Spring 2018 Hunt Alumni Newsletter

SPRING 2018

HUNT LEADERSHIP SCHOLARS PROGRAM ALUMNI NEWSLETTER

CONGRATULATIONS, CLASS OF 2018!

William Armstrong, Riley Blair, Emma Brown (December 2017), David Bunn, Michael Carlisi (December 2017), Andy Cook, Vivian Frederick, Hayley Goldberg, Enrique Gonzalez (December 2017), Whit Hobbs, Nathan Jajan, Tom Landers, Alice Mamula, Nive Manohar, Haley Mertz, Clinton Osifo, Priya Patel, MK Sapp, Robert Schmidt, Laura Schoen, Susannah Straton

GREETINGS FROM THE HILLTOP! The Spring 2018 semester has been a fantastically exciting one for the Hunt Leadership Scholars Program. Our annual Tate Lecture and dinner fell on the same week as interview day for the class of 2022, leading us to lovingly dub that second-to-last week of March "Hunt Week." We also had an incredible opportunity this semester to volunteer at St. Phillip's School and Community Center alongside several of you. This organization is very dear to the Hunt family, and it was wonderful to be able to supplement their support with an army of eager volunteers.

I hope you will enjoy reading about our semester, and also that you will enjoy our new featured alumni section. You all continue to make this program and SMU as a whole proud with all that you do!

Pony Up! Lindsay Davis

CLASS OF 2022 AT A GLANCE Total Scholars: 20 55% female, 45% male 55% Texans, 45% out-of-state States Represented: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Texas Leadership Positions: Student Body/Class President (10), Student Body/Class Vice President (2), Editor-in-Chief of Yearbook or Newspaper (1), Girl Scout Gold Award or Eagle Scout (2), Other (5)

CLASS ROSTER Eliana Abraham (Dallas, TX), Clare Beck (Dallas, TX), Niki Beck (Spring, TX), Tatiana Butkevits (Boca Raton, FL), Emma Cabrales (Dallas, TX), Trish Elliott (Key Largo, FL), Zach Emery (Dallas, TX), Ryan Genthert (Trabuco Canyon, CA), Travis Harris (Carrollton, TX), Kennedy Hayes (Bannockburn, IL), Austin Hickle (Lubbock, TX), Brynne Hindle (Ann Arbor, MI), Carson Little (Bentonville, AR), Brady Martin (Danville, CA), Alice Mellon (Dallas, TX), Mitchell Morrison (San Diego, CA), Logan Parham (Roanoke, TX), Luckett Robinson (Mobile, AL), Tiffany Saba (Roanoke, TX), Emily Stein (Dallas, TX)

FEATURED ALUMNUS MAX BENASSI Hunt Leadership Scholar MS Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Fluid Systems - SMU 2015 BS Mechanical Engineering, Minors in Math, Biology - SMU 2014 What is your favorite quote?

‘When the going gets tough, the tough gets going’ - I haven’t been afraid to challenge myself with increased workload or responsibility as opportunities arise, which is when ‘the tough gets going’ to work smarter, manage my time better and develop as a person and leader. Also, I like to tell myself ‘a fish that doesn’t open its mouth doesnt get fed’ because I find more often than not, I must create opportunities for myself, rather than wait for them to be handed to me. The lightheartedness of both quotes speak to my personality and the way I carry myself, I try not to take myself too seriously, but at the same time, I have found meaning and value in both of these quotes.

Did you always know you wanted to be a mechanical engineer?

I didn't, however, I always knew I was capable of studying engineering. I also saw the value of a technical background from my dad who studied engineering to then practiced intellectual property law. Growing up, family and friends always told me I would one day be an inventor, engineer or rocket scientist after seeing projects I worked on at home or after witnessing my ability to fix most anything - I suppose they weren’t too far off. Technical classes came easy to me in grade school so it made sense to study engineering when choosing a major.

Once I enrolled, I found the coursework and problems I was learning to solve more engaging than anticipated. I was enjoying my time at SMU so much, from involvement with the Hunt scholars program, to greek life to the Sailing Team, that staying for my Masters at SMU became a logical progression. Still unsure whether I would create a long term career out of engineering, and

FEATURED ALUMNUS knowing options from entrepreneurship to following my father’s path to intellectual property law existed, I wanted to maximize my time spent as an engineer doing really cool work. I explored the option of building fast cars in Italy but chose to join SpaceX in pursuit of reusable rockets and colonizing mars.

What is your current job?

