University of Colorado Boulder

Test, Prototype, Facilities, and Operations Manager at Altius Space Machines, Inc.

Loft Orbital

Senior Test Engineer

Altius Space Machines - Powered by Voyager Space

Test, Prototype, and Facilities Director

Test, Prototype, Facilities, and Operations Manager

• Built a small testing facility including a 7000 lbf vibration table, multiple vacuum/TVAC chambers, HALT/HASS chamber, and Class 10,000 clean room.
• Developed testing procedures, processes, and reports for the test facility.
• Developed a LabVIEW-based rocket engine test facility control system.
• Developed and performed qualification leak, lifecycle, hydrostatic, and flow tests for in-space prototype cryogenic sealing interfaces. 
• Tested flight, engineering, and prototype hardware for external customers.
• Awarded NASA SBIR Phase II as PI for Lunar/Martian dust-tolerant robotic tool changer.
• Authored and collaborated on multiple yearly NASA SBIR Phase I/II and STTR proposals.
• Designed and performed performance tests for in-space magnetic grappling fixtures.
• Designed and performed Nd:YAG UV laser experiments converting super-critical ethylene gas to polyethylene for in-space polymer generation.
• Performed vacuum compatibility testing for a NASA asteroid boulder retrieval system.
• Designed and tested prototype low-drag hose configuration for an upper-stage gimbaled thruster.
• Designed and implemented in-vacuum torque and leak tests of cryogenic swivel seals.
• Designed, integrated, and tested a LabVIEW stepper motor control system for gimbaled thruster.
• Performed vibration and hot-fire qualification tests for gimbaled thruster.
• Designed and built hardware using rapid prototyping and 3D printing.
• Supported hydrogen peroxide rocket catalyst tests.
• Designed, built, and tested small residual air inflatable structure for CubeSat deployment.
• Performed extensive study on asteroid sample return, acquisition, and in-situ resource utilization.
• Managed small groups of interns and junior engineers.
• Upgraded facility infrastructure including, air, water, and electricity.

Lead Test Engineer

• Tutored students in calculus, geometry, algebra, physics, and general chemistry.

Freelance Math Tutor

Math Tutor

• Implemented, completed, and operated the CCLDAS dust particle accelerator facility including large portions of electrical, mechanical, and LabVIEW control systems.
• Designed and implemented a large facility vacuum system utilizing turbo-molecular, cryogenic, scroll, rotary, and dry screw vacuum pumps.
• Calibrated prototype, engineering, and flight models of LDEX (Lunar Dust EXperiment instrument on the LADEE mission) at CCLDAS and Heidelberg, Germany accelerator facilities.
• Designed and performed experiments investigating hypervelocity dust impact light flashes and the impact ionization processes.
• Hardware and software development, testing, and data analysis for laboratory versions of the Dust Trajectory Sensor (DTS), Electrostatic Lunar Dust Analyzer (ELDA), and Dust Telescope (DT) instruments for interstellar and interplanetary dust measurements.
• Developed, tested, and analyzed data for a laboratory version of the Large Area Mass Analyzer (LAMA) time-of-flight mass spectrometer instrument using Nd:YAG UV laser ablation.
• Calibrated LAMA and DT at Heidelberg, Germany accelerator facility.
• Supervised a small team of students at the CCLDAS accelerator.
• Mentored several interns and high school students.
• Proficient in LabVIEW, IDL, SolidWorks, Mathematica, MATLAB, OriginPro, and Microsoft Office products.
• ESD, machine shop, and crane certified.

University of Colorado at Boulder

Professional Research Assistant

• Detector/Calorimeter R&D for the International Linear Collider (ILC).
• Performed Silicone Photomultiplier (SiPM) studies and analysis for high energy calorimetry.
• Tested wavelength shifting fiber optics for calorimetry involving single photon counting.
• Evaluated and analyzed the performance of scintillating tiles.
• Developed a Peltier cooling system for low-temperature SiPM performance evaluations.
• Performed tests and measurements utilizing cosmic radiation and other radioactive sources.
• Utilized NIM electronics including counters, coincidence triggering, and MCAs.
• Received the Tradesman Award in Physics at CU for advanced machine shop fabrication.
• Performed tests with LabVIEW and C++ for data analysis and acquisition.

Keith Drake