Resume · Sheet 04
Mike Martin
Principal Radio Systems Engineer · Denver, CO
RF hardware engineer with seven-plus years in space and defense: RF architecture, link budgets, L- to Ku-band front ends and phased-array electronics. I led RF design for a satellite RF systems group and join LeoLabs as Principal Radio Systems Engineer in October 2026. I lead customer-facing architecture trades and proposals, and I scale engineering through automation, increasingly by building the tools myself with AI agents.
mike@mikebuilds.ai · linkedin.com/in/michaelm1 · mikebuilds.ai
60 → 1min
review time with a web tool I built
1,500hrs
engineering time saved
1:16
distribution network, 35 dB gain at 40 A
7+yrs
RF hardware for space and defense
01Engineering experience
Oct 2026 – Present
Space-domain awareness
Principal Radio Systems Engineer
LeoLabsCurrent
Jan 2024 – Sep 2026
RF Systems Group · Longmont, CO
Staff RF Engineer, Lead RF Designer
Redwire Space
- Promoted from Senior RF Engineer to Staff in April 2026 as lead RF designer for the RF Systems Group: RF architecture and front-end design across its satellite programs.
- Lead engineer for R-GPS: technical discussions, architecture trades and link budget development.
- Owned RF architecture for high-stakes proposals and represented the company as the technical authority.
- Built a web-based data-processing tool that cut review time from 60 minutes to 1, saving about 1,500 hours.
- Institutionalized standardized design reviews and "test like you fly" protocols, reducing non-conformances and improving test repeatability.
- Designed and managed L/S-band RF front ends from simulation through procurement and flight test.
- Directed CapEx lab outfitting and explored supplier financing models to modernize lab capability.
May 2023 – Jan 2024
Boulder, CO
Senior RF Engineer
Lockheed Martin
- Led a trade study on RF-over-fiber for ground-to-satellite links: gathered cross-functional requirements and evaluated architectures.
- Defined link budgets and system specs; coordinated vendor technical inputs for RFQ packages.
- Designed S-band communications hardware, balancing RF, mechanical and system constraints.
- Captured schematics in Mentor Graphics to electrical and interface standards.
Jun 2021 – Apr 2023
Westminster, CO
RF Design Engineer II
Ball Aerospace
- Designed the RF front end for a high-frequency system spanning L, S and C bands.
- Directed two engineers on schematic, layout and fabrication of test hardware.
- Wrote STM32 AGC control firmware over I²C, SPI and UART.
- Built bare-metal firmware for a phased-array T/R switch board with high-speed control logic.
Jan 2019 – Jun 2021
Westminster, CO
RF Design Engineer I
Ball Aerospace
- Designed and tested custom RF boards for digital beamforming.
- Simulated link performance in Microwave Office, HFSS and QUCS; analyzed results in MATLAB.
- Developed a Ku-band RF distribution board with connector and via optimizations.
- Verified a 1:16 gain distribution network: 35 dB gain, 40 A power delivery.
- Led design of passive and active RF boards for a ground-based phased-array demonstrator.
- Automated RF testing with SCPI scripting and lab instrumentation.
May 2017 – Aug 2018
Plano, TX
Electrical Engineer
L3 Mustang Technology
- Design verification on five DC/DC converters (buck, boost, buck-boost) for defense systems.
- Helped design and test magnetometer-based ICs, optimizing gain, bias and noise.
- Built a MATLAB/Simulink solution using a 9-axis sensor to automate radar test alignment.
- Wrote and ran test plans for drone-related defense hardware.
- Offered a continued role beyond the internship.
02Before engineering
May 2010 – Nov 2014 · Austin, TX · London, UK
Senior Supply Chain Analyst
Apple
- Operations and finance roles supporting high-volume product delivery.
- Inventory planning and cross-functional process improvement.
Jan 2006 – May 2010 · Tucson, AZ · Dallas, TX
Global Business Planner
Texas Instruments
- Led production planning and operations for a $225M product line.
- Data-driven decisions with a focus on customer alignment.
Nearly nine years in planning and supply chain is why I size trades in dollars and schedule as well as dB.
03Skills
RF systems
Simulation
Hardware
Embedded
Test & measurement
Software & AI
04Education
M.S. Electrical Engineering
The University of Texas at Dallas
2015 – 2018
MBA, Marketing / IT & Operations Management
SMU Cox School of Business
2008 – 2010
B.S. Business Administration, Finance & Operations
University of Arizona
2001 – 2005
Beyond the RF work
I also ship software and hardware, built with AI agents.
RF test benches, a 4-zone mains fermentation controller, a vision-and-voice wine cellar app, a SaaS invoicing product. Each one designed, reviewed and shipped with Claude Code.