Employment Experience — Aerospace and Defense Industry
Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, Iowa: 1996 – present
Principal Program Manager, Precision Weapons, 2013 – present
Responsible for the NavStorm+ product line of GPS receivers.
Principal Marketing Manager, Asia-Pacific, 2011 – 2013
Responsible for marketing analysis of all Rockwell Collins communications and navigation products in the Asia-Pacific market.
Technical Project Manager, Communication Applications Engineering
Responsible for leading bid, proposal, and demonstration activities for the International Software Defined Radio (ISDR) product line.
Senior Engineering Manager, Communication Applications Engineering
Organized and managed a group of systems engineers responsible for executing all ISDR programs.
Principal Systems Engineer, Advanced Technology Center
Responsible for leading Research & Development activities in areas as diverse as software safety and power aware computing.
Manager, Engineering Applications Development, Information Technology
Manager of three teams responsible for the Product Data Management (PDM) and Component Supplier Management (CSM) software applications. Led group of 35 people and managed multi-million dollar budgets.
Business Relationship Manager to Engineering, Information Technology
Primary liaison between IT and Engineering. Responsible for documenting engineering needs and translating them into IT requirements. Worked directly with Vice President and Chief Engineer.
Senior Systems Engineer, Engineering Information Systems
Responsible for new business development activities in support of expert systems software applications.
Boeing Space Systems Division, Seal Beach and Downey, California: 1988 – 1996
(Formerly Rockwell International’s Space Systems Division)
Senior Systems Engineer
Responsible for performing spacecraft systems engineering duties for approximately one dozen spacecraft teams from the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites to the International Space Station. Proposed and secured funding for independent research from NASA and the U.S. Air Force involving national and international collaborators. Expertise in environmental effects on spacecraft systems, including radiation effects and spacecraft charging.
Program Manager, NASA LaRC Task Order Agreement Contract
Managed multi-million dollar contract between Boeing and the NASA Langley Research Center responsible for approximately 25 individual awards over the period of performance. Oversaw technical execution and ensured adherence to cost and schedule requirements.
Program Manager, Internal Research and Development
Managed internal research and development efforts in advanced topics, from thermal protection system design to computational fluid dynamics.
Employment Experience—Teaching
Significant Collegiate Level Teaching Experience
College level instructor for a diverse group of technical courses, from introductory science classes for liberal arts majors to graduate level spacecraft design courses for aerospace engineering majors.
- Coe College, Astronomy, 2003 – 2005
- University of Iowa, Electrical and Computer Engineering, 2002
- Cornell College, Computer Science, 1999
- University of Iowa, Physics and Astronomy, 1998
- University of Southern California, Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering, 1994 – 1996
- Woodbury University, Science, 1992
- California State University Long Beach, Physics and Astronomy, 1989 – 1991
Instructor for Professional Development Courses
Instructor for several professional development courses which have been offered internationally since 1992. Many courses are sponsored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE), and several private companies.
Significant Achievements
- AIAA James A. Van Allen award, 2008
- Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
- Associate Editor of the AIAA Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, 1995 – 2001
- Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
- National Science Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowship (Declined)
- NASA Graduate Student Researchers Award Fellowship
- Engineer of the Year Finalist for Rockwell International’s Space Systems Division, 1995
Education
Ph.D., Physics, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
Dissertation research involved a space flight experiment designed and built at the University of Iowa investigating the interactions between a spacecraft and its orbital environment.
M.S., Physics, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
B.S., Physics; B.S., Mathematics, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas
Publications
List of Publications (pdf)