Ben spent years diving into hundreds of technical projects before starting Reflect Orbital to train for the day when the right idea came along. In high school, he ran the “BenNbuilds” science channel featuring projects like an x-ray machine, a fusion reactor, high temperature superconductors, and dozens of airborne and underwater vehicles. In 11th grade he teamed up with Peter Brown of Whale Wars to build underwater live stream cameras in Hawaii to dissuade poachers. As a college freshman Ben led SpaceX projects validating Crew Dragon propulsion components, appeared on “Mythbusters: The Search” on the Science Channel, and solo climbed Mont Blanc. Sophomore year Ben summited Denali, returned to SpaceX, built a camera to explore the depths of Lake Tahoe on the weekends, ran 1,200 miles per year all while living in a Mazda Miata. Ben completed his engineering degree while working as Senior Engineer at Park and Diamond, splitting his time between Boston, New York, and China. After graduating, he worked as Director of Engineering at Tri-D Dynamics and Mechanical Engineer at Zipline. Reflect Orbital started as a typical 4am spreadsheet binge, and as the problem was refined and the opportunity became overwhelming Ben quit his job and partnered with Tristan to create an enormous company.

Tristan’s mission is to bring maximally creative, maximally useful, non-inevitable ideas to life. He has 10+ years of experience designing high-performance flying vehicles and first discovered his flying obsession at age 12, designing and building quadcopters from scratch in his bedroom. He’s been extremely in love with building physical things for longer than he can remember. Since that beginning, he has built innumerable flying and ground vehicles, developed patent pending VTOL technology, run a successful four-person drone design business and dived headfirst into industry. Directly after high school, he became the youngest engineer at Zipline, the world’s leading drone delivery company, after the CEO and CTO personally presented him with a full-time offer. Tristan took two gap years from Cornell University to lead the early design and development of Zipline’s novel 'Delivery Droid' while living out of a truck camper he built. While at Zipline, he let go of his spot at Cornell University to apply to Stanford University in an attempt to move his education out West, and was admitted. After a year at Stanford, Tristan took a leave of absence to co-found Reflect Orbital alongside Ben. Tristan has also played violin for 17 years and piano for 7 years, graduated from the Juilliard Pre-College, and has performed in Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York City. Tristan met Ben at Zipline, and the rest is history.

Zay has brought 4,000+ products to market across furniture, lighting, cycling, and wellness. At age 16, they started their first company, growing it to a part-time staff of seven. At age 18, Zay contributed to NASA Langley’s 2020 Mars Rover efforts. At Specialized Bicycle Components, they worked in the on-campus wind-tunnel, conducting thermal, acoustic, and aerodynamics research for the world’s top Olympic & RedBull cyclists. Moving to NYC they founded Zay Michele STUDIOS, debuting their first lighting collection in Chelsea 7 months later. Zay's design firm went on to show acclaimed work at premier NYCxDesign shows including Inside~Out & Jonald Dudd, and collaborate with Studio Sii, BIG MESS PR, & Mike Ruiz Serra. Zay is an Eagle Scout, transgender, and a CODA raised in a proudly deaf family.

Robert’s 25 years of origami design experience have helped pave the way for large origami deployable structures over the last decade. Beginning with his seminal contributions to the design of the Starshade’s Optical Shield at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Robert went on to design ultralight deployable heliostats for the Transformers for Lunar Extreme Environments project. Before joining Reflect, Robert continued innovation on ultralight deployable heliostats as the founder and CEO of Orisun, a startup focused on water desalination/purification through portable origami solar concentrating devices. Robert is a former cadet commanding officer and the most decorated cadet of the California Cadet Corps. Robert holds seven degrees spanning the natural and social sciences and has been recognized by the California Senate and Legislature for his roles in leadership and scientific research on seven occasions.

Dr. Erkin Sidick spent 20+ years as a Senior Optical Engineer at NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) where he focused on space telescope projects used for direct detection of exo-planets, in the areas of optical design, integrated modeling and optical simulations, metrology, wavefront sensing and control, seismic imaging and atmospheric refraction. He earned a BS in Electrical Engineering at Xinjiang University, a Master’s in Physics from California State University, Northridge, and his PhD in Electrical Engineering from UC Davis. He has authored and co-authored over 100 publications including journal papers, book chapters, and conference presentations, has 3 patents, and conducted post-doc research at UC Davis and Sandia National Laboratories. He has also received many awards, including National Best Student Award of China (1981, 1982), Best Teaching Assistant Award  (1990), Best PhD Thesis Award (1995), NASA Certificates of Recognition (2007, 2008), NASA Inventions and Contributions Board Award (2008), and NASA Space Act Awards (2010, 2011). Dr. Sidick was born in the city of Aksu in East Turkestan, or so-called Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China.

Harsha earned his MS and PhD in Aerospace Engineering from Caltech, specializing in deployable spacecraft structures with a focus on space solar power applications. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Guwahati, India, where he was awarded a gold medal for his academic achievements. His expertise spans theoretical, numerical, and experimental mechanics, composite materials, spacecraft structures, smart materials and actuators. After completing his doctorate, Harsha furthered his work on deployable structures at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, contributing to the development of the Starshade technology. With a deep commitment to advancing technology for the benefit of all humankind, he is now leading the development of innovative deployable systems for space reflectors at Reflect Orbital.

