Hey, I’m Dakota. I’m a young aerospace engineer launching my career in the space industry. Throughout my life, I've often gazed into the night sky, knowing that I wanted to be a part of mankind’s inevitable march to the stars. To this end, I have devoted the previous chapter of my life to developing the skills and knowledge essential to being an engineer, with a particular emphasis on the ever-relevant fields of propulsion and controls. Through my academics, personal projects, internships, and leadership in the University at Buffalo Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, I have gained invaluable experience in the development and testing of various propulsion and control systems, as well as collaborating with diverse teams to achieve common goals. This multifaceted approach has not only enhanced my technical proficiency, but has also developed my communication, problem-solving, and leadership skills. Hopefully, all of this work has set me up to one day become a leader in my field.

Looking back on all the hardships I've faced and overcome on my journey thus far, I'm unbelievably thankful for all the science educators, teachers, professors, and colleagues that put me on this path and helped me out along the way. I had the great privilege of listening to speakers at the 2019 and 2021 Spaceport America Cups, many of whom touched on the coming new age of exploration. As I've listened over the years, it has become increasingly apparent to me that there has never been a better time to get involved in the space industry. I very much intend to do just that.

My most recent experience was as an associate engineer on the propulsion team at Astranis. An internet satellite manufacturer and operator based in... San Francisco? Awesome location in a historic building, in one of the most beautiful cities in the country, this was by far the most developed start-up I've worked for. This internship introduced me to a lot, especially organizational software and processes. Highlights:

• Designed and fabricated welding fixtures.
• Designed components and passed them through PLM system approvals and reviews.
• Collaborated with the welding team to write new welding procedures in ION manufacturing software.
• Investigated the severity of several thermodynamic effects in a satellite propulsion system.
• Investigated the feasibility of alternative pressure sensing techniques.

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My entrance into the space industry was as a propulsion intern at ispace US. A lunar transportation and exploration company based in Denver. I met a ton of great people here and it was so strange and cool to see some of them in a mission control room for a lunar landing, live on YouTube. This internship saw me flex my mechatronics and thermodynamics muscles. Highlights:

• Led the implementation and testing of a preliminary bang-bang pressurant control scheme.
• Investigated thermodynamic interactions between pressurant and propellant in a spacecraft propulsion system.
• Assembled and partially fabricated a preliminary pressurant system test stand.
• Co-authored preliminary pressurant system testing procedures.

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My first internship was at Smart Walls Construction in Buffalo. As my introduction to the start-up world, my year there saw me wear many hats, with a wide range of interesting problems to solve. Highlights:

• Developed equation based, algorithm driven 3D models for rapid product development.
• Designed reusable, reconfigurable molds for concrete panels.
• Designed mechanical and structural components for 3D printing.

And a lot of other cool stuff.

To me, to be an engineer is to be a problem solver. If at any time I don't know how to solve a given problem, at the very least I know how to learn more about the problem until I can solve it.

This is why I really appreciate any opportunity to broaden my horizons, and nothing was quite as comprehensive as my undergraduate and graduate coursework at the University at Buffalo, which exposed me to topics in:

Outside of class, my work with UB Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (UB SEDS) provided me countless opportunities to put my knowledge into practice. Each year we worked to research and develop a sounding rocket for competition at the annual Spaceport America Cup. For a full description of everything I did as a team member and eventually propulsion hardware lead, check out this page.

I don't know how this seed was planted in my brain, but I infinitely prefer making something myself at four times the cost than just buying it at retail price. Gizmos, doodads, furniture, lamps and lights, if I see it somewhere and I think to myself "how the hell does that work?" I'm liable to make a weekend project out of it.

I think I really just enjoy learning new things, and not even necessarily going into the same depth that many of my academic and more professional projects often do. Regardless, I put a ton of thought into all of these projects and I like to think the mental exercise keeps me sharp.

For detailed write ups about any of my projects, check out my projects dashboard page and click any of the links from there.