Professional Experience

10/2005 – today

ALTA S.p.A., Pisa., Italy.

AIV & Procurement Manager (Rocket Propulsion).

Responsible of the MAIT activities related to a rocket propulsion subsystem in the Framework of the ESA (European Space Agency) program.

Flight parts procurement and manufacturing, preparation of the MAIT  documentation: assembly and test specification and procedures, integration plan, development plan, user’s manual, PHT (packaging, handling and transportation) specification and procedure, purchase specification, etc.

Programs:

·         “SLIT FEEP Cluster Assembly (FCA) for Lisa Pathfinder”, ESA contract.

·         “Development and Supply of a Field Emission Electric Propulsion (FEEP) System for Microscope”, ESA contract 15.347/01/NL/PA.

·         “Development of a low power Resistojet for small satellite”.

01/2004 – 10/2005

Stellar Solutions Aerospace Ltd., London, UK.

AIV Team Leader.

Responsible of the instrument (Tracker) assembly during the operation at INFN clean rooms. GLAST Tracker Tower is a complex particle physics detector, main component of a next generation high-energy gamma-ray observatory, part of NASA's Office of Space and Science Strategic Plan.

The work concerned the preparation of the assembly procedures, the step by step process/product verification (key and main inspection point), the management of the assembly team, the support to the qualification and acceptance environmental test in Alcatel Alenia Spazio (Roma), the support to the Program Manager. It has been managed all the technical and organizational aspects with a direct relation with the customer (NASA, Standford Linear Accellerator Center).

Main tasks:    

·       AIT activities in Clean Room class 100.000 and 10.000 according the NASA approved procedure;

·       verification of (DEA GLOBAL/I) CMM measurements reports for parts acceptance;

·       preparation of the Non Conformance Reports and participation to the team boards (NRB) for identification and implementation of process/product improvements;

·       preparation of the End Item Data Package (final documentation at delivery);

2004

ALTA S.p.A., Pisa., Italy.

Project Manager (Consultant).

“Assessment of Chemical Propulsion Systems for Interplanetary Missions” ESA contract ITT/1-4478/03/NL/CP.

01/2000 – 12/2003

Centrospazio – Consorzio Pisa Ricerche, Pisa, Italy.

Project Manager: Liquid Rocket Propulsion.

Responsible of several technical activities concerning liquid rocket propulsion, the fluidynamic of the two-phase/ cavitating flows and rotordynamic of the high power density pumps (centrifugal and axial stage) for space application. Reporting directly to the Liquid Rocket Propulsion director, the work concerned the design, the procurement (comprising the selection of the suppliers, parts and materials procurement), the achievement of the test facility and test set-up, the management of the subcontractors, the reports and documentation preparation, the planning and scheduling of the test activities in the framework of ASI (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana) and FIAT-AVIO contracts. It has been managed all the organizational and technical aspects of a small team and the presentation of the results by the customer. The work also concerned the preparation of several proposal to the national and international customers.

Main programs:

“Impianto per Prove Rotodinamiche di Turbopompe Cavitanti” RF98; ASI contratto I/C/144/00/0.

“Modelli di Cavitazione“ FAST2 program WP 3211; ASI contratto 99.0146.0000/0.

“Test Sperimentali su Airfoil” FAST2 program WP 3221; ASI contratto 99.0146.0000/0.

“Studio di Fenomeni di Cavitazione in Circuiti di Alimentazione di Razzi a Propellente Liquido” RF99; ASI contratto I/C/254/01/0.

“Studio di Fenomeni di Cavitazione in Circuiti di Alimentazione di Razzi a Propellente Liquido” RS2000; ASI contratto I/C/015/02/0.

09/1999 – 12/1999

Centrospazio – Consorzio Pisa Ricerche, Pisa.

Research Engineer.

Research Engineer, numerical analysis of cavitating flows: “Influenza della Presenza di un Lubrificante Bifase sulle Prestazioni di un Cuscinetto Idrodinamico” RF97; ASI contratto ARS/CI/98/11.

05/1998 – 07/1999

Graduate student, numerical analysis of cavitating flows in hydrodynamic bearing under Italian Space Agency contract No. ARS/CI/98/11.

Studies

July 1999

“Laurea” (5 years Degree) in Aeronautical Engineering (major in Space Engineering).

Degree Thesis: “Modello Isentalpico di Cavitazione in Cuscinetti Idrodinamici”.

Dipartimento di Ingegneria Aerospaziale - Università degli studi di Pisa.

December 2002

P.h.D. in Aerospace Engineering; Space Propulsion.

Thesis: “Theoretical and Experimental Analysis of Cavitation Phenomena in Turbopumps for Space Applications”.

Dipartimento di Ingegneria Aerospaziale - Università degli studi di Pisa.

July 2003

AIAA Professional Development Course, Liquid Propulsion Systems Evolution and Advancements, Huntsville, AL, USA”.

June 2004

DEA Course on software PcDmis (3,5 MR2). Training on CMM DEA mod. GLOBAL/I. INFN-Pisa, Italy.

Technical skills

Programming language

Fortran

Basic

OS

Linux,

Windows 9x/2k/XP, MS-DOS

Administrative and technical programs

MS Office

MS Project

MathCad

AutoCAD

I-DEAS

SmartDraw

Standards

ECSS standards

NASA GEVS-SE

Recommendation, requirements e standards for fasteners for space application (ECSS-Q-70-46A)

Languages

Italian (Mother tongue)

English (fluent)

Publications and acknowledgments

Certificate of Appreciation NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GLAST mission Project Manager, Kevin Grady).

More than 20  publications presented at international conference (mainly related to rocket propulsion)