John Colthar Resume
- 1. John William Colthar 5105 Castle Harbor Way Centreville VA 20120 (703) 474-6863 turaboy@gmail.com SUMMARY: Aerospace intrapreneur specializing in managing difficult inter-disciplinary projects and organizations under tight deadlines. Experienced in project management, design, prototype, test, and production of complex cross-functional aerospace systems. WORK EXPERIENCE: Orion Manufacturing Lead / Avionics IPT Lead Aurora Flight Sciences Manassas, VA, Fall 2012 – Present Managed 7 suppliers ($2.4M) as Orion Supply Chain Manager (SCM) during parallel system requirements / hardware development cycle; primary programmatic point of contact and liaison between program managers and technical participants o Negotiated subcontract details, Finalized Statements of Work (SOWs) o Created and Conducted kickoff and weekly status meetings; Managed technical progress and deliverables; Managed Running Action Item Lists (RAILs) Planned, Managed and Lead Manufacturing for world endurance record (80-hour) Orion Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) during two retrofit / flight test spirals (571 drawings, 675 parts) o Corrected / reconciled engineering discrepancies on-floor; Prioritized work for 12 technicians o Ordered, received, inventoried, and kitted 42,000 piece parts o Supported Integration & Test (I&T) team of 12 engineers and technicians across 3 sites o Reviewed and Approved drawings as Avionics Manufacturing signatory; served as stamped Quality Control inspector for manufactured items Materials Cost Account Manager (CAM) for 3 Orion retrofit / upgrade spirals ($11M) o Generated materials proposals and forecasts, Estimated air and ground system materials costs, Tracked expenditures, Reconciled budgets Managed Manufacturing Bill of Materials (MBOM) (2900 part numbers, 60 data points per / line) Managed and Lead avionics Integrated Product Team (IPT) through detailed design, build, installation, and test for Orion UAS (7 engineers, 243 drawings, 455 parts) GEO Harness IPT Cost Account Manager Orbital Sciences Corporation Dulles, VA, Fall 2008 – Fall 2012 Managed and Lead system schematic and electrical harness design for 8 GEO communications satellites and NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation System (COTS) Cygnus spacecraft (16,000 wires each, $5M total) o Increased GEO harness Schedule Performance Index (SPI) from 0.3 (Intelsat 23) to 1.0 (AzerSat 1) o Created, Developed, and Managed Cygnus Electrical Block Diagram (9 subsystems, 430 components) depicting triple redundant flight control and vehicle management system Created and Managed two 7000-task MS Project schedules to track 415 harness assemblies throughout design and build cycle; Reported monthly Earned Value Management (EVM) / Estimate at Complete (EAC) progress towards 9 project Integrated Master Schedules (IMS) Represented functional management during monthly Program Reviews (vice-president level) Managed, Supervised, and Assigned Tasking for 16 electrical design engineers working from pre-Preliminary Design Review (PDR) to I&T support phases; hired 4 design contractors Managed drawing release process to pre-determined schedule; Evaluated and approved harness and harness installation design drawings for production Represented harnessing design team during ad-hoc Failure Review Boards (FRBs) with company and customer management during 24/7 build phase; presented and clarified complex technical data to both subject matter experts (SMEs) and program management Resolved conflicts between design, production, and program agents; worked closely with Flight Assurance to isolate and disposition technical issues
- 2. Lead Avionics Fabrication Engineer Aurora Flight Sciences Manassas, VA, Summer 2006 – Fall 2008 Managed & Lead avionics architecture design for Orion HALL UAS (precursor to record holder) Managed & Lead avionics design, build, installation, and test for Excalibur Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) UAS (280 drawings) Managed avionics design, build, installation, and transition to production for 8 prototype GoldenEye 80 VTOL UASs ($300K); Utilized new 3D mockup manufacturing process for electrical harness builds Supervised and Managed Harness and Fabrication Section, including 2 harnessing engineers and up to 9 technicians for 1 year Lead Subsystem Test Engineer Frontier, The Boeing Company Irvine, CA, Spring 2005 – Summer 2006 Lead Design & Development of A160 Hummingbird UAS Helicopter Gearbox Test Control Stand Lead Design & Development of A160 Subaru Engine Control and Monitor Test System Organized & Conducted multiphase Subaru engine dynamometer testing at vendor site Developed & Implemented documentation schema for UAS Subsystem Testing Organization Electric Actuation Test Engineer The Boeing Company Huntington Beach, CA, Summer 2001 – Spring 2005 Developed and Co-directed 750-page Aerosurface Calibration Verification Procedure for X-37A autonomous spaceplane Approach and Landing Test Vehicle across 2 operating sites; Participated in periodic Test Readiness Reviews (TRRs) Co-directed proto-qualification testing for X-37 flight control electromechanical actuators (EMAs) Developed 4-year Crew Escape Avionics Test Plan for NASA Next Generation Launch Vehicles Analyzed and Developed Subsystem Requirements for Space Launch Initiative NGLV candidates; Presented results to NASA representatives Test Systems Engineer Pratt & Whitney West Palm Beach, FL, Spring 2000 Implemented and Installed main engine throttle controller in F119 military jet engine test stand Researched and Specified Laser Positioning System for Joint Strike Fighter jet plume rake test DMS-10 Telephone Switching System Co-Op Nortel Networks Research Triangle Park, NC, Fall 1998 Evaluated prototype Printed Wiring Assemblies (PWAs) using oscilloscopes and logic analyzers Configured new Surface Mount soldering station; Instructed 30 people on its use EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND: MS Technical Management, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland Graduated December 2011 GPA: 4.00 / 4.00 BS Electrical Engineering, NC State University, Raleigh, North Carolina Graduated May 2001 GPA: 3.74 / 4.00 Magna Cum Laude Certificate, Supervisory and Management Skills, National Management Association Cerritos College, Norwalk, California May 2004
- 3. COMPUTER SOFTWARE SKILLS: Expert: Microsoft (MS) Excel, MS Project, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Visio, MS Outlook Intermediate: Adobe Acrobat Beginner: SAP ByDesign Intermediate, inactive: DOORS, MATLAB, LabVIEW, Tyco HarnWare, Mindjet MindManager, ORCAD, CATIA, Lotus Notes PROJECTS AND SKILLS: AIAA Young Professional of the Year, 2005-2006 (Orange County, CA Section) Organized and Co-led four-course UAV Aircraft Design, Build, and Fly Series taught by Dan Raymer, PhD through UCLA Extension (2004-2005) Organizing member of Boeing Young Engineers Team, a grassroots career development / mentoring organization begun in Huntington Beach, CA (2004-2006) Former Booster Manager for the Boeing Aerospace Leadership Chapter (National Management Association) Leader for NC State HELIOS Robotics Team: Supervised Design and Construction of scale model RF-controlled Moon Rover for winning entry in 1998 NASA National Competition Extraordinary problem-solver with a strong sense of urgency Independently utilizes rapid prototyping to quickly settle intractable design & manufacturing trades Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and visual communications skills CLEARANCE: Secret Clearance awarded March 5, 2004 (inactive)