Patrick is faster in general. In high school, Patrick was a 2-time world champion of Irish music on the violin, led a band to win the national championships, and in the same year led his robotics team to finish as division quarterfinalists at the world championships. He then attended Georgia Tech for Mechanical Engineering & Computer Science, where he designed and built race cars & aerodynamic packages, co-invented carbon capture startup Praan's core technology, and worked at SpaceX where he owned the production of various Starship structures. He also co-founded a successful Irish arts & music school in Atlanta, and co-founded a software startup with a few hundred paying users. More recently, Patrick founded & runs the Lander Challenge, a nonprofit that has awarded prizes to college engineering teams around the world, and raised ~$1.5m from a variety of organizations including the Musk Foundation, Impulse Space, Stoke Space and the Bess Family Charitable Fund. He also recently went on a nation-wide duet music tour with uilleann piper Colm Broderick! Patrick joins Reflect Orbital after spending a year researching & prototyping a variety of energy & space-related projects. In 2023 Patrick was awarded the Payload Pioneers 30 under 30.

With over a decade in the renewable energy industry, Ally has been instrumental in advancing groundbreaking solar and storage solutions, contributing to two startups that each achieved $1B+ valuations. She holds a degree in Mathematics from UCLA, equipping her with a strong analytical foundation that supports her strategic planning, data synthesis, and operational expertise at Reflect Orbital. In previous roles, Ally has helped raise over $500M and supported dozens of patent applications. Her approach combines analytical rigor with a deep commitment to sustainable innovation, making her a driving force in Reflect Orbital’s mission to advance energy and lighting solutions. Outside of work, Ally enjoys exploring new technologies and is an avid cook.

David’s path is defined by a gravitational pull toward exploration—of space, architecture, and the resilience within people. Over 14 years as a Firefighter Engineer in Alaska, David specialized in HAZMAT, Dive Team operations, and served as Co-Lead Instructor for the Engineer Academy. Inspired by designing and building his own home, he pursued a Master’s in Architecture at SCI-Arc in Los Angeles, where he led as Co-Chair of the Student Union and co-founded SCI-Arc’s first chapter of the American Institute of Architecture Students. David also initiated the Freedom by Design Garden project, a concept to provide fresh, healthy food to students. A relentless hobbyist and learner, he is constantly drawn to new challenges, exemplified by his work at Reflect Orbital.

Chris needs to be active and competitive and brings that energy to both work and play. It started young when his baseball team won 5 consecutive little league baseball championships. He then competed on the quiz bowl team which placed first at nationals. He enjoys sailing where he won awards in 2 regattas, completed 4 marathons, multiple trail runs, and placed 1st in the 4 person Sacramento Marathon relay. Professionally he completed a Bachelors and Masters in Electrical Engineering with a specialization in RF. He interned at both NASA and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and since has worked at developing BIOS code, debugging memory issues, designing and producing a multi-million dollar military robot program, controlling fuel cell operation, and most relevant to Reflect Orbital, developing satellite payloads and managing guidance computer development at Northrop Grumman.

Charlie is dedicated to building. Most recently Charlie was the Chief Engineer at Agile Space Industries, where he helped scale the company from just four employees. While at Agile, Charlie lead development of several novel rocket engines supporting missions from moon landings to rocket launches. Charlie’s work at Agile also included growing the booking’s backlog from zero to tens of millions of dollars. Charlie holds a degree in Aerospace Engineering (Course XVI) from MIT with a concentration in political science. While attending MIT, Charlie alternated between working on the MIT Rocket Team and working at SpaceX. Charlie’s time at SpaceX started in Cape Canaveral, Florida on the Launch Engineering team and then moved to Hawthorne, California, where he worked on the Falcon Manufacturing team. Charlie’s garage features a full CNC shop, and regularly turns out rockets, drones, 3D printers, and other projects in his free time. Occasionally these projects find their way to YouTube where Charlie runs a small channel documenting engineering, machining, and aerospace. Charlie is an executive member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ Space Power and Propulsion Platform. Charlie is the Vice Chair of the Foundation Board for the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center.

Lauren Honda is currently a student at Orange Coast Community College studying Aerospace engineering. She will be transferring to Cal Poly Pomona where she plans to pursue a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree. Lauren was project manager for the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars where she lead her team in designing and building an autonomous Lego rover that competed against other teams. Lauren and her team won second place and were voted for the best team spirit. She also served as a mechanical engineer during the NASA Space Grant Consortium Internship where her and a different team constructed an Arduino-based lunar lava tube exploration rover. In addition, Lauren held the role of GNC (Guidance, Navigation, and Control) engineer in the NASA L’SPACE Mission Concept Academy, collaborating with another team a students nationwide to virtually create and design a mission to launch an orbiter to Enceladus for scientific research. Lauren is our first intern, but previously she worked as a composite engineer at another Aerospace manufacturing company called Kinetic Analytics.