Meet our Team

Leadership Team

Miguel Ayala

Chief Executive Officer

Miguel has more than 18 years of experience in engineering. leadership and management of multidisciplinary engineering teams developing aircraft, launch vehicles, spacecraft, and associated ground support equipment in high profile government and commercial space programs. Miguel is passionate about contributing to groundbreaking innovations in space exploration and aerospace transportation. With the intent of becoming an effective well-rounded leader, he has devoted his entire career to gaining a broad background in engineering and leadership, encompassing: small startups and large corporations; design, analysis, test and manufacturing; propulsion, structures, mechanisms and thermal fluid systems; technical leadership; project and people management. Previous programs include SNC Dream Chaser spacecraft and ULA Vulcan rocket at Belcan, Orion spacecraft and A2100 satellites at Lockheed Martin, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets at SpaceX, aircraft GNC at L3 Technologies, Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) F-35 aircraft engines and ISS habitat module at Honeywell, and NASA Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster processing at Thiokol Propulsion (Northrop Grumman).

Miguel holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA. He also holds Bachelor’s degrees in both Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering from Arizona State University.

Michael Genest

Senior Vice President, Civil Space

Michael is a 37-year veteran of NASA’s human spaceflight program. Immediately after graduating from college Michael began his career at Rockwell International Space Division in Los Angeles as a member of the Space Shuttle mission analysis and integration team. He provided engineering support to the first several Space Shuttle missions from 1981 through 1985 and then transferred to NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas as a member of the Flight Operations Directorate, the heart of NASA’s human spaceflight operations team. For the next 30 years he held positions of increasing technical and management responsibility within both Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) programs that encompassed the entire life of the Shuttle program, the assembly of the ISS, and its transition to full operational capability as an orbiting laboratory.

Michael earned a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Penn State University and a Master’s degree in Space Science from the University of Houston.

Advisory Board

Jon David Cunningham

CEO – Jon David Group

Jon (“JC”) is a seasoned chief executive and management/financial consultant with over 27 years of hands-on experience in launching new businesses, building organizational infrastructure, diversifying revenue lines and growing overall enterprise value for founders, shareholders and employees within emerging technologies. He has deep knowledge and skills in the areas of finance and accounting, strategic capitalization, operations and personnel management, business and financial strategy development, entity structure design, deal structure creation, and M&A activities. He is a former CFO/COO of Dairy.com, a successful B2B/SaaS company and a former Arthur Andersen LLP executive. JC believes in disrupting the status quo for the greater good and engaging in missions committed to bringing needed change within challenging environments.

JC holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Baylor University.

Scott Hartwig

VP for NASA programs with American Biomedical Group Inc.

Scott is currently the VP for NASA programs with American Biomedical Group Inc. an advanced technology R&D and manufacturing firm headquartered in Oklahoma City, with offices in the Dallas area. He is also involved with two start-ups. He is President and COO of Star Harbor Space Training Academy in Mountain View, CA., and is a Founding Member and COO of Global Solution Technologies in Denver.

Scott is the former President and CEO of United Space Alliance (USA), a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin that was responsible for NASA’s Space Shuttle and Station program operations. Other USA roles he has held include Vice-President for Texas, Alabama, and Florida Operations; VP, Mission Operations at the Johnson Space Center; Associate Program Manager, Space Shuttle Flight Operations; Program Managerof the International Space Station; Director, NASA Space Shuttle and Space Station Astronaut Training; and Manager of USA Space Shuttle Flight Design Integration.

Hartwig is also a veteran of both the USAir Force (enlisted) and the US Navy (commissioned). He holds an FAA Commercial Pilot license, with Ground Instructor, Flight Instructor (CFI), and Flight Instructor Instrument (CFII) ratings.

Hartwig is a graduate of Arizona State University and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Industrial Technology.

José M. Hernandez

Former astronaut

José has over 31 year’s experience in cutting edge high-technology endeavors. Beginning in 1987 thru 1999, José served at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) where he worked on a variety of projects including the development of a space deployed X-Ray laser as part of the Strategic Defense Initiative. He co-developed the first full-field digital mammography system for the earlier detection of breast cancer and he served as the Deputy Program Manager of the Highly Enriched Uranium Implementation program. In 1999, José was invited to the Department of Energy Headquarters in Washington DC to serve as the Laboratory’s Program Manager in the Office of International Material Protection and Cooperation.

In 2001, José joined the NASA Johnson Space Center, in Houston, Texas where he worked as the Branch Chief of the Materials and Processes Branch. There he oversaw the branch’s activities in the areas of materials and processes, fracture control, nondestructive evaluation, failure analysis, and Nanomaterials research. José was selected by NASA as a member of the 19thclass of astronauts in 2004. After completing his training, he was selected as the flight engineer for the 14-day STS-128 Space Shuttle mission and flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station.

After STS-128, José was assigned to work at NASA Headquarters in Washington D.C. where he served as a Legislative Analyst and helped in the development of space policy, NASA’s annual budget package and served as liaison with key Congressional members. Additional duties included the development of an effective strategy that promoted the President’s new vision on Space Exploration.

Today, in addition to his position on the Board of Directors at Exodus Space Corporation, José works as a consultant within the company he founded in 2012, Tierra Luna Engineering, LLC. Here, he works on his areas of interest that include aerospace consulting, renewable energy, and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) outreach.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of the Pacific, Stockton, California and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He was also awarded 7 honorary doctorate degrees including from his alma mater, the University of the Pacific.

Frank Trevino

Partner AI Strategy – Illumulus

Frank Trevino is a digital advocate, digital transformation + sustainability strategist and serial entrepreneur currently focused on AI/ML, 5G, and smart platforms around telecommunications, space and public sector. He currently oversees AI strategy for a portfolio of technology companies.

A corporate executive and entrepreneur with 20+ years’ global experience. Frank’s transformation philosophy is to connect people, product, process and technology across the digital spectrum. Prior to co-founding Illumulus, Frank was a senior executive at KT Corporation (Korea Telecom), Digi Data (now Synchronoss Technologies) and Space Foundation.

His innovation efforts include participation in the IBM Watson AI XPrize (2016), 2x NASA iTech (2018/19), USAF AFWERX (2019) and USAF CyberWorx (2020) programs, including named a Hello Tomorrow ‘Deep Tech Pioneer’ (2019). He is a frequent speaker on AI/ML and digital transformation including speaking recently at Digital Transformation World 2020 and Yahoo Finance.

Frank is a Master of Science (MSc) candidate at the University of Oxford. He holds a Master Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Houston and a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree from the University of Texas at Austin.