Forward Trajectory

In this episode, Nico Montoya, Head of Propulsion, Manufacturing, & Test Operations at Orbital Operations, shares his journey from building rockets as a child to leading complex aerospace programmes. Drawing on experience at companies including SpaceX, Blue Origin, Relativity Space, Stoke Space, and Orbital Operations, Nico explores how hands-on learning, embracing failure, mentorship, and extreme ownership create stronger engineers and high-performing teams.

Key Topics:

• Turning a childhood passion for rockets into an aerospace career
• Why building and testing teaches what the classroom cannot
• Learning from failure and designing for reliability
• The value of student teams, internships, and building a professional network
• Finding mentors and seeking career-shaping advice
• Extreme ownership, collaboration, and accountability in complex engineering teams
• Practical advice for aspiring engineers: build, experiment, and get involved

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Avery McMillan shares insights on building a startup from the ground up, the importance of process, culture, and leveraging AI in hardware design. Discover how strategic decisions and a focus on excellence can shape a successful early-stage company.

Key Topics:

• Challenges of starting with no process
• Building company culture as a founder
• Using AI to revolutionize hardware design
• Strategic manufacturing decisions for scale
• Importance of documentation and process discipline

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.