Team Leads
Project Lead
Thor Knutson
Meet Thor Knutson, a Senior Mechanical Engineering student with a concentration in Aerospace! Thor is this year’s project lead and enjoys reading, playing with his dog, and backpacking. Thor wants to become an engineer because he loves seeing the science behind how complex things work and being able to use that to create new things. He joined RLI to get experience in aerospace projects and also to be part of a new team that is working to establish a legacy in CSU engineering.
Program Manager
Claryssa Dunigan
Meet Claryssa Dunigan, a Senior Mechanical Engineering student with a concentration in Aerospace! Claryssa is this year’s program manager and enjoys hiking, running, finding new places to eat, and watching movies. Claryssa wants to become an engineer because she always had fun taking things apart and learning how things worked. She joined RLI to be a part of a new team here at CSU and get the opportunity to work on a project in aerospace she is interested in.
Safety Officer
Anna Stamus
Meet Anna Stamus, a Senior Mechanical Engineering student with a concentration in Aerospace! Anna is this year’s Safety Officer and enjoys yarn crafts and traveling. When asked why she wants to become an engineer, Anna said “While on the robotics team in high school, I realized my love for engineering and math. This, along with my admiration for aerospace, led me to RLI , which is a great opportunity to do something cool and get some experience working on something I am passionate about.
Vehicle Team Lead
Brandyn Garcia
Meet Brandyn Garcia, a Senior Mechanical Engineering student with a concentration in Aerospace! Brandyn is this year’s vehicle team lead and enjoys going on hikes with his partner and dogs, hunting, paddle boarding, watching the Denver Broncos, and going to breweries. Brandyn wants to become an engineer because he has always been mechanically inclined since he was little. Being able to understand how the world around him works from a mechanical standpoint is one of the reasons he pursued mechanical engineering. He joined the RLI team because it gives him a great opportunity to work on a multi-stage collaborative project with other equally motivated engineers. The project encapsulates some of his interests within mechanical and aerospace engineering so it was a no brainer for him to join the team.
Payload Team Lead
Leanne Lightsey
Meet Leanne Lightsey, a Senior Mechanical Engineering student with a concentration in Aerospace! Leanne is this year’s Payload Team Lead and enjoys running, reading, creating robots. When asked why she wants to become an engineer, Leanne said “I love the engineering design process! I love brainstorming with other people and being creative with designs. I joined RLI to build something new and innovative against other universities.”
Vehicle Team
Propulsion and Aerodynamics Specialist
Jack Garman
Meet Jack Garman, a Senior Mechanical Engineering student! Jack is a member of this year’s Vehicle Team as the Propulsion Specialist and enjoys climbing, skiing, and hiking. When asked why he wants to become an engineer, Jack said “Watching the dual booster landing from super heavy made me want to do aerospace engineering.”
Recovery Officer
Chelsey Kahanu
Meet Chelsey Kahanu, a Senior Mechanical Engineering student! Chelsey is this year’s recovery officer and enjoys finding peace and adventure in the mountains, whether she’s hiking, camping, or simply soaking in the views. Climbing 58 of Colorado’s 14ers and several 13ers has been one of the most rewarding experiences in her life. It’s harder to find the time for mountain escapes with the demands of engineering school, but she still makes space for trail running and cycling around Fort Collins to stay active and enjoy the outdoors. Chelsey wants to become an engineer because she “Enjoys the challenge of solving problems using critical thinking skills. It’s fun to build (and break) things. There are a lot of skills you learn as an engineer that can help you not just in your career, but in life. And I like the diverse range of career options that you can have as an engineer. I’ve been eager to get more engineering experience outside the classroom, so when the opportunity to be a part of the Ram Launch Initiative presented itself, I absolutely took advantage. I am fascinated with all the innovative ideas that are being developed in the aerospace industry, and to be able to play a role in designing, testing, and building a high-powered rocket has been a lot of fun and a great learning experience. It’s also kind of cool being a rocket scientist."
Payload Integration and Structure Specialist
Cole Hurley
Meet Cole Hurley, a Senior Mechanical Engineering student with a concentration in Aerospace! Cole is this year’s vehicle/payload integration specialist and enjoys almost any athletic activity - he especially enjoys playing basketball and exploring bike trails with friends! . Cole wants to become an engineer because he has always been interested in solving difficult problems, working with others, and contributing to the development and safety of new technologies for society. He especially likes to think about the possibilities of space exploration. He thinks it would be awesome to work on innovations that could help humanity better explore our universe! He feel that the Ram Launch Initiative provides an important step for aspiring aerospace engineers as it helps interested students explore subjects that are relevant to space and aircraft design.
Vehicle Avionics Specialist
Liam Gilloon
Meet Liam Gilloon, a Senior Electrical Engineering student! Liam is the Avionics Specialist and enjoys computers, cars, motorcycles, and powerlifting. When asked why he wants to become an engineer, Liam said “I’ve had an interest in how things work since a young age and that combined with my interest in math, as well as STEM in general, made me want to pursue an engineering degree. My general interest for aerospace and my experience with electronic components, made being the avionics specialist for the Ram Launch Initiative of great interest to me.”
