Meet the Team!
Project Coordinator
Thomas Miller
Meet Thomas Miller, a Senior Mechanical Engineering student with a concentration in Aerospace and a minor in physics! Thomas is this year’s project coordinator. Thomas wants to become an engineer because, as a kid, the only books that interested him were about space. He wants to help bring humanity to the next frontier, the space age. What better way to do that than to be the one to help build the rocket to get us there!
Safety Officer
Lilly Perez
Meet Lilly Perez, a Senior in Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in Aerospace Engineering. With over two years of experience in aerospace systems research and industry power engineering. She has technical expertise in professional writing, industrial systems reliability, and electrical systems. As the resident safety officer, she will ensure that the team operates safely in accordance with both CSU and NASA's safety guidelines.
Propulsion & Vehicle Communications Specialist
Jack Stern
Meet Jack Stern, a Senior Mechanical Engineering student specializing in aerospace. With two years of internship experience at the United States Air Force Civilian Service as a C-5 Mechanical Systems Flight Controls Engineer, Jack brings valuable industry aerospace expertise to the team. His primary responsibilities include selecting motors that meet vehicle requirements, designing a safe and reliable motor mount, optimizing fin design, and running flight simulations to assess performance across various flight conditions.
Electrical & Payload Communications Specialist
Alex Benson
Meet Alex Benson, a Senior Electrical Engineering student concentrating in Aerospace Systems. With three internships of hands-on experience, Alex is prepared to contribute to and help guide the design of this year's payload mission. His passions lie in embedded systems, electromagnetics, and RF applications, and he is eager to continue expanding his expertise as he pursues a master's degree in Electrical Engineering.
Vehicle Team
Recovery Officer
Daniel Fisher
Meet Daniel Fisher, a Senior Mechanical Engineering student with a concentration in Aerospace. Daniel is a transfer student from Front Range Community College who believes it is a great stepping stone to gaining a full college degree. Daniel is this year's Recovery specialist who enjoys skiing and the outdoors, starting when he was 5. Daniel has wanted to be an engineer ever since joining his high school's robotics team, where he first dipped his toe into the engineering world.
Payload Integration Specialist
Connor Morgan
Meet Connor Morgan, a Senior Mechanical Engineering student with a concentration in Aerospace. Connor is a non-traditional student on our team, bringing years of real-world experience from the U.S. Army and the oil and gas industry. He serves as this year’s Payload Integration Specialist, where he is responsible for designing the interfaces that safely retain and deploy the payload. Connor is pursuing engineering because he has always been drawn to understanding complex systems and applying that knowledge to create practical solutions. His ultimate goal is to advance innovation in aerospace technology through hands-on design, testing, and integration.
Avionics Specialist
Adam Ruelas
Meet Adam, a senior in Mechanical Engineering with an aerospace concentration. Adam is the Avionics engineer for this year's rocket team, and it excited to get some experience in the aerospace field. He has lots of experience with CAD and working on both personal and school projects. Adam enjoys spending his weekends attending car shows, socializing with friends, and working on his Miata. He is someone who enjoys tinkering and learning all about how things work.
Payload Team
Components & Computer Engineer / Media Marketing
Isa Fontana
Meet Isa Fontana, a Senior Computer Engineering major with a concentration in Aerospace Systems. Isa brings real-world rocket experience from her internships at ULA where she served as a Ground Command, Control, and Communications Engineer and an Avionics Components Development Engineer, contributing to the Atlas V Starliner launch. On the USLI team, Isa focuses on payload development, specializing in embedded programming, sensor integration, and systems testing. Outside of engineering, Isa also supports the team's social media and website.
Sensor Specialists & Secondary Payload Mechanical
Tyler Shukart
Meet Tyler Shukert, a Senior Mechanical Engineering student with a strong passion for fluid and thermo-sciences. As a member of the payload team, he primarily focuses on sample collection and analysis. He hopes to use his skills in mechanical systems to bridge the gap across engineering disciplines in his future careers.
Secondary Computer & Testing Engineer
Ethan Milligan
Meet Ethan Milligan, a Senior Mechanical Engineer student with years of experience designing and building manufacturing equipment, and manufacturing industry experience. It is Ethan’s job to serve as the payload team’s Testing Engineer. To design and rapidly prototype mechanisms for the payload’s design. He also loves programming and is self-taught in C, Python, and JavaScript.
Payload Mechanical & Structural Engineer
Adrian Jimenez Ramos
Meet Adrian Jimenez Ramos, a proud first-generation student and Senior in Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in Aerospace. As this year’s Payload Mechanical and Structural Engineer, Adrian brings experience in both design and manufacturing through his role as a Mechanical Engineering Intern at a local engineering company. There, he’s worked on machining and creating detailed designs with GD&T. He has also contributed to past NASA projects. Outside of engineering, Adrian enjoys music, cinema, and fitness. He chose engineering because it combines his love for space with his drive to design and build systems that make an impact.
Payload Design Engineer
Phillip Nelson
Meet Phillip Nelson, a Senior Mechanical Engineering student with a concentration in additive manufacturing in aerospace! Phillip is this year’s payload design engineer, and he enjoys skiing, rock climbing, and mountain biking. Phillip picked engineering largely because he has had an interest in sketching and design since he was very young.
USLI Interns
Payload & Vehicle Intern
Jay Suthar
Meet Jay Suthar, a Junior in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Concentration. He is the president of Ram Rocketry, an experimental rocketry club on campus, and a feeder club into the USLI team. He coordinates the club’s project plans, manages funding and fundraising, and oversees the officer board! It is Jay’s second year with USLI, and he loves everything aerospace! He specializes in electronics bay design, payload integration and helps out wherever needed! free time, Jay likes to watch movies and play racing simulators!
Payload & Vehicle Intern
Kyle Pham
Meet Kyle Pham, a senior Computer Science student with a concentration in Software Engineering. Kyle is supporting the team as Flight Software Engineer and he enjoys baking, going to museums, and spending time with friend and family. Kyle brings in real experience from his internships at Lockheed Martin Space where he works as a Flight Software Engineer and embedded software contributing to his program.
Payload Intern
Ryan Barnes
Meet Ryan Barnes, a Mechanical Engineering student at CSU with a passion for the entire engineering process—from concept to creation. He enjoys tackling projects that challenge his skills and expand his knowledge. He enjoys all things manufacturing, including 3D printing, manual machining, and CNC operations. Barnes is driven by the opportunity to design and build innovative solutions that bring ideas to life.
Payload Intern
Ben Dorbandt
Meet Benjamin Dorbandt, a Freshman Computer Engineering student, with four years of previous experience in designing recovery and avionics systems. Ben’s primary role is to assist in the design and fabrication of the payload system. In his free time, Ben enjoys backpacking, coding, and working on cars. His ultimate goal at CSU is to earn his master's in computer engineering and work as a cybersecurity engineer.
Team Mentors
Faculty Member
Kari Cowden
Faculty Member
Dr. Marco Ciarcia
NAR Mentor
Art
Bio soon .