2024 Judges

Ryan Gundling
Ryzing Technologies

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Ryan Gundling is the CEO and Principal Engineer at Ryzing Technologies. The company has an expertise in inflatable technologies, ranging from inflatable expeditionary military shelters and soft robotics to inflatable aerodynamic decelerators. Its customers include the U.S. military, NASA and several private companies. Ryan and co-founder Ryan Long have more than two decades of experience in engineered textiles and inflatable structures, which helped them create a research and development company that is on the cutting edge of inflatable technologies. Ryzing Technologies provides every aspect of the design process to its customers, including concept development, detail design, testing, prototyping, and low volume production.

Ryan began his career with Vertigo Inc. as an entry level engineer. He grew along with the company and after acquisition from HDT Global, became manager of the airbeam projects. He was a key person in the development of braided airbeam technology and was the technical lead during the adoption of airbeam into the U.S. Army’s basecamp shelters. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Villanova University with minors in computer science and computer engineering.

Tom Jones
NASA LaRC

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Tom Jones is a senior research engineer and softgoods lead for habitation at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. He has 15 years of experience in leading the design, analysis, and testing of softgoods for crewed applications across NASA and in partnership with industry. In addition, he has been the principal investigator and lead engineer on the development of long-reach, tendon-actuated robotic manipulators, in-space and surface assembly and construction concepts, and has contributed to many of the lunar surface architecture studies over the last decade as a habitat structures and surface concepts subject matter expert. He has a B.S and M.S in Mechanical and Aerospace engineering from the University of Virginia, and was a National Institute of Aerospace graduate fellow.

Dr. Jin Ho Kang
NASA LaRC

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Dr. Jin Ho Kang is an Aerospace Material Research Engineer, in the Advanced Materials and Processing Branch (AMPB) at NASA Langley Research Center. His role is fundamental and applied research in the structure, property, durability relationships of aerospace materials for NASA missions. He focuses on development and analysis of multi-functional materials for deployable and inflatable space structures such as solar sails, payload booms and Mars/Moon habitats, and advanced packaging methods for large space structures. Before joining AMPB at NASA LaRC, he had been employed for National Institute of Aerospace. Dr. Kang received his Ph.D. in Electrical & Computer Engineering (Chemical Engineering Major – Electronic Materials) from POSTECH (Pohang University and Science and Technology), South Korea.

He holds about 40 US & international patents/patent applications/invention disclosures and has authored/coauthored over 50 peer reviewed journal papers, conference proceeding papers, NASA technical reports and one book chapter. In addition, he has received many awards including the Richard T. Whitcomb and Paul F. Holloway Technology Transfer Award and the NASA Exceptional Technology Achievement Medal.

Dr. Michael Nord
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory

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Michael Nord is a Chief Scientist and member of the Principal Professional Staff at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. He received his Ph.D. in Physics in 2005. Over his 25+ year career he has demonstrated expertise in Synthetic Aperture Radar, multi-aperture interferometry, EO/IR ISR systems, field test planning and execution, imagery analysis, signal processing, detection theory, Radio Astrophysics, Planetary Science, non-acoustic undersea warfare, and space resources/In-Situ resource utilization.

Arianna Sanchez
Stellar Solutions (NASA HQ)

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Arianna Sanchez serves as a contracted (Stellar Solutions Inc.) Systems Engineer for the Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative (LSII) in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate at Headquarters in Washington, D.C. LSII spurs the deployment of technologies needed for lunar surface exploration and accelerates the technology readiness levels (TRL) of key systems and components across low to mid-TRL technology portfolios. In her role, Ms. Sanchez supports strategy, planning and integration to facilitate LSII’s implementation and achieve its goal of maturing technologies needed for sustainable operations on the moon.Prior to her current role, Ms. Sanchez worked in the medical technologies profession while pursuing her undergraduate degree. She performed technical roles across operations, regulatory affairs, and engineering. She has hands-on experience in the end-to-end product design and manufacturing process of instruments with neurosurgical and critical care applications.

Ms. Sanchez is an early career professional joining Stellar Solutions and NASA upon receiving a B.Sc., Aerospace Engineering (BSAE) from California State University, Long Beach (CSULB ‘20). Throughout her career, she has served local-community based organizations (Imagine-LA, Hollywood Food Coalition) and global professional organizations (Space Generation Advisory Council, American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics) in various supporting and leadership roles. Currently, she is helping to shape AIAA’s leadership development program and public policy initiatives through her work as Chair and Deputy Director, respectively.