PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

Dr. Alex Rattner

Dr. Alex Rattner

Faculty Advisor

Dr. Alex Rattner is an assistant professor in the Penn State Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, and he has assisted the Lunar Lion team since Fall of 2015 on thermal management and propulsion engineering. He is currently the Principal Investigator for Penn State’s Multiscale Thermal Fluids and Energy Lab. Dr. Rattner is the recent recipient of the 2016 Frederick A. Howes Scholar award in computational science, as well as the 2017 US National Science Foundation CAREER Grant. Dr. Rattner has an extensive research background in the areas of fluid flow, heat transfer, and thermal energy systems.

Andrea S. Harman

Andrea S. Harman

Administrative Support Assistant

Andrea graduated from Penn State in 2006 with a BS in Marketing from West Chester, PA. She joined the Lunar Lion team alongside the administrative staff in Fall 2014 under Michael Paul because she felt that it was the pinnacle of what undergraduates should expect from their college experience: hands-on training, team building through goal achievement, and excellent career enhancement prospects. Outside of the team, Andrea enjoys reading, technical writing, avoiding cannon fire as a Civil War reenactor, and is an avid lover of cats.

Anthony Maenza

Anthony Maenza

Student Team Lead

Anthony joined the team in the Spring of 2015 as a part of the propulsion subsystem. In the summer of 2016, he worked as an intern preparing Puma for its first static test. In the fall he moved into the role of Deputy Test Director and helped to coordinate a number of static fires leading up to the Vertical Flight Test. Shortly after taking over as Test Director for the design process of Lynx, he accepted the position of Deputy Student Team Lead. In the summer of 2017,  he took over as Student Team Lead which now includes the responsibilities of Test Director as well. Anthony will be graduating in Spring 2018 with a degree in Aerospace Engineering. Upon graduation, Anthony hopes to work on missions that will expand humanity’s understanding of our Solar System.

Brittany Perez

Brittany Perez

Program Operations Manager

Brittany is from Wallkill, New York and is currently a Junior studying Electrical Engineering. She joined the Lunar Lion Team in the Fall of 2014. Brittany knew she wanted to join the team even before applying to Penn State and became part of the Strategic Communications team. In Fall 2015, Brittany became the deputy to the previous Lab Manager and officially obtained the title herself in Spring 2016. She chose this position because she wanted to see how all the pieces of the team mesh together by helping everyone out with anything they need in the lab. Brittany is also a part of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, the Society of Women Engineers, the Multicultural Engineering Program, and the Women in Engineering Program.

Max Winn

Max Winn

Systems Engineer

Max is a Junior in Aerospace Engineering. He is currently the Systems Engineer for Lunar Lion.  In the past, Max has been the Team Lead as well as a member of the propulsion team. Max worked on the New Horizons mission at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab. Max likes driving and ice cream.