Young Professional Profile August 2018

Name: Christopher Ross Simpson            

Hometown
Port Charlotte, FL
                 
Currently lives in
Tuscaloosa, AL/Ridgecrest, CA

Education

B.S. Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics, May 2016
Ph.D. Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics, May 2020
University of Alabama 

Employer
Naval Air Warfare Center - Weapons Development (NAWCWD), China Lake

Job Description
Recruited by China Lake on a SMART Scholarship

As a kid, what did you want to be when you “grew up”?            
I wanted to build rockets. You could see the Space Shuttle going up even on the Gulf Coast of Florida.  

How far can YOU see? Where do you see the aerospace industry 10–20 years from now? 
10 years: The international community has begun flights to the moon. Sonic flight over-land is commonplace. 20 years: SpaceX has placed the first humans on Mars. Machine learning has produced true artificial intelligence.

One insightful fact you want everyone to know:    
Dreams of success are never realized unless worked toward every day. 

Professional Interests:
My professional interests lie in orbit determination (state estimation). As secretary of AIAA Space Operations and Support TC, this means I take a special interest in Collision on Launch Assessment (COLA), ground station operations, and new tools for calculating probability of collision (Pc). 

Hobbies   
I currently have a L1 from NAR in High-Power Rocketry; working toward my L2. I also referee NCAA Division 2 basketball.