Outstanding Aerospace Engineer Class of 2019: Tony Gingiss
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Tony Gingiss was on pause.
An Arianespace Soyuz rocket successfully launched on the coast of French Guiana in late February, carrying six satellites for OneWeb, the first among intended hundreds for a satellite constellation in low Earth orbit that will provide affordable internet access globally.
But Gingiss was being patient.
When a bystander asked if he could take a breath and savor the moment after the launch, Gingiss wasn’t quite ready.
Then, the first satellite separated. Did Gingiss feel comfortable now, he was asked? Not quite.
Then all six satellites separated, and there was confirmation by the ground station they’d been acquired. How about now?
Finally, Gingiss relented. Though in the months ahead he wants to see the satellites finish their on-orbit testing, he could appreciate the milestone, and the tone that had been set. OneWeb had successfully taken steps to bridging the digital divide and fundamentally changing the sociodynamics and access to information on the planet while subsequently transforming the aerospace industry with its Joint Venture’s mass production of quality, affordable satellites.
“It really felt surreal,” Gingiss says of the events of Feb. 27.
And confirmation of why he left a 22-year career at Hughes Space and Communications/The Boeing Company for internet startup OneWeb. Only months after joining OneWeb about two years ago, he was appointed CEO for OneWeb Satellites, a Joint Venture between OneWeb and Airbus to design and manufacture satellites for the OneWeb constellation.
The skill set required read like his resume. He was ideally suited from a qualifications and experience standpoint with the extensive portfolio built at Boeing, which included leading the engineering team for the Global Positioning System IIF Program. But the opportunity also checked a significant box toward Gingiss’ purpose: To work on projects that make a difference.
And this one is “revolutionizing the space industry,” he says.
“We’re building satellites in a production line the way Henry Ford built for cars. It has changed the industry. It’s going to continue to change it, and I think it will cause a shift in the whole industry,” he says. “I thought, ‘How many times am I going to get that opportunity in the years I have left before retirement?’ Let me help you — it’s approximately zero. So, for me, it was an intersection of good luck, being in the right place at the right time and then having the track record and the experience so that I could jump in and make a difference. Some of that is timing, some of it is hard work. Could I even dream of a better job than this? It’s possible but unlikely.”
One surreal moment is soon to be followed by another significant one.
Gingiss is one of eight alumni from the Purdue School of Aeronautics and Astronautics who will be honored as an Outstanding Aerospace Engineer on April 2. The award is presented to alumni who have distinguished themselves by demonstrating excellence in industry, academia, government service or other endeavors that reflect the value of a Purdue aerospace engineering degree.
“One of the reasons I went to Purdue, in addition to the excellent academics, is that it has many outstanding leaders and industry pioneers among its alumni,” says Gingiss, who earned his bachelor’s in 1990. “I am truly honored to be recognized by Purdue among such esteemed company.”
Gingiss credits his Purdue education as a springboard to help reach considerable heights in his career — and not only because AAE’s course load offered exposure to a variety of aerospace engineering disciplines but perhaps more because of the mentality the school’s professors instilled.
AAE laid the groundwork for Gingiss to thrive in the environment at OneWeb Satellites where innovation is an expectation.
“Purdue helped me hone my curiosity and endurance,” Gingiss says.
Gingiss points to three courses taught by Kathleen Howell — Dynamics and Vibrations (AAE340), Orbit Mechanics (AAE532), and Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics (AAE540) — as some of his favorites at Purdue. And not because they were easy. Far from it. Gingiss said those courses produced the most homework, in terms of commitment, and was the hardest homework he had. But they also produced a keen interest in the topics, especially with the way Howell taught them.
He remembers one assignment that required students to calculate Galileo’s trajectory to Jupiter, by hand. It was a significant amount of work but, even then, Gingiss appreciated the thought behind it: It was to instill doing work to learn the theory and the practice by using real-world problems. Galileo was a spacecraft designed to study Jupiter and its moons and was an actual NASA mission.
“Her courses were some I enjoyed the most and learnt the most from,” Gingiss says. “I think a lot of it was just her interest that we really learn and also her demand that we put in the work. She set the bar pretty high. In that spirit, Professor Howell is not the kind of person to tell you something to make you feel better. If she gave you a compliment, you earned it.”
It was exact kind of challenge Gingiss wanted.
He had other similar experiences at Purdue, including his senior design project with Professor Gus Gustafson that involved planning a mission to Mars. It wasn’t a new project necessarily, but it did serve as another example of the professors’ standards of excellence and insistence on pushing boundaries.
“Innovation is one of those elusive words. To me, it’s challenging the way we’ve always done things. At the end of the day, it’s really taking good ideas and applying them to real-world problems in a new and different way, not being constrained by the way we’ve always done it, and delivering on something real,” Gingiss says. “The reason I think a lot of people from Purdue have made a big difference in industry is because Purdue focuses on solving real-world problems. It’s not engineering for science’s sake. It’s engineering, respecting the science, and understanding, at the end of day, you have to do something with it. It has to be for a cause, for a reason, for a purpose. It’s not just learning the theory — it’s putting it into practice.
“We had the practical application piece because that’s just how Purdue is, but I really think it comes down to the professors and how they challenge you. They always challenged us. ‘Don’t just clone the last answer you saw. What could you bring that’s new to the problem?’ They challenged us to think outside the box.”
The result of that senior design project? A variety of space vehicle designs, all trying to meet the established criteria but none looking or working the same. There were multiple solutions to the same problem, which is where innovation comes in. Maybe it takes 100 attempts to land one really good, effective design. Then, and now.
And that kind of mindset, that kind of effort takes perseverance.
Gingiss certainly developed that during his time in West Lafayette.
The schedule was substantial, going to class all day, stopping home to grab dinner quickly, then heading to the library to study until 11 p.m. or later each weeknight. The weekends usually required at least eight hours of homework with a little time to take a quick break before the next week started.
“It was a marathon. We all did it. It wasn’t just me,” he says. “There were 115 students in my class, I think, and I would easily say most of us didn’t question putting in those type of hours. It was just normal. We all understood that if we wanted to be good engineers, this was just what it took. It was putting in the work.”
There was a close-knit core group of five students Gingiss worked and studied with during his time at Purdue, many of whom he is still in touch with. Learning how to navigate being part of a group, benefiting from everyone’s strengths, and establishing camaraderie within a team produced fruit in his career, too, especially now as a CEO.
“Being a leader is primarily about how you relate to others. Leadership is learning the value that people bring to a situation, building a relationship with them, pointing them in the right direction and providing them with the resources and support needed to accomplish the goal,” Gingiss says. “This element of working and learning together was a significant part of my education at Purdue and a key foundation to my experience in leading people.”
More on 2019 Class of OAEs:
March 25: Julie Arndt
March 26: Chris Azzano
March 27: Doug Beal
March 28: Mike Dreessen
March 29: Tony Gingiss
April 1: Scott Meyer
April 2: Lindsay Millard
April 3: David Thompson