At Mantis Space, we’ve brought together veterans from the space, defense, and research communities to power the next generation of the space economy.

Our leadership team includes entrepreneurs who have built and sold companies, engineers who have developed technology used by billions of people, and experts who have led some of the United States’ most important national security and space programs.

But at the heart of Mantis Space is our engineering team.

Our early technical leadership includes some of the most accomplished optical, electrical, and mechanical engineers working today—scientists and builders who have spent decades pushing the boundaries of space systems, precision instrumentation, and advanced electronics.

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Meet the team

John Sandusky, PhD — Chief Engineer
Sandusky spent 24 years at Sandia National Laboratories working on programs supporting the national interest. He served as the optical engineer for Sandia’s laser radar system that inspected the Space Shuttle on orbit and led payload operations for multiple missions.

Greg Brady, PhD — Director of Optical Engineering
Brady is a leading expert in optical system design and was a key contributor to the commissioning of the James Webb Space Telescope at the Space Telescope Science Institute. He also helped develop the diffractive optical element at the heart of Apple’s Face ID system, now deployed in over a billion devices worldwide.

Quentin Diduck, PhD — Director of Electrical Engineering
Diduck recently led electrical engineering efforts supporting MicroLED display development at Google’s Raxium division. He previously served as Director of R&D at Eridan Communications, where he led innovations in switch-mode broadband transmitters for next-generation wireless infrastructure.

Kevin Sawyer, PhD — Director of Mechanical Engineering
Sawyer brings more than three decades of experience in opto-mechanical system design. He previously served as Chief Engineer at HSA Engineering and led multidisciplinary engineering efforts at Apple developing next-generation optical hardware. His work has supported complex space systems for NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and UC Berkeley.

Brent Bergner, PhD — Director of Metrology
Bergner is an expert in precision metrology and optical instrumentation with more than twenty years of experience developing advanced measurement systems. He previously served as Senior Principal Metrology Engineer at Peak NanoOptics and Senior Systems Engineering Manager at Onto Innovation, and conducted research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Together, this team represents decades of experience developing the technologies that power modern space missions, national security systems, and advanced optical platforms.

Now, they’re focused on building what comes next for the space economy.

Interested in joining us? Explore open roles at our New Mexico headquarters or come meet the Mantis Space team at SXSW at the New Mexico House.