Engineer Manager
Resume:
Residence: 256-***-****
Mark C. Horton W ork Cellular: 256-***-****
Huntsville, Al 35803
***********@***.***
SUMMARY
I am a decisive, results-focused and self-starting engineer and manager offering over 20 years of experience
in design/analysis, testing, operations and manufacturing in both aerospace and automotive environments. I
have a proven track record of success in research and development, solid rocket motor and airbag inflator
design, product launch, material / component / assembly testing, operations and manufacturing engineering. I
have extensive experience in toll-gate deliverables, team dynamics, process planning, earned value
management, lean manufacturing and implementation of designs and decisions in a high rate manufacturing
environment both under budget and on schedule.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Alliant Tech Systems (ATK), Huntsville, Alabama, Titles: Senior Design Engineer, Chief Engineer and
July 2008 – Present Material Test Lab Manager
Worked with the Thrust Oscillation team in evaluating and designing options to mitigate the thrust oscillation
by damping the rocket motor impact on the NASA flight vehicle (ARES I):
•Supported all System Engineering and Integration efforts as the Thrust Oscillation representative.
•Assisted in Tuned Oscillation Array (TOA) and Isolator design studies to damp the harmful motor oscillations.
•Supported customer integration with the Integrated Product Team meetings held with NASA / MSFC.
•Assisted in the implementation of the NASA reference dynamics model at ATK.
I assisted NASA and DOD (Army) on potential sub-scale designs to evaluate insulation and nozzle
performance of larger or flight weight motors. Utilized Abaqus for 3-D Modeling and structural analysis of
preliminary designs and tooling designs.
Working as both Chief Engineer / Material Test Lab Manager for the ATK material test lab located Huntsville
to improve flow rate, reduce total cost and implement new test capability. Responsible for evaluating
engineering requirements and executing the proper test series for both ATK and Spirit composite components
for the Airbus A350 program. Specific efforts included engineering design, proposal preparation, test
implementation and management of the labs daily activities. In less than a year, we were able to increase our
approved Nadcap and ISO17025 certifications by over 200%. Our team was able to meet budget
requirements and meet or exceed customer schedules.
KEY Safety Systems(KSS), (BREED Tech.), Titles: Senior Engineer, Lead Engineer Hybrid,
Lakeland, Florida: June 1995 through July 2008 Engineering Manager Hybrid, Production Unit
Manager and Plant Engineering manager
Engineer: Designed and developed the original side impact inflator for BREED Technologies. The Hybrid
Side Impact Inflator (HSI / BD) was developed, validated and in production within one and a half years.
Current production capacity is over 5 million units per year. HSI and BD are the most successful inflators in
the history of KSS.
In an effort reduce side impact inflator costs; I led the development / design / launch of the CGI inflator. This
new inflator design removed five components from the HSI design to simplify manufacturing and reduce
material costs. Currently in production and CGI capacity is over 3.75 million units per year.
Significant experience in the design, manufacture and processing of metal components. Experienced in
developing TIG, MIG, Friction, Laser and Resistance welds.
Engineering Manager Hybrid: Managed a team of 4 engineers and 6 technicians to design and develop
applications for HSI and BD inflators. Customers included Audi, VW, KIA, Peugeot, GM, Hyundai, Ford and
FIAT. Responsible for all aspects of engineering for hybrid and stored gas inflators, including research,
development, design and manufacturing. Met both budget and schedule for all application efforts.
Production Unit Manager: Managed a support staff of 9 engineers and supervisors with a production staff of
over 300 line operators and technicians. Ramped several products and production lines and was able to
produce over 7 million inflators in one year. Primary responsibilities included all day to day operations on the
production floor, setting priorities, meeting the required production goals, maintaining delivery schedules and
reducing production costs for all side impact inflators.
Mark C. Horton 256-***-****
Plant Engineering Manager: Responsible for all driver side, side impact and passenger side inflator
production lines and plant efficiencies. Managed a technical staff of engineers, technicians and toolmakers.
Responsibilities included: reducing production costs, managing line throughput, implementing new lines,
maintaining quality control, suggesting and implementing design solutions for all production inflators,
production line budgeting and staffing requirements, increasing line efficiency, controlling spare parts cost and
maintaining production line drawings. This position required the capability to provide engineering and
management support across all shifts over a 24/7 work week.
