David A. Kaufman, Ph.D.

David A. Kaufman, Ph.D., is President of Ball Aerospace, a U.S. manufacturer of spacecraft components and instruments for commercial, civil, and national security space missions. Ball Aerospace designed and manufactured the optical subsystem, which includes the18 gold-plated hexagonal primary mirror assemblies, for the James Webb Telescope. Previously, Dr. Kaufman served as Chief Operating Officer of Ball Aerospace. Prior to that, he was Vice President and General Manager of Ball’s National Defense strategic business unit, where he transformed the business from a subsystem and demonstration hardware provider into a full-service mission systems partner on programs of national importance.

During his 3-decade industry career, Kaufman has served in leadership positions for a variety of space system programs including DARPA’s Orbital Express NEXTSat/CSC and the USAF Space Test Program Standard Interface Vehicle. He began his aerospace career as a thermal engineer at Hughes Space & Communications Co. in El Segundo, CA, and was awarded two patents for his research and development work.

Kaufman is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and actively engages with the broader aerospace and defense community. He received a B.S. in mathematics from Willamette University, a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University, and a M.S. and Ph. D in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology.