Hume Seminar Series: Additive Manufacturing in Spacecraft Design and In-Space Robotic Fabrication of Large Structures

About the Event

This presentation is my dissertation defense and covers several NG additive manufacturing R&D projects related to spacecraft design and in-space manufacturing.

About the Speaker

Randy Spicer

Randy Spicer is a Staff Engineer at Northrop Grumman Space Systems in Dulles, Virginia. He has over 15 years of experience in spacecraft design, analysis, integration, and test across a wide range of government and commercial space vehicles. He is a subject matter expert for additive manufacturing and leads several research & development projects advancing 3D printing applications for spacecraft.

Mr. Spicer began working at Orbital Sciences Corporation (now NGSP) in 2007, immediately after defending his master’s thesis in electric propulsion simulation. During his first five years at Orbital, Randy worked for the Mechanical Analysis group and performed finite element analysis and dynamic testing of spacecraft. Throughout this time, Randy served as the test director for nearly every spacecraft level vibration and acoustic test performed at the Dulles Satellite Manufacturing Facility. Mr. Spicer then entered a rotation program and held positions in Electrical Integration & Test, Flight Assurance, and Systems Engineering. Upon compilation of this rotation program, Randy stayed in the Systems Engineering department where he has held multiple roles over the years.

After years of working with Virginia Tech students, Mr. Spicer decided that he wanted to be a Virginia Tech student again. In 2017, he started his Ph.D. in aerospace engineering with a specialization in space engineering. Mr. Spicer’s research has been published in conference papers and journal articles. Additionally, Mr. Spicer’s research recently resulted in a patent award. Mr. Spicer is also involved with the Hume Center. 

Ph.D. Student, Aerospace Engineering, Virginia Tech, Current
M.S., Systems Engineering, The George Washington University, 2010
M.S., Aerospace Engineering, Virginia Tech, 2007
B.S., Aerospace Engineering, Virginia Tech, 2006

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Sarah Downer at humecenter@vt.edu during regular business hours at least 10 business days prior to the event.