Thermal and Structural Electronic Packaging Analysis for Space and Extreme Environments

Juan Cepeda-Rizo earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and M.S. in Materials Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, in 1997. He began his career in the semiconductor industry, specializing in electronic packaging analysis for advanced microelectronic systems. He later obtained a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Claremont Graduate University and went on to spend more than a decade at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he served as a thermal systems engineer supporting space exploration missions and advanced aerospace technologies.

Dr. Cepeda-Rizo has also contributed to the commercial space industry through leadership and engineering roles at several pioneering NewSpace companies, including Rocket Lab and Vast Space in Long Beach, California. His expertise spans thermal and structural analysis, electronic packaging reliability, spacecraft systems, and engineering for extreme environments.

Jeremiah Gayle is a Staff Mechanical Engineer at Apex Spacecraft Manufacturing, where he works on spacecraft mechanical systems and electronics packaging. Prior to joining Apex, he worked at Blue Origin on spacecraft electronics packaging for Blue Ring. He previously spent eight years at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, supporting mission formulation, electronics packaging, and thermal-structural analysis for multiple spaceflight missions. He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Arizona State University, master's degrees from Iowa State University and Johns Hopkins University, and a Doctor of Engineering in Mechanical Systems Engineering from Colorado State University.

Joshua Ravich is a supervisor for the Technology Infusion group at JPL, where he works on the mechanical design and analysis of spacecraft systems. His recent work has included the Mars Helicopter project. He received a bachelor's degree in mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley and a master's in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan.