Professional Experience
Professional Experience
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In summer 2026, I worked on the most advanced rocket engine ever built. As part of the Raptor Chamber and Nozzle team at SpaceX, I worked to improve the design and manufacturing speed of Raptor's Vacuum variant, which is characterized by a larger nozzle. For most of the summer, I owned the deletion of over 60 engine piece parts to save significant manufacturing time and reduce engine mass. In about 1.5 months, I proved the feasibility with preliminary calculations, developed a laser welding process for 2 robotic laser heads (eliminating the need for an entire laser robot in the process), and proved the new and improved part strength through 3 facets of testing.
In my spare time, I qualified a new braze part and process for flight (on vehicle starting September 2026), designed (NX/ANSYS FEA) and fabricated tooling/parts to retrofit production assets, and re-activated 2 stations after a factory move. Finally, I ideated and pitched a new significant design change to save 30+ hrs of manufacturing time, delete 70+ new parts, and improve heat flow on the engine.
Besides honing my technical skills and understanding of advanced rocket propulsion, I saw first-hand how early investment in efficiency and process improvments can stack up to save huge amounts of time in the long run. I also learned about the importance of DFM, using hand calculations to validate everything first, and how to develop manufacturing processes quickly to improve rate production of a rocket engine.
In summer 2025, I was grateful to be working as a detailed propulsion designer intern in NASA's ER41 division at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), which leads the world in detailed propulsion design. I designed components (in PTC Creo) for a critical liquid oxygen/liquid methane engine system and an entire modular cubesat support system to facilitate assembly and integration processes for the foreseeable future at MSFC. On the analysis side, I performed a strength analysis on a high temperature range regeneratively-cooled nozzle and ran a gapping/fastener analysis for a cryogenic high pressure connection. Through all of this, I gained a working proficiency in CREO and improved my comfortability with applying GD&T to complex drawings! I also learned a lot about ANSYS and finite element analysis through regular coaching from my awesome coworkers!
In summer 2024, I worked as a mechanical engineering intern at Honeywell Aerospace EDS (CAES). I owned a large project from ideation through fabrication and designed numerous internal and external products, teaching me the importance of designing for cost and manufacturability. Over the course of this project I gave 5+ design review presentations (as the requirements changed) and consistently collaborated to meet the needs of electrical, RF, and test engineers.
I learned about the validation side of engineering by working with test engineers in the Product Testing Laboratory. We ran everything from small servo shaker tests to large antenna thermal cycles, comparing our results to the ANSYS simulations. One of my favorite experiences was using Python to eliminate redundant processes that were wasting extreme amounts of time between our CAD and PLM systems; improving export efficiencies by 11x.
Since the fall of 2023, I've worked as a propulsion engineer in Penn Jet Propulsion. As a sophomore, I led the team as the propulsion lead, working through all aspects of development to compete in the US Air Force's Aerospace Propulsion Outreach Program. At the 2025 competition, our team successfully achieved a variable exhaust geometry to convert between a converging or diverging nozzle based on exhaust speed, winning the Design Award. In 2023-24, our team externally converted a turbojet engine to a turboprop to achieve a 1:1 forward thrust to reverse thrust ratio (see projects page). Most importantly, this team has taught me a "learn as you go" mindset, where we strive to learn any theory or skills necessary to complete our project each year.
In summer of 2023, I learned to design PCBs at FlashPCB. I used Python to automate my board design process in Eagle/KiCAD and validated their software against production capabilities. I also evaluated multiple facets of the customer experience, developing solutions for front-end and back-end improvement.
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