OUR STUDENTS AND COMMUNITY

PORTLAND STATE AEROSPACE SOCIETY BY THE NUMBERS:

Total aerospace-related jobs: 30

Total aerospace internships: 26

Total aerospace scholarships: 21

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

JIM FOLEY (he/him)

  1. What job do you have at Blue Origin?

  • Fluids based test engineer

  1. You chose PSU because of PSAS. Why?

  • I was living in Texas and wanted to go to school in Oregon. I always wanted to live in Oregon and I figured going to school would be a good opportunity. I knew I wanted to go to engineering school, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go to PSU or OSU. I toured both schools then looked at PSU more closely and found PSAS. Once I saw the work that was happening at PSAS I knew I wanted to go to school at PSU. It seemed very active and I was interested in the projects, and accessible. The website said anyone could come and I thought “that’s more my speed, that’s the kind of people I want to work with”

  1. What have you gotten out of PSAS?

    • I worked on the helical antenna and my capstone was on the LV4 rocket. I also worked on various CAD projects for LV3 and isotank testing. I learned what it’s like to work in groups, how to problem solve, and how to talk about engineering. It’s important to be able to talk to people about the work. I learned practical skills and about the various components of rockets.

  2. How did PSAS help you get your job at Blue Origin?

    • After having multiple interviews I realized that classes would not have prepared me for those interviews at all, the projects were very important. Especially during COVID and not being able to secure an internship, the projects with PSAS are what secured me the job.

    • Just by going to the propulsion and test stand meetings and reading their papers, it helped me learn about how to do testing which helped me in my interviews. About 20-30% of my questions I asked them came from the LOX training we did for Base11. If you’re interested in something in PSAS you should go to meetings even if you don’t think you have enough time to contribute because just going can help you learn something important.

    • Learning different programs for the work we do in PSAS was helpful to learn more programs, less of a learning curve




CATIE SPIVEY

(she/her)

Major: Mechanical Engineering

  • I joined in PSAS in January 2019 and worked as Lead Mechanical Engineer for OreSat before becoming LV4 Airframe Lead for my senior capstone project. I also help with leadership tasks such as orientation and STEM outreach. I started the subgroup, We in Space as well! I will be interning this summer at United Launch Alliance as a Brooke Owens Fellow before returning to PSU for my Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering. I hope to work on launch vehicle structures after that.



JEAN-PIERRE PILLAY (he/him)

Major: B.S. Mechanical and Materials Engineering

  • Started in 2018 as part of the airframe team, then moved on to be the LV3.1 Vehicle Manager, and spent his senior year working on both the Liquid Fuel Engine Test Stand and Flight Propulsion System for LV4.

OLIVER REW

(he/him)

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliver-rew/

Degree: MS Electrical And Computer Engineering

  • I have worked with PSAS for almost 4 years and focussed on PCB, Camera Design, and Linux.

  • I am currently working as a Senior Software Engineer at Rigado in Portland.



SETH ROHRBACH (he/him)

Major: Computer Engineering with a focus in Embedded Systems

  • TSAR capstone is his major work with PSAS

  • Currently, he is an intern with Sagetech

JENNIFER JORDAN (she/her)

Major: Electrical Engineering and Mathematics

  • I built the Helmholtz Cage and did card assembly for OreSat. I did all the hardware and system design along with assembly, testing, and integration for the test stand DAQ and control.

  • I'm currently working on the Blue Ghost lunar lander at Deep Space Systems.



CORY ALLEN GILLETTE (he/him)

Major: Mathematics

  • I developed the MDO framework for our 100 km rocket, LV4, and designed the attitude control law for our CubeSat, OreSat 1, as well as performing miscellaneous calculations and writing copious documentation.

  • I am a doctoral student in the mathematics department at the University of Notre Dame.



EMILIO GIZZI (he/him)

Major: Mechanical Engineering

  • I started in Airframe but ended up working mostly on OreSat0 and the liquid propulsion system for LV4, culminating in me designing a rocket engine for the capstone.



SEAN KRIVONOGOFF (he/him)

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-krivonogoff


Degree: Double major in Supply & Logistics Management, Management and Leadership, and certificate in Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship


  • I have had the opportunity to work with PSAS for almost 3 years with a focus on the business team. I have gained experience in project management, logistics, and leadership.