01Sep 2026 – PresentFull-time
Avionics Engineer
True Anomaly · Long Beach, California
Working on vehicle avionics for space systems.
True Anomaly · Long Beach, CA
LukeHorton
Avionics Engineer
01About
Vehicle avionics for space systems.
I'm an Avionics Engineer at True Anomaly, working on vehicle avionics for space systems. My background spans aerospace engineering, systems engineering, avionics integration, performance analysis, and technical program execution.
Before this role I was a Program Manager Intern at True Anomaly. At San Diego State University I studied Aerospace Engineering and worked on aircraft performance, avionics, and systems engineering projects.
I'm most interested in spacecraft avionics, systems engineering, test, and mission-focused engineering work.
- Current
- Avionics Engineer, True Anomaly
- Based
- Long Beach, CA
- Education
- B.S. Aerospace Engineering, SDSU '26
- Focus
- Spacecraft avionics · Systems · Test
Long Beach, CA
02Experience
Where I work
02Jun 2026 – Aug 2026Internship
Program Manager Intern
True Anomaly · Denver, Colorado
Led an intern project across the company's active defense-space programs: a PMO and engineering template library supporting program-lifecycle execution and design reviews, with templates for major milestones and review gates (SRD, ICD, PDR/CDR/TRR, IBR, WBS) and 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%. Worked cross-functionally with engineering, production/test, and software teams.
03Sep 2025 – 2026
Inside Sales Engineer Intern
DMG Corporation · San Diego, California
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.
04Fall 2023 – Fall 2024
External Structures Engineer
SDSU Rocket Project · San Diego, California
Performed structural analysis and iterative testing on rocket launch lugs, refined SolidWorks CAD and drawings for manufacturability and subsystem integration, and collaborated in cross-team design reviews to meet structural and schedule constraints.
03Projects
Selected work
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
+My role in detail
Led performance and test-planning analysis: 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.
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
+My role in detail
Led a four-person design-build-fly team, owning schedule and scope to hit a single-semester timeline.
Led all avionics and flight software: configured a Pixhawk 6C on ArduPlane with an ExpressLRS link, mapped seven control surfaces across FMU PWM channels, and tuned fly-by-wire flight modes through iterative flight testing to a successful ground-effect run at 42.7 mph.
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
+My role in detail
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 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.
04Education & Skills
Foundation
Graduated May 2026
B.S. Aerospace Engineering
San Diego State University
Relevant 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)
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
05Leadership
Beyond engineering
- Members led
- 170+
- Annual budget
- $200K+
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 gains in membership and engagement, earning recognition as IFC Most Improved Chapter (2024).
President, San Diego Sales Engineers
National Society of Sales Engineers · SDSU · Fall 2025 – Spring 2026
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.
Fabrication & Personal Projects
Welding · Modular Stage Design
Co-led the design and fabrication of a custom 800-lb steel stage for charity events using welding and SolidWorks. Separately designed and built a 700 ft² modular stage system emphasizing repeatable assembly and interchangeable modules.
06Contact
Let’s talk
Always happy to talk spacecraft avionics, systems engineering, test, or hardware that flies.