Innovation through experience.
Mike has amassed more than 30 years of engineering experience in space programs, aviation, manufacturing, and assembly. He is a licensed Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, Utah, & Washington professional engineer and has several design approvals for tooling to support aircraft and spacecraft manufacturing, assembly, transport, and servicing.
Mike has been delegated by the FAA as a Consultant Designated Engineering Representative (DER) for Part 23 & 25 Aircraft with full structures approval in static analysis, design & construction, service documents, all metallic and nonmetallic materials & processes specifications, interior material flammability, and major repair/major alteration. Mike Gordon worked at Piper Aircraft for 12 years as the Quality and Process Engineering Director where he was responsible for Liaison Engineering, Materials & Processes Engineering, Calibration Laboratory, Nondestructive Evaluation, Manufacturing Engineering, Tooling, Numerically Controlled Machine Programming, Technical Training, Industrial Engineering, Methods & Planning, Continuous Improvement, Quality Control, Quality Assurance, Quality Engineering, and Supplier Quality. Mike continues to support the Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) and Material Review Board (MRB) at Piper Aircraft on a contractual basis. He supported the Space Shuttle Program for a total of 86 missions (STS-49 to STS-132) during his 18-year tenure working for Rockwell International, Rockwell North American, and then The Boeing Company.
Mike started as Materials & Processes Engineer where he acquired the proficiency with procurement, production, processing, testing, analysis, design, certification, assembly, inspection, failure analyses, and repair of all material types ranging from structural and refractory metals to polymers, ceramics, and composites. In 2000, Mike was appointed as the subsystem manager (SSM) of the Orbiter Leading Edge Structural Subsystem that included the design and analyses of all reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) composite heatshield components, their attachment, and internal insulation. As SSM, he approved the certification of flight readiness for 26 Shuttle missions (STS-108 through STS-132) and was heavily involved with the 2003 Columbia accident. Mike earned awards for this work including the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Stellar Award, the NASA Space Shuttle Program Manager’s Star Award, the Silver Snoopy Award given by the Astronaut Office, and was the 40th Anniversary NASA Space Flight Awareness Honoree.
Mr. Gordon also has a respectable litigation support case history for his forensic engineering involving matters of general aviation, commercial aviation, rotorcraft, as well as extensive involvement with the STS-107 Space Shuttle Columbia accident investigation (including vehicle reconstruction, fault-tree analyses, accident recreation, depositions, and dozens of expert testimonies). Mike has a party to National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigations and has worked alongside FAA, NTSB, foreign investigative entities, and OEM air safety professionals to determine the probable cause in several incidents. He authored expert reports, formulated & answered interrogatories, made declarations, supported depositions, and has testified at trials. Mike also performs domestic and international consulting on materials and process solutions and related opportunities in a wide variety of markets, has given countless technical lectures and plenary keynote presentations, and has several publications to his credit. He was an adjunct professor prior to the Columbia mishap and developed the one-fifth of the curriculum for a college program in aerospace technology.
Mike is an ABET Program Evaluator representing the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and has successfully completed several domestic and international university mechanical engineering program evaluation assignments. Michael Gordon earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering (with emphasis on Structures & Materials) along with an Advanced Graduate Certificate in Materials Science & Engineering from the Florida Institute of Technology.