Keynote Speakers

Dr. Jordi Puig-Suari, Grandfather of CubeSats

Tuesday, April 23rd @ 9:10AM

Dr. Puig-Suari received B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. Degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Purdue University. Dr. Puig-Suari is a professor emeritus in the Aerospace Engineering Department at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

In 1999, Dr Puig-Suari and Prof. Bob Twiggs at Stanford developed the CubeSat standard. Dr. Puig-Suari’s team was responsible for the development of the standard CubeSat deployer (the P-POD) and has supported launches for over 130 CubeSats in the U.S. and abroad.

In 2011, Dr. Puig-Suari co-founded Tyvak Nano-satellite Systems to support the commercial CubeSat market.

Randy Yount, Millennium Space Systems

Wednesday, April 24th @ 9:10AM

Randy Yount is director, Mission Operations Engineering at Millennium Space Systems, a Boeing Company. Millennium Space Systems is a small satellite prime, delivering operational high-performance constellation solutions for National Security Space. Founded in 2001, the company's active production lines and 80% vertical integration enable the rapid delivery of small satellites across missions and orbits – LEO, MEO and GEO.

As director, Yount is responsible for overseeing the in-space and ground segment components of the company’s satellite systems. He has more than 19 years of experience flying high-profile missions across orbits and vehicle types, with an emphasis on anomaly resolution and flexibility of operations. Prior to Millennium Space Systems, Yount was with The Boeing Company, focusing on GNC and spacecraft dynamics, operating more than 30 commercial and government satellites and leading the anomaly response teams for in-flight vehicles across the Boeing 702 satellite fleet.

Yount earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in aerospace engineering.