCLA BruinSpace's Project Rapid) working on electric propulsion devices including a CubeSat MiXI demonstrator, ion thruster digital control interface unit (DCIU), power.
• Miniature plasma sources for non-intrusive diagnostics development, including optical emission spectroscopy and laser absorption

Los Angeles, California, United States

• I assisted teaching MAE161B "Intro to Spacecraft Technology" as a Teaching Assistant (TA) in Winter 2017, and fully oversaw the course as a Course Administrator in Summer 2020.
• As TA, wrote and graded homework and exams, and held a weekly lecture/discussion session and office hours.
• As Administrator, performed all instructor course duties including preparing and grading homework and exams, interacting with students, preparing and giving virtual lectures, and holding office hours.

Pasadena, California, United States

• Analytical lifetime modeling of hollow cathodes in support of ASTRAEUS mini Hall Effect thruster development
• Investigated heaterless hollow cathodes through internal Langmuir probing and FastCam observations

Cleveland, Ohio, United States

• Participated in NEXT-C power rack integration and testing
• Developed calibration rig for inverted pendulum thrust stands
• Observed NEXT-C S/N 1 qualification vibration testing in Dec. 2018

Centennial, CO

• Designed and optimized mission trajectories from Liftoff to End of Mission
• Used in-house tools to calculate RF link margin over critical phases of flight, modifying the mission antenna sequence to ensure compliance with coverage requirements
• Participated in CubeSat Rideshare project, working towards inclusion of free STEM CubeSat slots on every Atlas mission through auxiliary payload integration cycle time reduction (http://www.ulalaunch.com/cubesats.aspx)

Huntsville, Alabama Area

- Designed iodine propellant feed system for a 200 W hall thruster using Proportional Flow Control Valves (PFCVs) as part of iSat program - Utilized NASA's Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program (GFSSP) to create architecture for analysis and simulation of system performance - Developed and built test setup for characterization of PFCV for simulation.

Auburn, AL

- Assisted Dr. Majdalani by performing parametric ANSYS CFD investigations into the effect of non-dimensional parameters (flow swirl, Reynolds number, etc) on the flowfield of bidirectional vortex rocket engines. - Visualized analytical and computational flowfield solutions through MATLAB scripting of visualization software.

Centennial, CO

• Coordinated with suppliers for component testing and failure investigations
• Organized meetings and communications to update supplier Statements of Work

Centennial, CO

• Supported patent and business development efforts, from financial and technical perspectives
• Performed technical feasibility analyses on future technology projects

Decatur, Alabama

• Supported floor production through planning standardization
• Provided stress analyses for hardware damages

Doctor Of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Master Of Science - Ms

Bachelor’S Degree