Philip Cathell, MEM, PMP

Experience

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  Morris & Ritchie Associates, Inc. and Geo-Technology Associates, Inc.

  May 2007 - Aug 2007

  Construction, Oberservation, and Testing Intern

  Construction Observation and Testing; Soil and Concrete.

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  Northrop Grumman Corporation

  May 2008 - Aug 2008

  Mechanical Engineering Intern

  Flight qualification testing of sounding rocket payloads. Qualifications involved dynamic balancing, vibration tests, deployment tests, and measuring mass/inertial properties of components and fully integrated payloads.Completed several SolidWorks part drawings and designs to aid equipment upgrades and maintenance, including: axles and related structures, moment of inertia calibration weights, and mass properties table motor assemblies.Performed stress analysis on hardware to determine a rated load capacity, and led redesigns of hardware when creating parts and material selection. Show less

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  Virginia Tech

  Jan 2009 - May 2010

  Undergraduate Student Researcher

  Working in the EXTREME Laboratory, mapping heat flux distribution for high temperature and structural strength testing.

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  Northrop Grumman Corporation

  May 2009 - Aug 2010

  Mechanical Engineering Intern

  , NASA Sounding Rocket Operations Contract (NSROC), Wallops Flight Facility (22 weeks, Summers 2009 and 2010)Investigated soak time and temperature effects on tensile strength of Aluminum 6061-T6 members due to heating during flight.Analyzed experiment requirements and designed components for experimental payloads on sounding rocket missions.Used SolidWorks software to calculate payload mass properties, and to design ballast, experiment and telemetry component assemblies to address the unique requirements of each mission.Performed structural analysis on each design using NASTRAN computer analysis and hand calculations.Acted as payload mechanical engineer for two sounding rocket missions and provided oversight for each design throughout the sounding rocket lifecycle, which included drafting, fabrication, and integration. Show less

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  University of Delaware

  Aug 2010 - Dec 2010

  Graduate Research Assistant

  Center of Composite MaterialsUpdated and validated a thermal conductivity test cell for composite material samples.Validated analytical and explicit computer models with the test cell.

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  Orbital Sciences Corporation

  Jan 2011 - Nov 2012

  Associate Mechanical Engineer

  NASA Sounding Rocket Operations Contract II (NSROC-II)Provided oversight for over 12 sounding rocket missions throughout the sounding rocket lifecycle, which included design and analysis of sounding rocket mechanical structure and systems, drafting, manufacturing, payload integration, testing, and field & launch operations.Participated in the interface design, analysis, and testing of vehicle platforms to be used for sounding rockets.Managed the shutter door system including system integration & performance oversight, redesign efforts, maintenance duties, and managed resource allocations. Show less

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  Northrop Grumman

  Nov 2012 - Feb 2021

  Mechanical Engineering Manager

  NASA Sounding Rocket Operations Contract II & III (NSROC II & III)Lead of Mechanical Systems: Mechanical Engineering, Environmental Testing, and Launcher Systems.Leading Mechanical Engineering in design, conceptual projects, payload reviews, and process improvement for sounding rocket missions. Directing Launcher System and the Environmental Testing Crews in GFE/facility maintenance, including surveys of rail rocket launchers, capability enhancement, remote range operations, and flight hardware integration & acceptance or qualification testing. Provided technical oversight on over 165 Sounding Rocket Missions.Assessed work loads and mission schedules in assigning personnel related to sounding rocket missions, technology upgrades, and research projects.Developed and implemented Model Based Enterprise (MBE) and Model Based Definition (MBD) processes to increase program efficiency.Leading personnel in active participation to meet program and project requirements for design, documentation, and integration of flight hardware, ground support equipment, and prototype designs.In 2014, began management of the Lesson's Learned Database for the NASA Sounding Rocket Program, cataloging and tracking best practices and learned knowledge points from throughout project & mission life-cycles for operations, engineering, and production. Also responsible for lesson's from anomaly investigations, nonconformances, and other sources.Supervisor duties include weekly status reports, budget proposals and fulfillment, new development project management, change/non-conformance/corrective action report tracking, enabling personnel technical training, selecting and training new hires, and annual performance review and goal setting processes. Responsible for hiring and managing 2-4 interns each year.Continued oversight on the Shutter Doors.Orbital Sciences Became Orbital ATK on 2/10/2015, which became Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems on 6/7/18. Show less

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  Peraton

  Feb 2021 - now

  Mechanical Engineering Manager

  NASA Sounding Rocket Operations Contract (NSROC III & IV)Lead of Mechanical Systems: Mechanical Engineering, Environmental Testing, and Launcher Systems. Helping the program navigate through customer driven changes; project managers are now civil servants, leaving engineers, system engineers, and people managers on the contract side.Served as Panel Chair for various milestone meetings including Subsystem Design Reviews, Payload Design Reviews, and Mission Readiness Reviews. My portion of Northrop Grumman Became Peraton on 2/1/2021. Over 14 years of continuity. Show less