Was the link between both operations and engineering to implement required design changes and needed
modifications to improve inflator production and product quality.
Thiokol Corporation (Morton Thiokol), Huntsville, Titles: Associate Engineer, Senior Associate
Alabama: December 1986 to May 1995 Engineer, Engineer and Senior Engineer
Designed and developed solid propellant rocket motors for military and space applications. Efforts included
proposal preparation, hardware design, propellant grain design, ballistic tailoring, design verification and
production engineering of motor systems. Specific efforts included:
• Evaluation of propellant data, nozzle data, structural data and flow in many preliminary design efforts.
• Trade studies to evaluate impact of propellant performance, nozzle configuration, case and grain design for
numerous designs and proposal efforts.
• Assisted propellant chemists with the evaluation of new propellant formulations and the motor design impact.
• Maintained the design and performance database for production and proposed rocket motors.
Ballistic evaluation for production motors including Patriot, MK36, Maverick, TOW II and the Castor IV family.
Maintained data base information and related performance of rocket motor to build configuration including
propellant mix data, grain anomalies and build data.
Both preliminary and detailed design (nozzle / case / grain) for multiple Thiokol programs including:
Thiokol THAAD Booster Motor; FOG-M / NLOS Booster and Sustainer motor; TACIT Rainbow booster; New
Generation AMRAAM; New Generation Patriot; Castor IVA-XL
SPECIFIC COST SAVINGS AND PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS
At ATK - Implemented a wet grind/jig operation for the material test lab to reduce the time to machine process
control panels. First year additional profit for ATK exceeded $100K.
At KSS - By managing seal life and implementing maintenance program on high pressure pump systems, we
improved high-pressure gas efficiency from less than 10% to over 30%. The efficiency increase translates to
over $200,000 in real savings every year. I led the team to improve gas efficiency to over 50%. Savings due
to gas efficiency and seal life improvements exceed $1,000,000 per year.
At KSS - W e improved CGI production rate by implementing a team approach utilizing line technicians, cell
leaders and operators. Line efficiency improved by over 30% per shift. This improvement action amounted to
over $500,000 in increased sales every year off line IF. We launched the second CGI line in 2006 and the
third in 2007; both additional lines were based on the improvements implemented on line IF.
At KSS - My team managed the launch of the HPH inflator and two HPH assembly lines for KSS in 2005 /
2006. Despite production ramp timing being reduced from 1 year to less than 3 months, KSS was able to
maintain HPH inflator production ahead of GM requirements. The team was able to reduce scrap from over
12% of sales to less than 3% of sales. This reduction in scrap saved over $500,000 each year.
At KSS - Developed a hot-spun closed end pressure vessel utilizing seamless tubing. This hot spun pressure
vessel reduced cost of current production pressure vessels by more than 50% and allowed for increasing the
size and capability of hybrid and cold gas inflators therefore increasing sales of the inflators.
At Thiokol - THAAD ballistic trade studies involving sub-scale ballistic test motors and a large-scale test with
PATRIOT sized motor. The trade studies allowed for accurate analysis of throat erosion and grain
performance prior to design and build of the THAAD booster motor. The test data allowed us to redesign the
throat contour and grain design prior to full scale testing.
EDUCATION
Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama: BS in Aerospace Engineering - 1986
Mark C. Horton 256-***-****
PATENTS
DISTRIBUTED EROSION REGION ROCKET MOTOR NOZZLE
Patent Number: 5,579,635
Issued: 3 Dec 1996
HYBRID INFLATOR FOR AIRBAGS
Patent Number: 6,010,153
Issued: 4 Jan 2000
NOTE: Currently in production at a capacity of over 5M units per year. Longest lived production inflator in the
United States and potentially worldwide.
MULTI-STAGE ROCKET MOTOR ASSEMBLY INCLUDING JETTISONABLE LAUNCH MOTOR
INTEGRATED WITH THE FLIGHT MOTOR
Patent Number: 6,481,198
Issued: 19 Nov 2002
OPENING DEVICE FOR A COLD GAS INFLATOR
Patent Number: 6,629,703
Issued: 7 Oct 2003
NOTE: Currently in production at a capacity of over 3.75M units per year. This patent covers the CGI inflator
design.
PASSENGER SIDE MODULE WITH TWO AIRBAGS
Patent Number: 6,709,009
Issued: 23 Mar 2004
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