Embedded Files
Satellite launch from LauncherOne
2020 - Learning from Failure
2020 - Learning from Failure
On May 25, 2020, after nearly 8 years of development the LauncherOne rocket took flight for the first time... and failed five seconds after ignition. Amid the high-pressure failure investigation I was tasked to lead the material and process "tiger team" to assess the rocket engine materials that may have caused the failure. After determining the most likely root causes and addressing them, LauncherOne flew again in January 2021 and successfully delivered all of it's satellite payloads to orbit.
2020 - A Crash Course in Pulmonology Science
2020 - A Crash Course in Pulmonology Science
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic I lead the technical team at Virgin Orbit that developed a rapidly scalable ventilator in collaboration with a local group of medical advisors. Amid the rapidly diminishing ventilator supply chain in April 2020, this ventilator design was granted FDA certification just 30 days after the concept was originally proposed and 600 devices were produced under contract from the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal-OES).
Standing next to a "Gen1" ventilator prototype
Testing of an experimental rocket engine
2018 - Building a Better Rocket Engine with NASA
2018 - Building a Better Rocket Engine with NASA
In 2018 and 2019 I had an opportunity to lead a project in collaboration with NASA to apply advanced material science to build parts for a set of next-generation rocket engines.
nasa.gov: NASA and Virgin Orbit 3D Print, Test Rocket Combustion Chamber
2016 - High Powered Lasers, High Powered Problems
2016 - High Powered Lasers, High Powered Problems
Part of my role at Virgin Orbit has involved the development, operation, and troubleshooting of a pair of massive, custom-built machines that pair metal 3D printing with machining on a single platform. These machines employ high-energy IR laser systems and control software that, while extremely powerful, came with a host of technical problems that needed to be solved quickly.
During assembly of one of the most complex metal 3D printers in the world
Next to a newly installed rocket engine shortly after the test stand was built
2013 - Building a Space Base from the Ground Up
2013 - Building a Space Base from the Ground Up
One of my first roles at Virgin Orbit was to help build a rocket engine testing site starting from a bare concrete pad in the Mojave desert. I was responsible for design, build, and checkouts of the primary liquid oxygen fluid system as well as a high pressure oxygen, helium, nitrogen, and kerosene stand. I worked with a small team of engineers and technicians in an exposed environment with weather ranging from below-zero wind chills in the winter to 110+ degrees in the summer.
2012 - Flying and Maintaining a Reusable Rocket
2012 - Flying and Maintaining a Reusable Rocket
Responsible for a wide variety of systems on multiple bipropellant liquid rocket-powered flight vehicles (Xombie, Xaero-A, and Xaero-B VTVL platforms). Work included:
- Maintenance and operation of cryogenic oxidizer and fuel system for a rocket powered flight vehicle
- Root cause analysis of bipropellant igniters operating outside performance window
- Flight test ground crew
Assisting with pre-flight checkouts of a re-usable research rocket system
Tightening oxidizer plumbing prior to a BU Rocket Propulsion Group test
2012 - Graduate from Boston University
2012 - Graduate from Boston University
B.Sc. from Boston Unversity in Mechanical Engineering
BUSAT Attitude Determination & Control Lead, BU Center for Space Physics
President, BU Students for Exploration & Development of Space
Fluid Systems Lead, BU Rocket Propulsion Group
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse