aerospace club officer & team lead alumni
The Aerospace Club would like to thank all of our officer and team lead alumni for their previous contribution to our club.
Below are profiles from some of our club alumni. Scroll over their images to learn about them and their Aerospace Club experiences!
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Former Aerospace Club member Taylor Kerl got named by Space & Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) as one of the 20 under 35 to watch in the coming years.
Taylor was Aerospace Club president in 2015 (as well as other officer positions); she headed up the student side of the NASA USIP grant as the team's project manager and participated in RockSat. Taylor graduated in December of 2016.
Most recently, Taylor has stepped in as the interim Project Manager for two NASA Tipping Point studies that aim to mature electric propulsion system capability for flight on NASA’s Power and Propulsion Element mission. In addition, Taylor was chosen as lead systems engineer for guidance, navigation and controls (GNC) on a new, developmental modular bus that is scheduled to fly for the first time in 2021. In this role, she is a part of the team that came up with new spacecraft assembly, integration and test philosophies not only for the modular bus but as a streamlined process to deliver other spacecraft to launch base in reduced time.
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Benjamin Bevans served as Rocketry team lead (2016-17), club Reporter (2017-18), and 100k Aerospace team lead (Fall 2018). He graduated from UNL in 2020 with a major in Mechanical Engineering.
Ben is currently pursuing a Materials PhD at UNL under Dr. Rao. His research is in Additive Manufacturing and he is “attempting to make it a more reliable and robust way to manufacture parts.”
“What is your favorite memory of the Aerospace Club?”
Ben: My favorite memory was my Freshman year (2015-2016) when we were a team of only Freshman and Sophomores and had no clue what we were doing. And then we finally went to competition and the rocket flew successfully and exceeded the altitude predictions. I have never been as proud of anything more than I was of the rocket we built Freshman year. It's a terrible rocket, but its my terrible rocket.
“How has the Aerospace Club impacted your career goal(s)?”
Ben: I met my current Research Professor because he was receiving a tour of the Aerospace Lab. He was so impressed by my knowledge and hands on ability that he offered me a job on the spot. I worked 3 years of Undergrad with him and have started a PhD with him. Without the Aerospace Club this amazing opportunity would never have happened.
“What is your greatest accomplishment?”
Ben: My greatest accomplishment in the Aerospace Club was helping to rebuild the Rocketry team that Freshman year. We built a rocket from nearly nothing and figured it out along the way. Now the Rocketry team knows more than I ever will about rockets, but I helped to reestablish the team, and that feels good.
Fun Facts & Shoutouts
Ben: I host a bi-weekly D&D game for my friends.
BENjamin BEVANS
Jacob Clark served as club Reporter for 2 years and Rocketry team lead for 1 year. He graduated from UNL in 2017 with a major in Economics and minor in Mathematics and Environmental Studies.
He is currently the co-owner and director of business operations for Urban Hydroponics, a vertical farming start-up in Lincoln, NE.
“What is your favorite memory of the Aerospace Club?”
Jacob: The late nights building our clubs first Mach speed rocket!
“How has the Aerospace Club impacted your career goal(s)?”
Jacob: Operating in the engineering side, and then transitioning to a leadership role on the business side as I was in business college really helped me present myself as someone who could get the job done.
“What is your greatest accomplishment?”
Jacob: Starting my own business.
Fun Facts & Shoutouts
Jacob has studied abroad in South Korea!
Jacob: “Reach out to me on LinkedIn!”
JACOB CLARK
Matthew Lyons served as DBF team lead in 2017-18. He graduated from UNL with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.
Matthew is currently an Interior Design Engineer at Textron Aviation in Wichita, KS.
“What is you favorite memory of the Aerospace Club?”
Matthew: At the DBF competition in the spring of 2018, seeing the plane sitting on the runway for the first flight mission, praying it wouldn’t crash and it then preforming flawlessly. The team went on to have what is arguably the group’s most successful competition in the team’s history. Late nights working in the lab were also a great time.
