Fred Perkins, President and Founder

fp_headshot2Mr. Perkins is the owner of FEA-LLC. He has 30 years of professional experience in business management, engineering, and marketing. In addition to his composite material structural research, he is currently working on BMDS system engineering issues, as well as the other major MDA elements at the MDA Director level. Other recent experience includes use of a wide variety of CAD/CAM and FEA-LLC applications in spacecraft and terrestrial system design, two US patents (5152482, 5271582), principal investigator in two completed SBIR programs related to repair of composite aircraft parts; one for the US Navy, integrating finite element structural analysis technology with a graphical user interface and SQL databases for expert system use of structural analysis by flight line mechanics repairing composite aircraft parts, and a separate program for the USAF demonstrating the use of stochastic design improvement for honeycomb/composite aircraft parts. He also has recent experience with a variety of engineering consulting and management consulting contracts. He was the founder of Standard Space Platforms Corporation and FEA-LLC, and a cofounder of BladeCo LLC. Additional recent related professional activities include an extended assignment at the Naval Research Office Best Manufacturing Practices Center of Excellence in College Park, Maryland, and an extended assignment at MDA/Quality, Safety, and Mission Assurance office in the Pentagon reservation. In those assignments, Mr. Perkins has participated in program and engineering reviews of numerous DOD flight programs, its contractors and engineering practices, its quality standards, and the design engineering of several MDA programs.

Mr. Perkins received a BS in Physics and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, was inducted into Tau Beta Pi in 1978, has published numerous papers, was a member of the Vice President’s Space Policy Advisory Board in 1991, and is a member of several professional societies. Mr. Perkins has published many technical papers and made innumerable related presentations. Mr. Perkins has a current TS security clearance.

Speaking engagements and publications include:

  • Fred Perkins, “Aircraft Repair Can And Should Be Automated”, High Performance Composites Magazine, May 2006
  • Fred Perkins, “Return on Investment for Finite Element Analysis in Composite Aircraft Part Repair”, Federal Engineering Associates, McLean, VA 22101, 2006 Virtual Product Development Conference, 17-19 July, 2006, Huntington Beach, CA
  • Perkins, Fred and Siebert, Thorsten, “Combine Simulation and Experiment in Automotive Testing with ESPI Measurement, Sensors Show”, Philadelphia, October 2001
  • Perkins, Fred, “Q-100 Reduces Prototype Costs and Improves Fatigue Life of Outboard Motors”, Ettemeyer AG Application Report No. 03.01.
  • Perkins, Fred and Noonan, Paul; “Modern Software Architecture for Satellite Formation Flight Dynamics Automation”, AAS/AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Meeting, Clearwater, Florida 23-26 January, 2000
  • Invited participant to September, 1993 NASA Small Spacecraft Technology Conference
  • Invited speaker at July, 1993 NASA Launch Voucher Conference
  • Perkins, F.W., "Progress at Standard Space Platforms Corporation", SPIE Conference, FL; 1992
  • Perkins, F.W., Frederick W. Perkins,"Low-cost space flight for attached payloads ', pp.157-163, SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1495, Small-Satellite Technology and Applications, Editor(s): Brian J. Horais, W.J. Shafer Associates, Inc., Arlington, VA, USA., ISBN: 0-8194-0604-X, 296 pages Published 1991 Meeting Date: 04/01/91, Orlando, FL
  • Perkins, F.W., et al., "Near Term Application of Modern Propulsion Technology to a Tactical Transport," presented at the AIAA Aircraft Design Conference, October 31 - November 2, 1984, CA
  • plus additional technical publications, many newspaper and trade press articles, and innumerable briefings.