Expertise
Aviation & Weapon Safety, Physics Analysis (Trajectory), Physics Analysis (Dynamics), Physics Analysis (Mechanics), Physics Analysis (Structures), Physics Analysis (Thermal and Fluids), Manufacturing
Profile
Mr. Sean Stapf is a highly accomplished mechanical/aerospace engineer with over 30 years of experience across the US Navy (USN), US Air Force, (USAF) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). He is a US Patent holder with specialized expertise in analysis of rocket and aircraft dynamics, trajectory, structures, thermal transfer and fluid dynamics.
Significant Career Accomplishments
Recognized dynamics and trajectory expert. Created trajectory and dynamics models for the Department of Defense (DoD), NASA, and commercial space devices. Supported systems/events include the Space Shuttle, Mars Science Lander, SpaceX Falcon-9, aircraft ejection seats and canopy jettisons, F-18 LAU-7 Sidewinder missile launcher, Apache 2.75-inch and F-15 ZUNI rocket launches, standard missile ship launches, Extended Range Guided Munitions (ERGM), JATO-launched C-130 aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), hypersonic sled track tests, aircraft flare-decoys, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) anti-terrorism cannons, theater ballistic missile defense (TBMD) rockets, and Cobra fire-control algorithms.
Performed numerous structural analyses, including creation of finite element models and hand-calculations for rocket cases, bulkheads, nozzles, bolts launch rails, fins, warhead couplings, internal colliding components and aircraft struts.
Directed production of $3M annually in ejection seat rocket systems and procured and inspected $1M/year in ejection seat rocket hardware. Achieved better than 2.5% acceptable quality limit (AQL) performance quality on ejection systems for which a failure results in fatality of aircrew and accomplished “just in time” delivery of ejection rocket catapults for which a delay causes grounding of US and ally military aircraft.
As a launch safety engineer, calculated rocket malfunction-turns, explosions, and debris trajectory for protection of the public against errant Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (AFS) rocket launches—including the Atlas-V, Delta-II, Delta-IV, NASA Space Shuttle, and SpaceX Falcon-9. Authored and operated the USAF’s current ejection seat trajectory simulator (the “ADAMS Ejection Model”) since 2000, calculating ejection trajectories for mishap investigations of numerous military aircraft.
Key Positions
Aerospace Engineer, Commercial Space Transportation, Office of the Chief Engineer, FAA
Aerospace Engineer, 45th Space Wing, USAF
Mechanical Engineer, Naval Surface Warfare Center, USN
Education
BS, Mechanical Engineering, North Carolina State University