“How has the Aerospace Club impacted your career goal(s)?”
Matthew: The Aerospace Club provided me a path to utilize the CAD skills I had developed in a setting that was meaningful. It was during this time I realized I really enjoyed designing and building new things. Today, I work in New Product Development at Textron Aviation continuing to do just that.
“What is your greatest accomplishment?”
Matthew: Graduating from UNL and getting a job in the aerospace industry.
Fun Facts & Shoutouts
Matthew: I want to become an IP lawyer in the future. Feel free to connect on LinkedIn!
matthew lyons
Mitchell Clark served as club Treasurer from May 2016 - May 2018. He graduated in 2019 from UNL with majors in Computer Engineering & Electrical Engineering and a minor in Mathematics.
He currently does independent consulting for startups and is working toward a Master’s Degree in Computer Science.
“What is your favorite memory of the Aerospace Club?”
Mitchell: Tuning a PID controller using a seesaw built out of random wood my mom had in her garage. The axis was a bolt stuck through this thing that looked like a horseshoe I found at menards, but when you kicked on the drone at full blast it held like a charm!
“How has the Aerospace Club impacted your career goal(s)?”
Mitchell: Taking the classes sponsored by NASA USIP was a game changer. I learned an immense amount about project management and design thinking which have been incredibly valuable in helping me work towards my goals that I would not have gotten anywhere else. I made a lot of friends because of UNL Aerospace and they helped broaden my world view of what was possible.
“What is your greatest accomplishment?”
Mitchell: I've been working on it for 10 years so while it's not yet complete, it is the most important thing I have done. My goal is to revolutionize how DNA is sequenced. With large enough datasets, we will be able to decrypt much about the human body which is currently a mystery. It's actually because of NASA NE I was able to learn about nanopore sequencers and meet Dr. Charles Chiu, whose work is sponsored by the Translational Research Institute for Space Health. Recently I've been looking into light based DNA detection mechanisms.
Fun Facts: Mitchell can speak foreign languages with different accents (eg. german with a french accent or vice versa).
Fun Facts & Shoutouts
Mitchell: os2g.unl.edu is the club I cofounded.
MITCHELL CLARK
Nathan Jensen served as Rocketry team lead (2015-17), club Vice President (2016-18), and club Outreach Coordinator (Fall 2016). He graduated from UNL in 2018 with a major in Mechanical Engineering. He also graduated in 2020 with a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering.
Nate is now a Mechanical Engineer at Honeybee Robotics.
“What is your favorite memory of the Aerospace Club?”
Nate: Rocket launches in Minnesota in the Spring of 2016. It was the first time the team had launched since IREC in 2014, and we weren't even sure if the rocket would fly. We ended up with 4 successful flights, and reassurance that we could continue as a team. Some of the people who went to that competition are my close friends to this day.
“How has the Aerospace Club impacted your career goal(s)?”
Nate: It reinforced, for me, that going into the aerospace field was possible after attending a university where such things weren't taught. It gave me the skills and confidence to pursue that goal.
“What is your greatest accomplishment?”
Nate: I was a rocketry lead during the team's revival in 2015, after a year of hiatus. With no prior knowledge, we were able to jumpstart the team back up that year. Our techniques were primitive, but without those rough early years, the team wouldn't be where it is now. I'm proud to have been a team leader through those difficult times.
Fun Fact: Watching big rocket launches is a favorite pastime of mine. I saw John Glenn get launched into space for a second time on board the Space Shuttle, with my own eyes, in 1998. I've also seen two SpaceX launches in person (their first vertical landing in 2015 and the first Starlink launch in 2019).
Fun Facts & Shout-outs
Nate: I want to thank NASA Nebraska Space Grant, Karen Stelling, other advising faculty, and my fellow Aerospace Club members for making all of this possible.
nathan jensen
Bryan Kubitschek served as club President (2013-14), club Outreach Coordinator (2012-13), and Rocketry team lead (2012-13). Bryan graduated from UNL in 2014 with a degree in Civil Engineering. He then graduated in 2017with a Master’s degree in Structural Engineering with minors in Business Administration and Construction Management.
