Not far from his home town of Arvada, CO, Alex enjoys exercising his mechanical engineering skills over the full lifecycle of spaceflight instruments - from proposal development and concept design to flight system assembly, integration, test, and verification. In 2016, Alex earned an MS in Aerospace Engineering at our own University of Colorado, Boulder, following a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Colorado School of Mines. He has an acute passion for space exploration and an ardor for complex problem solving which have guided his career path. At a young age, his heart drove him towards engineering; early-life experiences like summer camps for robotics and self-taught automotive mechanics, crystallized his collegiate path in mechanical engineering. Alex is an avid reader, with a distinct love for science fiction. Some of his favorite stories are classics such as Asimov's Foundation Trilogy and Card's Ender's Game, as well as more recent works by Stephen Baxter, Alastair Reynolds, James S. A. Corey, and Andy Weir. These novels, in conjunction with a particularly outstanding introductory course in Space Exploration lead by Dr. Angel Abbud-Madrid (Director of Center for Space Resources, CSM), ignited within him an insatiable interest of outer space, a curiosity that led him to a career in aerospace. Alex loves to explore the wonderful nature of Colorado (and beyond) in many different ways. Snowboarding, hiking, fishing, camping, and off-roading are some of his favorite outdoor activities. On summer nights, you can also find him out on the softball diamond playing his favorite position - 3rd base. Most recently, Alex's contribution to the aerospace community has been his involvement in LASP's SUrface Dust Analyzer (SUDA): an instrument which will fly aboard NASA's Europa Clipper (https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/europa-clipper/). SUDA will measure the chemical composition of dust particles originating from the Jovian moon, Europa, informing us of the presence of many organic and inorganic compounds and tracing them back to their origin on Europa's surface. From 2018 to 2022 Alex performed mechanical design and analysis of flight subsystems, resulting in new design approaches to counter challenges with extreme radiation, substantial contamination sensitivity, high voltage, and broad thermal ranges. Towards the end of this time frame, he led the mechanical integration effort for the SUDA Sensor Head, and was heavily involved within the test campaign of the instrument. He is proud to be part of the SUDA team's efforts that resulted in the successful delivery of the SUDA Instrument to NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab. Prior to SUDA, Alex kick started his professional career on LASP's largest project (at the time), a collaboration known as the Emirates Mars Mission, which has been successfully acquiring science data around Mars since 2021.