Instructors
Engineering services and short courses for the aerospace industry
Tom Sarafin is president and chief engineer for Instar Engineering. He has worked full time in the space industry since 1979. He worked over 13 years at Martin Marietta Astronautics, where he contributed to and led activities in structural analysis, design, and test, mostly for large spacecraft. Since founding Instar in 1993, he’s consulted for NASA, DigitalGlobe, Lockheed Martin, AeroAstro, and other organizations. He’s helped the U. S. Air Force Academy design, develop, and verify a series of small satellites and has been an advisor to DARPA. He is the editor and principal author of Spacecraft Structures and Mechanisms: From Concept to Launch and is a contributing author to Space Mission Analysis and Design. Since 1995, he’s taught over 150 courses to more than 3000 engineers and managers in the space industry.
Poti Doukas is vice president and a senior consultant at Instar Engineering. He worked at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (formerly Martin Marietta Astronautics) from 1978 to 2006. He served as Engineering Manager for the Phoenix Mars Lander program, Mechanical Engineering Lead for the Genesis mission, Structures and Mechanisms Subsystem Lead for the Stardust program, and Structural Analysis Lead for the Mars Global Surveyor. Since joining Instar Engineering in 2006, he has consulted for Lockheed Martin, the U. S. Air Force Academy, AeroAstro, Design Net Engineering, and NASA. He’s a contributing author to Space Mission Analysis and Design and to Spacecraft Structures and Mechanisms: From Concept to Launch.