Our Meet the Team series focuses on what we value most, our employees. Joseph is just one of 450 + employees that have the fire to fly.

Meet Joseph, Structures & Mechanisms Lead, Blue Ghost

What is your role at Firefly? I lead the team responsible for delivering primary and secondary structures, the mechanisms, and the landing gear, that will be used on our Blue Ghost lunar lander. My team works together to come up with the designs, perform the structural and dynamic analysis, and manufacture, assemble and test the hardware.

How did you get the gig? I worked for L-3 Technologies outside of Dallas for 3 years after graduating. I worked in Mission Integration, which was essentially Pimp My Ride but for the Air Force’s reconnaissance jets. When my wife landed a job in Austin, I decided it was a good chance to look for something new, first landing at a start-up called Hyliion, before finding this opportunity at Firefly.

What inspired you to start a career in Space? In fourth grade, I did a video report project on Robert Goddard that involved a very technical demonstration of a stomp rocket. The pneumatic pressure-fed plastic rocket soared into the sky, my gaze followed it, and I have never looked down!

What do you love about your job? Being responsible for hardware from concept to completion. At L-3, I would sit in my cube and work on drawings and sometimes never see the flight hardware in real life. At Firefly, I get to work on all phases of the design cycle, actually getting work hands on with the designs that I created in CAD and test them is very rewarding for me.

What is the most challenging thing about your job? The most challenging part of my job is also what I love about it, being responsible for hardware from concept to completion.

What are your passions outside of work? I’ve been involved with the First Robotics Competition in some capacity since High School, either as a student, mentor, or enthusiastic fan.

What message would you give to others thinking about a career in Space? The theoretical, academic knowledge will only get you so far, especially in structures and mechanisms. Knowing how to build and test hardware goes a long way in developing functional products.

Any fun fact you want to share? I am an avid spectator of Texas Roller Derby, where my wife, Asher, is part of the team.

Where did you study? Texas Tech University.