Bryan is currently a Materials Research Engineer at NASA Langley Research Center.
“What is your favorite memory of the Aerospace Club?”
Bryan: Instructing middle school students how to build and launch water rockets.
“How has the Aerospace Club impacted your career goal(s)?”
Bryan: The club provided an opportunity to design, build, and test carbon fiber rocket components for transonic flight. The experience proved to be enjoyable and I now research high temperature composites for re-entry vehicles.
“What is your greatest accomplishment?”
Bryan: Participating in the creation of an easy-to-use classroom rocket kit for school teachers. The kit is now used in over a 1,100 schools world wide.
Fun Facts & Shoutouts
Bryan: I can smoke a mean rack of ribs.
bryan kubitschek
Matt Mahlin served as club President (2011-12), club Reporter (2010-11), RMC founder/Co-lead (2011-12), CanSat Lead (2010-11), IREC team lead (2010-11), USLI team lead (2011-12), RockSat-X team lead (2013-14), and Graduate Advisor (2012-14).
Matt graduated from UNL with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2011 and a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics in 2018.
Matt is currently an Aerospace Research Engineer (Civil Servant) at NASA Langley Research Center. He is a Principal investigator for a Ceramic Matrix Composite Heat Exchanger for Scramjet Propulsion. He is also a lead test engineer for the TALISMAN robotic arm in Poquoson, Virginia.
“What is your favorite memory of the Aerospace Club?”
Matt: Going from learning how to build high powered rockets from scratch the IREC team and growing the club with a group of dedicated members, to standing at Wallops Flight Facility while watching our UNL designed payload on a sub-orbital rocket.
“How has the Aerospace Club impacted your career goal(s)?”
Matt: The Aerospace Club provided hands on opportunities for engineering and leadership that gave me practice for my career at NASA. The group also connected me with people of similar interests who have been my friends and "team" ever since.
“What is your greatest accomplishment?”
Matt: Becoming a NASA researcher who contributes to both the Hypersonic Technology Project and the in-Space Assembly effort supporting the NASA Artemis program.
Fun Facts & Shoutouts
Matt: I grew up on a farm outside of Lincoln raising horses.
Matt: I am a prolific mentor of Interns. I currently have 9 students working under me for the summer of 2020.
MATT MAHLIN
Nate Mann served as club Outreach Coordinator (2017-18) and 100k team lead (Fall 2018). He graduated from UNL in 2018 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.
Nate currently works as a Mechanical Engineer at Honeywell FM&T in Kansas City, MO.
“What is your favorite memory of the Aerospace Club?”
Nate: Performing a test launch of our rocket in the middle of nowhere, Illinois on a sweltering hot day in May 2017. Though the rocket unfortunately failed in completing its designed task, it taught me an important lesson as an engineer that I've carried with me to this day: As engineers, we are especially privy to the inevitability of mistakes. The important part is that we recognize what we don't know, learn from those mistakes, and become a better engineer for it.
“How has the Aerospace Club impacted your career goal(s)?”
Nate: Through the aerospace club, I was able to land a summer internship at the NASA Ames Research Center, through which I reaffirmed my desire to pursue a career in an aerospace-related capacity as well as jump-start my interest in advanced finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics.
“What is your greatest accomplishment?”
Nate: Working at NASA. It was a childhood dream come true.
Fun Facts & Shoutouts
Nate: I once fell out of a sailboat in the middle of the San Francisco Bay. It was uncomfortable.
nate Mann
Bricen Margritz served as the Rocketry team lead in 2018-20. He graduated from UNL with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2020.
Bricen is currently a Mechanical Engineer at Orthman Manufacturing, Inc.
“What is your favorite memory of the Aerospace Club?”
Bricen: Celerity on supersonic launches. Celerity was a pretty well-functioning, well-built rocket.