Manufacturing Engineer, Propulsion Machining Operations at Space Exploration Technologies I currently work to find the lowest cost and highest quality solution for machining propulsion parts, ranging from F9 re-entry heat shields, to valve components, to Raptor turbomachinery. This can be quite a challenge considering the part complexity, rapid design iterations, short lead-times and exotic materials used. I have been in this role since late last year; I previously worked on assembly of secondary structures and mechanisms for Falcon 9.

When I joined SpaceX after graduating with my masters in engineering from SMU in Spring of 2015, it was a precarious time for the company. We had just experienced our first anomaly of Falcon 9 and were working feverishly to close out corrective actions related to the anomaly, while also upgrading the entire vehicle structure to a ‘full thrust’ version. I was immediately put in charge as the manufacturing engineer for fairing separation mechanisms, where my responsibility encompassed everything necessary to turn engineering drawings into fully assembled and tested mechanisms, ready to fly.

About 6 months later, December of 2015, nerves were high across the company as we counted down to our return-to-flight launch, double and triple checking our work to ensure no unintended consequences would result in the multitude of changes made. The launch went perfectly, accompanied by our first perfect landing - it was a huge success and was extremely rewarding to witness the manifestation of our hard work up to that point; we now get to witness this manifestation about once every two weeks rather than 6 months.

Over the course of my first year at the company, my scope grew from fairing mechanisms to include landing leg and stage separation mechanisms as well. I then transitioned from mechanisms into secondary structures where I became the manufacturing engineer for 500+ unique assemblies which spanned all sections of Falcon 9, Fairing, Falcon Heavy and satellites. In this role, I worked in tandem with design to upgrade almost all the assemblies to improve manufacturability and meet the reusability requirements of our block 5 design (launched May of 2018).

FEATURED ALUMNUS What books do you gift or have gifted the most to other people?

“The Reader” by Thomas Sowell and “The Innovator's Dilemma” by Clayton Christensen What is something you believe that other people believe is insane?

I think it is pretty likely for ‘life’ to exist outside of our planet; the fermi paradox is the most concise argument I have heard for this.

What is your favorite SMU memory?

Hard to pick from so many good memories, although a unique memory that comes to mind is when the Hunt Family arranged for George W. Bush to meet with the Hunt Scholar group. That was a really special opportunity, and to top it off, I asked him a question and he stopped to tell me I had an awesome name before answering. Thanks George.

What was the last costume you wore?

I dressed up as a Cowboy, wishing I was back in Texas I suppose.

Hobbies?

Lots, yes. Living on the beach in Venice I am often surfing, practicing yoga, sailing or paragliding in the nearby mountains. Although I get quite a fix at work, I still find myself tinkering and prototyping on entrepreneurial side projects trying to come up with tomorrow's sliced bread.

If you had a single sentence for Ray and Nancy Ann Hunt right now, what would it be?

I’ll never be able to fully express my thanks or gratitude for the opportunities that have arisen as the result of the Hunt Scholarship and the program drawing me to the SMU campus.

Thank you, Max, for letting us feature you, and thank you to Sandra Saenz '15 for her expert reporting! Have an alumnus you'd like us to feature? Send them our way!

WHAT'S NEW? President & Mrs. Turner hosted the Hunt Scholars in their home in April, where Dr. Turner updated the students on future campus initiatives and projects.

David Petraeus spent a great deal of time visiting with the Hunt Scholars prior to his lecture. The lecture was an equivocal favorite among the students, perhaps because General Petraeus had so much time to engage with the students beforehand. It was the perfect start to Hunt Week!

Mr. Hunt and Dr. Turner invited the Hunt Scholars to attend a luncheon featuring NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison. Two Hunt Scholars, Hunter Kolon & Darian Taylor, were lucky enough to wind up in this widelycirculated photo, too.

ALUMNI UPDATES CONNECT WITH US On Facebook: SMU Hunt Leadership Scholars Alumni On Linked In: Hunt Leadership Scholars Alumni

NEW JOB? BIG MOVE? OTHER EXCITING UPDATES? Send them to lrdavis@smu.edu! Be sure to keep your contact information up-to-date, too, especially your email address, to stay informed on alumni events and news.

UPCOMING FALL DATES Wednesday, August 15: alumni happy hour to welcome the Class of 2018 to the alumni world. Details to follow.

Friday, November 2: Homecoming Happy Hour. Invitation to follow via email this fall. Mark your calendar!

STUDENT NETWORKING Want to host a group of Hunt Scholars for a company visit? Need to spread the word about an internship? Lindsay can help to facilitate all of this. We want the Hunt Scholars network to expand far beyond four years on campus.

HELP US OUT! This newsletter should be what you need and want it to be. Content ideas? Things you want to know about the program? Send 'em on over!