McKenzie Kinzbach

About McKenzie Kinzbach

I am an engineer with experience in fast-paced aerospace and aviation environments. In other words, I have worn a lot of hats to get stuff done on orbital rockets and experimental aircraft. My experience at SpaceX focused primarily on maintenance and refurbishment of rocket engines. I worked with some of the brightest engineers in the world to troubleshoot broken engines and maintain a fleet of rockets - rockets that were launching astronauts and spacecraft on very tight schedules. I learned to prioritize reliability and safety while striving for efficiency. At Universal Hydrogen, I was a member of the Powertrain team designing, integrating, and testing our hydrogen-electric powertrain flight demonstrator. I leveraged my SpaceX flight hardware experience to ensure reliable and safe hardware integration on the aircraft, and honed my technical project management skills by managing ground and flight tests, system safety documentation, and technical communication with an array of multi-disciplinary teams. Through my work, I enabled my team to successfully and safely execute the first test flight of our experimental aircraft.As the effects of climate change have grown more severe, I have become passionate about the technical challenges surrounding sustainability. I am excited to keep building my skillset with motivated teams working on complex hardware!

Experience

1. Manager, Manufacturing Engineering

   Stoke Space

   Feb 2025 — Present · Kent, WA, US

Education

• University of Cincinnati

  Bachelor of Science (BS), Aerospace Engineering

  2014 — 2018

Skills

• Siemens Nx
• Matlab
• Public Speaking
• Microsoft Office
• Electrical Controls
• Labview
• Microsoft Sql Server
• Machining
• Data Acquisition
• Teamwork