Brian Merkel

Brian Merkel has over 10 years of experience in the aerospace and engineering industries. Brian began their career in 2009 as an intern at Synergetics, Inc., where they worked as a Manufacturing Engineer. Brian also interned at Caterpillar Inc. as a Platform Engineer in 2009. In 2011, they joined Exelon Nuclear as a Mechanical Engineer, where they worked on Nuclear Reactor cooling technologies and safety systems. In 2013, they joined SpaceX as a Lead Manufacturing Engineer, where they were responsible for Production development for the Merlin rocket engines and Octaweb propulsion structure for the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles. Brian also managed launch pad mechanical and fluid systems at the Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Air Force bases. In 2017, they joined Rocket Lab USA as a Propulsion Production Manager, where they developed the US factory from an empty warehouse to produce 10x engines/month to meet the growing manifest. Brian then joined SpaceX again in 2018 as a Sr. Manager, Starlink Manufacturing & Production, where they were responsible for NPI development of the starlink dish, both operations and manufacturing, to lift the company off the ground and start building a customer base. Brian developed an organization of 200+ production associates, maintenance personnel, and supporting staff (engineers, specialists, etc) which produced between 5,000-10,000 dishes/wk in its first year of production starting with an empty building. In 2022, they joined Scythe Robotics as the Head Of Manufacturing.

Brian Merkel obtained a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Mechanical Engineering from the Missouri University of Science and Technology between 2007 and 2011.