Biography
Ryan Mitchell has been working in aerospace for over 20 years. For the first decade of his career, Ryan focused on technical aerospace systems expertise and operations. This past decade he specialized in leading people, growing teams, and managing programs from startup through initial production and flight.
Ryan currently works at Blue Origin as a Principal Technical Project Manager and is the strategic growth and capacity leader at for their manufacturing campus at the Kennedy Space Center. In this role, Ryan represents the manufacturing team in the specification, design, construction, and outfitting of every facility on their 300 acre greenfield site. Previously, Ryan served as Director of Manufacturing; hiring, building, and leading a team of over 50 engineers and technicians to construct first articles for the New Glenn first and second stages. Prior to joining Blue Origin, Ryan worked at Embraer Executive Aircraft as an Advanced Manufacturing Engineer, establishing initial and rate production for four new product lines. Prior to that, Ryan worked on the Space Shuttle and Ares programs with United Space Alliance in several engineering roles including design, test, assembly, and refurbishment. To date, Ryan’s projects amount to over $1B total investments in over 2M square feet of facilities and tooling.
Ryan started in the aerospace industry after earning a BS in Aerospace Engineering degree from the University of Florida. While working, he attended Georgia Tech remotely and completed a MS degree in Aerospace Engineering with a focus on space systems design & optimization.
Ryan’s personal mission in life is to enable a future in which millions of people live and work in space for the benefit of Earth. Along the way, he tries to be the best version of himself, a devoted husband, an involved father to his two children, and to collect engaging stories to tell when he gets to the old folks’ home.