Paul McGaugh

“I am most proud of the electronics I have in orbit – I got into this industry to launch stuff and see it work!”

Paul McGaugh holds the title of Vice President of Hardware Engineering. He leads the technical team and manages the projects for PlanetiQ’s satellite electronics design and development. He combines extensive experience in bringing together diverse groups of people and tools with knowledge of end-to-end spacecraft component architecture, manufacturing and testing. His expertise positions PlanetIQ as a leader in cutting-edge, innovative, highly reliable electronic hardware.

Throughout Paul’s career he has garnered hands-on experience through the unique challenges of designing electronics for space. He has decades of knowledge of the inner workings of the satellite engineering industry and experience adapting to current and new trends and technology. He served most recently as the Associate Principal Engineer, Space Access and Integrated Systems, at Moog Space and Defense Group, where he built on his talent as a project manager. He played key roles in the development of the widely-used BRE440 system-on-a-chip and the SB-SAT communication terminal for LEO spacecraft.

Growing up in the golden age of space exploration ignited his passion for space and engineering. As a Senior Research Engineer at Southwest Research Institute, Paul designed and tested a solid state recorder for the IMAGE MIDEX mission, which studied the global response of the Earth’s magnetosphere to changes in the solar wind. He also designed a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) circuit for the PEPE instrument that collected data on NASA’s Deep Space 1 mission, and a number of processor based command and data handling boards for various satellites. Prior to this position, he worked for Honeywell Process Solutions building control systems electronics that protected both assets and human life – an experience that left him with an indelible understanding of the importance of reliability.

Paul graduated from Lamar University with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. While he embraces the excitement of seeing a blank sheet of paper become a highly sophisticated and operational satellite, he also takes time to recharge his own batteries during camping explorations of Colorado’s backcountry. He has served as a local Cub Scout Den leader and continues to explore his fascination with weather and climate studies both at work and in his free time.