Aaron Butler

Current

• Intern at S3 Ventures

Past

• Senior Mission Operations Engineer at Insyen at the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) for the European Space Agency
• ESA Operations Manager at Insyen at the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) for the European Space Agency
• ISS Guidance Mission Control Specialist at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (contracted by United Space Alliance)

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Education

• The University of Texas at Austin - The Red McCombs School of Business
• Vanderbilt University

Connections

124 connections

Industry

Venture Capital & Private Equity

Websites

• Venture Capital Fellows

Aaron Butler’s Summary

After a successful career in human spaceflight, I am pursuing an MBA to broaden my skill set with the intent to enter the private sector. My aim is to combine my aptitude and experience in a highly complex and technical field with my MBA education. Target industries include venture capital, technology consulting, and enterprise software.

Aaron Butler’s Specialties:

Human spaceflight operations, project management, UNIX systems

Aaron Butler’s Experience

• Intern

  S3 Ventures

  (Venture Capital & Private Equity industry)

  January 2009 — Present (1 year )

  - Evaluate the technical, operational, and financial viability of businesses seeking venture capital funding by performing valuation analysis and due diligence using primary and secondary research and market validation methods
  - Worked with a portfolio company developing a sales and marketing strategy, packaging design, and intellectual property protection

• Senior Mission Operations Engineer

  Insyen at the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) for the European Space Agency

  (Aviation & Aerospace industry)

  January 2007 — August 2008 (1 year 8 months)

  - Directed an international team in planning and executing operations for the Space Shuttle mission which launched, installed, and activated the €1B Columbus science laboratory, ESA’s primary contribution to the International Space Station (ISS)
  - Led engineers and managers in the design of ESA’s long-term plan for human spaceflight and mission operations
  - Implemented a training regimen for astronauts and the mission control team which culminated in the successful execution of the mission as well as operations which have continued until the present day

• ESA Operations Manager

  Insyen at the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) for the European Space Agency

  (Aviation & Aerospace industry)

  January 2004 — December 2006 (3 years )

  - Led Astrolab, ESA’s first long-duration (six month) astronaut mission to the ISS; selected from over 100 applicants
  - Directed mission advance planning as well as real-time execution of all astronaut and Earth-based scientific operations
  - Developed, delegated, and managed work packages amongst a team consisting of dozens of engineers, scientists, and astronauts at government, academic, and commercial laboratories in 8 countries in the 18 months prior to the mission

• ISS Guidance Mission Control Specialist

  National Aeronautics and Space Administration (contracted by United Space Alliance)

  (Aviation & Aerospace industry)

  June 1999 — December 2003 (4 years 7 months)

  - Executed over 2,000 hours of operations in NASA’s Mission Control Center as an ISS system specialist; the required certification was the culmination of over two years of training which less than 20% of trainees successfully completed
  - Developed training programs and mentored junior engineers in the principles of human spaceflight operations, successfully improving the efficacy of NASA’s mission operations training and reducing training and hiring costs
  - Led a team of mission control specialists in planning and executing all guidance, navigation, and control aspects of the STS-113/11A Space Shuttle visit to the ISS, culminating in the successful execution of the mission
  - Resolved a series of anomalies that put the success of STS-113/11A at risk; received recognition from the Astronaut Corps for the discovery of these anomalies and for developing and implementing a plan which remedied the situation

Aaron Butler’s Education

• The University of Texas at Austin - The Red McCombs School of Business

  MBA , Concentrations in Management and Entrepreneurship , 2008 — 2010 (expected)

  Activities and Societies:

  Venture Capital Fellows, Graduate Consulting Group, Technology McCombs

• Vanderbilt University

  B.E. , Mechanical Engineering , 1995 — 1999

  Activities and Societies:

  AIAA, SAE

Additional Information

Aaron Butler’s Websites:

• Venture Capital Fellows

Aaron Butler’s Interests:

Restoration of classic cars from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, learning bluegrass banjo, live music

Aaron Butler’s Groups:

Venture Capital Fellows

•    Venture Fellows
•    McCombs MBA Alumni Network
•    Vanderbilt Alumni Group

Aaron Butler’s Honors:

McCombs Merit Scholarship Recipient

Aaron Butler’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• career opportunities
• consulting offers
• new ventures
• job inquiries
• expertise requests
• business deals
• reference requests
• getting back in touch