Program Manager Intern @ True Anomaly B.S. Aerospace Engineering — SDSU '26 Open to full-time aerospace & defense roles

Aerospace Engineer · Systems Thinker · Builder

Luke R.
Horton

Aerospace engineer working at the intersection of performance analysis, vehicle design, and hands-on build. From a carrier-based strike fighter and a ground-effect vehicle that flew, to embedded flight software proven on a real rocket — I turn requirements into hardware that works.

Luke R. Horton
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Engineer by training,
builder by nature.

I graduated from San Diego State University in May 2026 with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, and I've since started at True Anomaly as a Program Manager Intern, supporting the company's active defense-space programs.

My engineering work spans flight performance analysis for a conceptual carrier-based strike fighter, hands-on prototype development of a ground-effect vehicle that flew, embedded flight software for high-power rocketry, and structural analysis for sounding rockets. I'm most at home where MATLAB models meet test data and engineering drawings meet the shop floor.

Beyond the lab, I bring program-management experience and leadership running a 170+ member organization with a $200K+ annual budget — driving measurable gains and earning institutional recognition.

May '26
B.S. Aerospace Eng.
0
Members Led
0
Flagship Projects
0
Budget Managed

Featured work.

Each card links to that project's own website — click anywhere on a card to explore the full build.

Complete ALEBORNE F-44 Falcon — final CAD render
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AE 460A/B · AIAA Capstone

Aleborne — F-44 Strike Fighter

Performance Lead & Systems Engineer

A carrier-based strike fighter designed for the AIAA Navy RFP — a seven-person SDSU team's take on an F/A-18E/F Super Hornet replacement.

M 1.84 dash +7.5g 63,464 lb MTOW
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Complete Barrelborne WIG vehicle and team at SDSU Senior Design Day
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AE 403W · Senior Design

Barrelborne — Ground Effect Vehicle

Project Manager · Avionics Lead & Pilot

An RC-scale wing-in-ground-effect vehicle designed, built, and flown in a single semester by four SDSU seniors.

Flew @ 42.7 mph 20 lb airframe Pixhawk 6C
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In Progress
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Personal Project · 2026

Daedalus — Flight Computer

Solo — Firmware, Hardware & Test

A high-power rocketry flight computer built from scratch and validated by a full software- and hardware-in-the-loop test pipeline.

Teensy 4.1 50+ CI tests L1 certified
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Where I've contributed.

June 2026 — Present

Program Manager Intern

True Anomaly · Denver, CO

Leading an intern project across the company's active defense-space programs: a comprehensive PMO and engineering template library that drives program-lifecycle execution and design reviews company-wide — building templates for major milestones and review gates (SRD, ICD, PDR/CDR/TRR, IBR, WBS) with entry/exit criteria benchmarked against DoD 5000, NASA SE, and INCOSE standards.

Designed and shipped an enterprise-shareable AI tool that auto-populates milestone review decks from a single program input, cutting processing cost ~94%. Engage cross-functionally with engineering, production/test, and software teams to understand program execution end to end.

June 2026 — Present

Founder & Lead Developer

Daedalus — Custom Flight Computer & Test Infrastructure · Personal Project

Built a high-power rocketry flight computer from scratch — C++17 firmware on a Teensy 4.1 with IMU, barometer, and GPS, a complementary-filter state machine, MOSFET pyro outputs, and 100 Hz SD logging — alongside a full SITL/HITL test pipeline with a 50+ scenario pytest suite in GitHub Actions CI and automated fault injection. Earned Level 1 high-power rocketry certification and validated apogee and flight data against a commercial reference altimeter.

Spring 2026

Project Manager — Avionics & Systems Lead

Ground Effect Vehicle (Barrelborne) · SDSU Senior Design

Led a four-person design-build-fly team delivering an RC-scale GEV in one semester, owning schedule and scope to hit a single-semester design-build-fly-test timeline. Led all avionics and flight software — configuring a Pixhawk 6C on ArduPlane with an ExpressLRS link, mapping seven control surfaces across FMU PWM channels, and tuning fly-by-wire flight modes through iterative flight testing to a successful ground-effect run at 42.7 mph.

Fall 2025 — Spring 2026

Performance Lead & Systems Engineer

Next-Gen Carrier-Based Strike Fighter (Aleborne) · SDSU Senior Capstone

Led performance and test-planning analysis for a conceptual Navy carrier-based strike fighter (AIAA RFP): translated mission and carrier requirements into verification metrics, owned weight estimation, wing sizing, and takeoff/landing analyses, and built physics-based MATLAB sizing models (drag polar, T/W–W/S trades, constraint sets), delivering technical memos at PDR and CDR.

Ran structured parametric sweeps and sensitivity checks to quantify carrier-suitability margins, then refined and locked the configuration for CDR based on integrated subsystem feedback.

Sept 2025 — 2026

Inside Sales Engineer Intern

DMG Corporation · San Diego, CA

Provided operational support to outside sales engineers — generating quotes, securing vendor pricing, processing sales orders and POs, coordinating with manufacturers, and managing customer status communications.

Fall 2023 — Fall 2024

External Structures Engineer

SDSU Rocket Project

Performed structural analysis and iterative testing on rocket launch lugs, refining SolidWorks CAD and drawings for manufacturability and subsystem integration, and collaborated in cross-team design reviews to meet structural and schedule constraints.

Fall 2025 — Spring 2026

President

San Diego Sales Engineers (National Society of Sales Engineers) · SDSU

Led chapter operations, planning networking sessions and technical workshops on sales engineering, and represented SDSU at the National Sales Engineering Conference (NSEC) in 2024 and 2025.

What I work with.

Avionics & Embedded

Pixhawk 6C ArduPilot Mission Planner MAVLink Teensy 4.1 C++17 / PlatformIO IMU / Baro / GPS ELRS / SiK Telemetry

Test, Simulation & Programming

SITL / HITL Fault Injection pytest GitHub Actions (CI) Python C / C++ MATLAB Simulink ANSYS Linux / SSH Git

PMO & PLM Tools

Jira Confluence Duro Teamcenter Power BI Microsoft Office Google Suite

CAD & Fabrication

SolidWorks GD&T Design for Manufacturability 3D Printing MIG / TIG Welding Machining Soldering & Electronics

Coursework

Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics & Control Feedback Flight Control Astrodynamics Rocket & Space Propulsion Aircraft Stability & Control Programming & Numerical Methods

Certifications

Level 1 High-Power Rocketry (HPR)

Beyond engineering.

President — Kappa Alpha Order

2024 · IFC Most Improved Chapter

Led a 170+ member chapter and a $200K+ annual budget, directing an executive board and 20+ chairs. Drove measurable gains in membership and engagement — earning institutional recognition as IFC Most Improved Chapter (2024).

🔧

Fabrication & Personal Projects

Welding · Modular Stage Design

Co-led the design and fabrication of a custom 800-lb steel stage for charity events using advanced welding and SolidWorks. Separately designed and built a 700 ft² modular stage system emphasizing repeatable assembly and interchangeable modules.

Let's connect.

Graduated from SDSU in May 2026 and now a Program Manager Intern at True Anomaly — open to full-time aerospace and defense roles. Always happy to talk engineering, programs, or hardware that flies.

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