John Richard Campbell, Jr.
(Ricky)

Engineer,
Space Enthusiast,
Computer Guru

I was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on October 12, 1981. At the age of 3, my mother brought my brother and I to Huntsville, Alabama, and shortly thereafter to Titusville, Florida. Here I grew up a short distance away from Kennedy Space Center on Florida’s Space Coast dreaming about one day contributing to the vehicles that roared off the launch pads and shook the very core of my being. As a result of the sacrifices made by my family, I was able to attend most of my excellent elementary and middle-school education at a private church-school. As I entered high school, I found the much broader spectrum of classes available at the public Titusville High School much more appealing. Here I gained fundamental understanding of computer programming, web design, mechanical drawing, computer-aided drafting, and electronics.

Upon graduating high school, I turned down a lottery-funded, full, four-year scholarship, to obtain an Mechanical Engineering degree from one the greatest engineering schools of the south; the University of Alabama in Huntsville where I could obtain a quality education while learning the culture and workings of the nearly adjacent, technology-rich Cummings Research Park, Redstone Arsenal, and NASA’s leading design center, Marshall Space Flight Center.

After a year-and-a-half-long cooperative education position working for the federal government at the Missile Defense Agency, I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and turned down an offer to continue working in defense to pursue my dream by working with NASA on the Ares I launch vehicle.

Now, I contribute every day to the design and development of the Ares launch vehicles, but still find the time to pursue my other interests such as Linux and Video Games.