Good morning, I'm MJ.
Did you know? The Curiosity rover has explored Mars since 2012 and confirmed long-lived ancient habitable environments. Source
Welcome to my home base on the internet. I'm an engineering lead, husband, new father, and perpetual seeker of curiosity. I work at Terran Orbital building next-generation spacecraft power modules. Outside of work, I am raising my newborn son and stealing pockets of time for music production, vibe coding, and writing.
A lifetime ago, I studied aerospace engineering at Cal Poly SLO, interned at Orbital Sciences, NASA JPL, and SpaceX, then spent almost four years at SpaceX across vehicle analysis and propulsion valve design. After that, I worked at Rivian on high-voltage battery pack development and validation.
Engineering taught me systems thinking, but it also gave me a strong pull toward building things on my own for the internet. I take the work seriously, but I try not to take myself too seriously.
I grew up around San Diego, moved to Folsom for middle and high school, fell in love with the Central Coast at Cal Poly, and then returned to SoCal for work. I like anything that gets my brain thinking, competitive juices flowing, or body moving: lifting, running, books, software, puzzles, games, soccer, golf, climbing, snowboarding, football, and the Premier League.
This site is how I document that journey: Projects, Blog, Journal, Field Notes, and Stuff. I hope these interests eventually grow into something larger. For now, I am focused on becoming the person younger me would be proud of, and the role model my wife and son deserve.