Derek Wong

Derek Wong, Ph.D., is an experienced avionics manager currently at Rocket Lab since April 2024 and previously held the same position at Momentus from October 2020 to April 2024. Prior to that, Derek served as a senior power systems engineer and lead engineer at Kitty Hawk, where responsibilities included leading battery engineering for the Flyer team. Derek's expertise in battery technology was further developed at SERES EV as a senior mechanical design engineer, where significant improvements in manufacturing yield were achieved. Derek also worked as a technical consultant at Exponent, specializing in battery failure investigations. Academic qualifications include a Doctor of Philosophy and a Master of Engineering in Materials Engineering from The University of Texas at Arlington, and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin.