Presidio Graduate School

Stanford University

University of Rochester

• Manage a group of approximately a dozen thermal systems analysts

Maxar Technologies

Senior Manager, Thermal Analysis

• Responsible for the thermal subsystem of 8 spacecraft (most recently Jupiter 3 and PPE, the first element of NASA’s Lunar Gateway) for one of the world’s premier designers, manufacturers, and integrators of commercial and government high-power spacecraft
• Design the spacecraft thermal subsystem through a collaborative environment with other subsystems and ensure the proper flow of thermal requirements that satisfy customer contractual and Maxar internal requirements
• Direct the thermal analysis and testing activities of multiple thermal engineers, assist management with budgeting and manpower planning, and ensure schedule adherence using the Visual Management and Scrum frameworks
• Provide on-the-floor support during assembly, integration, and testing
• Define requirements for and oversee spacecraft thermal vacuum (SCTV) testing
• Support launch, orbit-raising, and on-orbit mission activities
• Deliver reports and present at customer design reviews and technical interface meetings
• Heavily involved with department management in on-boarding new hires, mentoring junior engineers, and developing department process improvements
• Project manager of R&D effort which collaborated with an international supplier to successfully characterize the performance of a new loop heat pipe technology and develop a qualification test plan under tight budget and resource constraints
• Technical expert in the qualification of new large-bore heat pipes and thermal gaskets
• Part of a small team that received a patent (No. 10263325) for a novel thermal design of a high throughput satellite feed array which is currently being implemented
• Served on numerous investigations into on-orbit failures of temperature sensors

Thermal Systems Lead

• Performed nominal and off-nominal thermal analysis of spacecraft and components for all phases (proposal, design, test, launch, and on-orbit) using radiation-dominated finite-difference thermal models via Thermal Desktop, RadCAD, and SINDA/FLUINT software
• Responsible for spacecraft health, the proper execution of thermal tests, and coordinating testing with bus and payload subsystems during SCTV testing
• Learned VBA to develop and maintain Excel-based tools for department continuous improvement projects, training, and standardization

Jonathan Dirrenberger