Meet The Team

David has 22 years of working at Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA) and combined over 40 years of experience with expertise in Applied Research, New Concept Development, Project Management, Mechanical Engineering, Design, and Fabrication.

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• Program Manager for Electrical Systems Engineering Services (ESES).

• Played an integral role in mechanical engineering and the mechanical design of Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) COMM (S-Band) and NAV (GPS) antennas.

• Task Manager and Lead Mechanical Engineer, involved in the mechanical engineering and design for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) High Gain Antenna.

• Additional contributions include Soil Moisture Active-Passive (SMAP), SIRCE, and Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM).

• Managed engineers and design teams James Web Space Telescope (JWST/ISIM).

• Managed Ground Support Equipment and supported crew trainers for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).

• Managed transition of Mechanical Systems Engineering Services (MSES) contract

• Deputy Program Manager and Configuration Manager at NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration)

Vincent Della Rocca has expertise with Start-up and early-stage companies, for 20 years as an investor, board member, CFO, advisor, and partner with CEOs, executives, and solopreneurs to grow their personal and professional market. Vincent’s background also includes 8 years of investment banking experience in NY, Chicago, and Tampa; co-founder of a Florida-only homeowners insurance company; and over 5 years of real estate/development experience.

Mark Kettles has built a foundation of expertise in technical operations, business operations, projects, and program management over 15+ years of working in a large-scale corporate setting. In parallel, he has served the aerospace community on advisory boards, innovative specialty research, and development teams, and deep space human exploration projects, and continues to support overarching industry organizations with administrative efforts. Mark’s background also includes 10+ years of various equipment operations, technical operations coordination, and diplomatic collaboration in the live television industry.

Mr. Randy Simpson is the Senior Program Manager for various projects. He has 50+ years of experience in the spacecraft industry including NASA Account Manager for IBM GBS, Program Director at Honeywell Aerospace and Fairchild Space Company. He holds an Aerospace Engineering degree from NC State University and a master’s in management from Webster University. His servicing experience includes the Solar Max Repair Mission and the HST Repair Mission as contracted by the NASA GSFC Satellite Servicing branch. 

A native of Odenton, Maryland, he attended Providence College. Working with Actalent Services for 3 years, he manages our Engineering team. Within this organization, he partners with Zach and oversees the operations of the Product Engineering division in the Tampa / Sarasota market. His expertise lies in various skill sets, namely Design, Manufacturing, Mechanical, Process, and Quality Engineering. For the second year running, Everest Group has named Actalent a leader in engineering workforce solutions for their impact in the marketplace and ability to provide specialized talent solutions and services. SAM is proud to team with Jason and Actalaent leading the way in an evolving industry and fueling growth in engineering.

Lead of Actalent’s Systems & Software Engineering Division. He specializes in placing skill sets related to Embedded, Electrical, Test, System, and Software Engineering with Actalent, being the leading provider of STEM talent, and collaborates with organizations in the Aerospace and Defense industry to assist in accomplishing Engineering hiring objectives. Working with Actalent for 3 years he started recruiting on the same skillsets he specializes in placing today, specifically around Systems & Software Engineers.

James’ professional career began serving his country in the US Marine Corps having served five years with distinction, and tour as an RF Engineer, James won accolades for his out-of-the-box thinking and ability to explain highly complex concepts in simple, easy-to-understand terms. These skills propelled James to become one of the youngest instructors to serve in the Marine Corps Communication Electronics School.

James Morhard was nominated by President Trump and confirmed to be NASA’s 14th Deputy Administrator. He was sworn in on October 17th, 2018.

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Over 40 years of experience and values-based leadership including senate-confirmed appointment as the Deputy Administrator of NASA, elevation to be the Senate Appropriations Committee Staff Director, and selection as the Deputy Sergeant at Arms of the Senate.

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Jim helps provide overall leadership, planning, and policy direction. He performs duties and exercises powers delegated by the Administrator, assists him in making final agency decisions, and acts in his absence to govern NASA operations. Jim also is responsible for articulating and representing the agency’s vision.

Brigadier General Blaine “Blaino” Holt has over 28 years of experience in aerospace, logistics, supply chain management, strategic planning, international business, sales development, government and military operations, foreign affairs, defense procurement, and emerging technology integration. As U.S. Deputy Military Representative to NATO, he was the second highest-ranking military officer in the U.S. delegation to the alliance, supporting the execution of U.S. foreign and defense policy and providing guidance and advocacy on behalf of the Military Representative and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Jordan is an ambitious Mechanical Engineering student attending The University of Florida. She has experience working on numerous projects with UF’s Formula-SAE Gator Motorsports team. This experience gave her the opportunity to learn about real-world engineering while designing with SolidWorks CAD and applying the manufacturing using machine tool equipment such as manual mills and lathes (great engineering comes from hands-on experiences!). While working with this team, Jordan found a passion for motorsports and decided to start a personal project. With the help of her Father, she found a 2006 Mazda MX-5, restored and converted into a track car. Jordan’s dreams lay in the stars, however. When she was 13 years old, Jordan visited NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and was awestruck. Since that day, she has dreamed of working as an engineer in the space industry.