Carla Guzzardo

About Carla Guzzardo

I have been fascinated with aerospace since the age of 7, when a family vacation took us to Marshall Space Flight Center. Standing among the workhorses of spaceflight in the Rocket Park and watching the movie \"Hail Columbia!\", I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life. Today I work for one of the most dynamic \"new space\" companies in the world. Blue Origin has a mission of millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth, and I am proud to be a part of that mission. I started as a test design engineer, conceptualizing new facilities or modifications to existing facilities that would allow us to test our rocket engines and components. In 2019, I transitioned to a role on Blue Origin\'s lunar lander, as the Lead Propulsion System Engineer for our Human Lander System Descent Element. Today I work at the vehicle level as the Requirements and Verification Lead for our first Lunar Lander vehicle. Before Blue, I worked for Lockheed Martin and Syncom Space Services at Stennis Space Center on engineering design and analysis to prepare for testing of NASA\'s rocket engines. I served as lead engineer of both the RS-25 project and the B-2 Test Stand modifications to support stage testing of NASA\'s Space Launch System. At Stennis, I served in a leadership role as supervisor of my department. I graduated with a PhD in mechanical engineering from Louisiana State University in 2012, with courses in jet and rocket propulsion, nonlinear systems control, and structural dynamics. I was honored with a fellowship from the Louisiana Space Consortium and a scholarship from the Donald W. Clayton Foundation. I hold a BS in Engineering Physics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University where my education focused on spacecraft engineering and space mission design. Before returning to graduate school, I worked as a payload technician in the Atmospheric Physics Research Lab, designing payloads for sounding rockets.

Experience

1. Aerospace Systems Engineer

   Blue Origin

   Feb 2019 — Present · Kent, WA, US

   Promoted to Senior Systems Engineer in November 2022. I\'ve worked on many projects, in many roles as a Systems Engineer at Blue- Requirements development and system integration for Blue Moon lunar lander propulsion- Contract and project management support- Research and design in Advanced Technology project- System requirements owner for propriety spacecraft development- Proposal support for government contracts- Requirements and Verification Lead for first Lunar Lander vehicle.

Education

• Scotlandville Magnet High, Baton Rouge, LA

  HS Diploma, High School for the Engineering Professions

  1991 — 1995

• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

  Bachelor of Science, Engineering Physics

  1995 — 2000

• Louisiana State University

  PhD, Mechanical Engineering

  2006 — 2012