Evan Hilgemann

SENIOR MECHANICAL ENGINEER

Evan Hilgemann is Aurelia Institute's Senior Mechanical Engineer and his career interests focus on exploring Earth and space through development of hardware for extreme environments. Prior to joining Aurelia, he was a mechanical engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory where he contributed to a wide array of projects ranging from early-stage technology developments to flight hardware design and mission operations. Some highlights include maturing a concept for a fully mechanical Venus rover, delivering primary spacecraft structure for the SPHEREx space telescope, and commanding mobility and robot arm activities for the Curiosity rover on Mars.

Evan earned an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan where he largely focused on guidance and control of aerospace vehicles and participated in the launch of over a dozen experimental high altitude balloon missions. He also has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Nebraska and twice flew on NASA's reduced gravity aircraft as part of a research team. Evan has been a space geek since childhood, is an avid amateur astronomer, and enjoys sharing the excitement of space exploration with the public.