ESAero Engineer

Empirical Systems Aerospace (ESAero) is an industry leader in advanced aerospace solutions, specializing in the design, manufacturing, and integration of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and other cutting-edge aircraft technologies. Located in San Luis Obispo, CA, ESAero partners with a variety of companies to develop next-generation aviation technologies, with a strong focus on efficiency, scalability, and high-performance engineering.

I began my tenure at ESAero as an intern in November 2024 and, following my graduation in June 2025, was immediately brought on full-time. In the role of Manufacturing Engineer (Tooling Design), I serve as a tooling designer and Engineering Point Person for major aerospace assemblies. Rather than just overseeing production, I focus heavily on the mechanical design of custom fixtures, critical testing aids, and specialized tooling utilized by multiple value streams and over 100 technicians. My position bridges the vital gap between initial product design and physical manufacturing, allowing me to apply strict Design for Manufacturing (DFM) principles to ensure complex assemblies are built to exact tolerances.

I have established myself as the "go-to" design specialist on the manufacturing floor. When production lines encounter assembly issues, supervisors and technicians frequently request my assistance to design and build custom solutions. I utilize SolidWorks and PDM/Vault to design fixtures, jigs, and testing aids that solve immediate line-stoppage issues. This involves the full design cycle: creating technical drawings, conducting formal design reviews, and managing Engineering Change Requests (ECRs) to ensure every tool is properly documented.

Beyond quick-turn shop aids, I design critical testing fixtures that must adhere to formal tooling standards. A major aspect of this work involves tolerance range optimization. I meticulously analyze acceptable tolerance ranges by considering exactly how a specific part will fit into the product further down the assembly process. By optimizing these tolerances, I ensure the parts remain easily manufacturable for our technicians on the line while still fitting together flawlessly at the end of the build to meet the customer's strict final criteria.

During my time as an intern, I laid the groundwork for facility-wide efficiency by developing a comprehensive tooling database spreadsheet system to track and manage manufacturing assets. To further standardize our workstations, I spearheaded a custom CNC Router setup dedicated to cutting custom shadow boards. This initiative allowed us to organize tools across the entire facility, ensuring technicians have immediate access to the equipment they need while maintaining strict organization on the floor.

I act as the link between the Senior Leadership Team, Design Engineering, and the production floor. My responsibility is to keep leadership informed of build status and critical issues while simultaneously ensuring that their strategic directives are effectively implemented on the line. When process changes are mandated from the top down, I am the direct connection ensuring those changes are executed correctly by the technicians, maintaining alignment between business goals and daily operations. Part of maintaining this alignment involves upholding strict aerospace quality standards. I frequently perform Root Cause Analysis (RCA) on production failures, implement corrective actions like foolproofed assembly steps, handle the disposition of Non-Conformance Reports (NCRs), and collaborate with Quality Engineering to resolve supplier defects before they impact the line.

One of my first major initiatives was taking ownership of the company’s primary internal 3D printing shop. I identified that the shop was underutilized due to scheduling inefficiencies and poor print orientation choices. By restructuring the scheduling priority and optimizing print settings for faster print times, I increased part throughput by 300%. I reduced the internal lead time for printed tools from over 7 weeks to under 2 weeks. This allowed for much more rapid prototyping and a much faster rollout of changes to the production floor.