“How has the Aerospace Club impacted your career goal(s)?”
Bricen: The Aerospace Club in many ways supported me and gave me the confidence I needed to reach my career goals of becoming a mechanical engineer in the private industry.
“What is your greatest accomplishment?”
Bricen: Graduating from UNL.
Fun Facts & Shoutouts
Bricen: My rocketry infatuation started in 4-H when I was 8 years old!
bRICEN MARGRITZ
Dillon Margritz served as club Outreach Coordinator (2018-19), Rocketry team lead (2017-19), and RMC team lead (2018-19). He graduated from UNL in 2019 with a major in Mechanical Engineering.
Dillon is currently a Software Tester/Administrator at Braxton Technologies in Colorado Springs, CO.
“What is your favorite memory of the Aerospace Club?”
Dillon: 2018 Rocketry competition trip
“How has the Aerospace Club impacted your career goal(s)?”
Dillon: The Aerospace Club has provided me with the opportunity to develop my leadership and technical skills.
dillon margritz
Brady Mailand served as the DBF team lead (2015-18). He graduated from UNL in 2018 with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.
Brady currently lives and works in Minden, NE as a Manufacturing Engineer at Royal Composites.
“What is your favorite memory of the Aerospace Club?”
Brady: [I] always loved the late night build sessions to get everything done before a test flight!
“How has the Aerospace Club impacted your career goal(s)?”
Brady: DBF got me directly involved with my current employer through testing of some composite fuselages we were hoping to use. Those didn't work out for our plane that year, but it opened up a line of communication for the coming years.
Brady Mailand
Draven Oberlink served as the RMC team lead in 2014-15. He majored in Mechanical Engineering at UNL and Aerospace, Emergency Management and Aviation at UNO (graduating in 2022).
Draven is currently finishing his Aerospace, Emergency Management and Aviation degrees at UNO. He has been accepted into the federal pilot selection process and is looking eventually find himself in a test pilot position!
“What is your favorite memory of the Aerospace Club?”
Draven: I truly miss all of the late nights in the old lab working on the robot with Alex Renken and Rosemary Hernandez. I miss being amazed by the endless pool of knowledge that is Matt Mahlin. The long trips to Kennedy for RMC and Wallops for Rocksat will always be remembered as well.
“How has the Aerospace Club impacted your career goal(s)?”
Draven: The Aerospace Club caused me to realize that a typical engineering job may not be for me. My final goal was altered from NASA Engineer to NASA or Air Force Test Pilot, hence the new degrees.
“What is your greatest accomplishment?”
Draven: Takeoff, touch-and-go and landing of an RC-135
Fun Facts & Shoutouts
Draven: I have never eaten a salad
draven oberlink
Amy Price served as the club Safety Officer (2016-17) and USIP (RockSat) team lead (2017-18). She graduated from UNL in 2018 with a major in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in National Security Studies.
Amy currently lives in Los Angeles California working for the US Space Force as a systems engineer.
“What is your favorite memory of the Aerospace Club?”
Amy: My favorite memory is getting to travel with the RockSAT/USIP team to integrate and launch our payload from Wallops Flight Facility.
“How has the Aerospace Club impacted your career goal(s)?”
Amy: The experience I gained from RockSAT and USIP through the Aerospace Club contributed immensely to getting hired by US Air Force Space Command (now the US Space Force). I've been in the workforce for over a year and still draw on the experience and lessons learned from my time in the Aerospace club in my day to day job.
AMY PRICE
Daric Teske served as the UAV team lead (2016-18), and Club President (2017-18). He graduated from UNL in 2018 with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and minors in Mathematics and Business.
Daric currently lives and works in Omaha, NE as a software developer for Buildetrend.
“What is your favorite memory of the Aerospace Club?”
Daric: My favorite memories would have to be the end of year parties we had. Everyone from all the different teams, getting together and hanging out. It was really nice to be able to take a step back and appreciate all the work we'd done throughout the year and relax with friends!