Payload Team
Hardware/Vehicle Integration Specialist
Charlie Linsenmeyer
Meet Charlie Linsenmeyer, a Senior Mechanical Engineering student with a concentration in Aerospace! Charlie is this year’s payload mechanical integration lead and enjoys fly-fishing, skiing, banjo, guitar, drawing. Charlie wants to become an engineer because he enjoys making things and taking things apart, RLI is a good outlook for creativity while doing a cool project.
Transmission and Software Specialist
Zac Foster
Meet Zac Foster, a Senior Computer Engineering student with a minor in mathematics! Zac is a member of this year’s Payload Team and enjoys being the Treasurer of Delta Tau Delta Epsilon Omicron Chapter. When asked why he wants to become an engineer, Zac said “I liked to take things apart, see how they work, break them, put them back together, and then fixing them.”
Payload Electronics Specialist
Steven Davis
Meet Steven Davis, a Senior Mechanical Engineering student with a concentration in Aerospace! Steven is this year’s electronics lead and enjoys building computers, games, and rock climbing. Steven wants to become an engineer because he has had a long curiosity with how things work. He likes working with his hands and has worked a little in the field before coming to CSU and pursuing a degree. He joined RLI because he has had a long interest in rocketry and wants to get into propulsion systems as a career.
Team Interns
Vehicle Intern
Joe Santos
Meet Joe Santos, a Junior Mechanical Engineering student! Joe is a member of the Vehicle Team this year and enjoys being outdoors/most activities that are outside. When asked why he wants to become an engineer, Joe said “I took classes that interested me in education and kept going, which led me to this major. I joined the Ram Launch Initiative because I want to pursue aerospace after graduation.”
Vehicle Intern
Michael Langston
Meet Michael Langston, a Junior Mechanical Engineering student with a concentration in Aerospace! He is a non-traditional student on our team and likes to emphasize that age does not determine success. Michael is this year’s propulsion intern and is very passionate about cooking; he’s been a professional cook for a little over 15 years. Michael wants to become an engineer because he picked engineering largely because he’s been taking things apart to figure out how they work since he could hold a screwdriver. But he also grew up with engineers, so that definitely influenced his choices as well. “Who doesn’t like rockets?!? There’s a team that gets to go show NASA how cool our rocket is?? Sign me up.”
Vehicle Intern
Daniel Fisher
Meet Daniel Fisher, a Junior Mechanical Engineering student! Daniel is a member of the USLI Team as an undergraduate intern this year and enjoys skiing, playing board games, and 3D design. Daniel wants to be an engineer because his high school had a great robotics team and he enjoyed working in a team to design and build something.
Payload Intern
Ian Leary
Meet Ian Leary, a Sophomore Mechanical Engineering student with a minor in mathematics! Joe is a member of the Payload Team this year and enjoys being the project manager for the Ram Rocketry club. Joe wants to be an engineer because he has always loved building stuff.
Payload Intern
Eric Rhoades
Meet Eric Rhoades, a Junior Mechanical Engineering student with a concentration in aerospace! Eric is a member of the USLI Team as an undergraduate intern this year on the transmission and programming team and enjoys backpacking, sound design, and photography. Eric wants to be an engineer because he loves understanding how things work and being able to turn that knowledge into something new. RLI is a place for him to express that.
Payload Intern
Jay Suthar
Meet Jay Suthar, a Sophomore Mechanical Engineering student with a concentration in aerospace! Jay is the Electronics Bay Specialist this year and enjoys watching movies, talking to people, playing sports, and watching Formula 1! When asked why he wants to become an engineer, Jay said, “The falcon heavy dual booster landing back in 2018 got me hooked into rocketry and engineering. I was a part of Ram Rocketry, and serve as their Vice President now. Initially starting out as a social media officer, I found out that CSU was doing USLI their first year, and thought of being a part when I was a sophomore.”
Payload Intern
Thomas Miller
Meet Thomas Miller, a Mechanical Engineering student with a concentration in aerospace and a minor in physics! Thomas is a member of the Payload Team this year and enjoys playing spikeball in his free time. Thomas wants to be an engineer because he has always loved space and the best way to get there is with a rocket.
Payload Intern
Max Silva
Meet Max Silva, a Mechanical Engineering student! Max is this year’s data recorder and enjoys riding his motorcycle and snowboarding. Max wants to become an engineer because he loved figuring out how things work. He joined RLI to gain experience with rockets and their components. His goal is to pursue a career in aerospace once he graduates.
Team Mentors
Faculty Member
Kari Cowden
Faculty Member
Dr. Marco Ciarcia
NAR Mentor
George Barnes IV
George has been flying rockets for over 30 years, from water rockets to N motors and everything in between. In 2023 he received Tripoli’s “Million Feet Award” for cumulative altitude flown.
George has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University. He manages a multimillion dollar diamond turning facility which fabricates ultra-precision optical molds.