Aerospace Engineering

John Francis

Graduating May 2027

I am currently a Senior at the University of Notre Dame studying Aerospace Engineering.

Scroll below to see what I have been creating — from rocket components, to metal artwork and much more!

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CAD render of Gulfstream G650 cabin seating and oval window — Flexjet Project LXi

Projects

From CAD to finished hardware — welding, CNC, casting, and flight hardware.

Finished welded metal N emblem trophy on a wooden workbench

Welded trophy

Cardboard mockup → steel → weld / grind.
Finished black HDPE fidget spinner with hand-painted Earth, Moon, and Mars on the three arms

Earth / Moon / Mars spinner

SolidWorks → Haas CNC → hand-finished HDPE.
Apollo-inspired aluminum relief casting with polished spacecraft and parachute details

Apollo aluminum casting

Cardboard prototype → mold → cast aluminum.
Square wood block branded with custom figure logo from the branding iron

Custom branding iron

Designed, welded, forged, and used on wood.
CAD payload design cutaway for NASA USLI

Rocketry Club & NASA USLI

Cofounder / president · nose cone lead · grant funding.
Integrated ACS CAD and as-built hardware

Notre Dame ACS USLI

Carbon fiber drag flaps — CAD, hardware, flight, CFD.
CAD render of Gulfstream G650 cabin seating and oval window

Flexjet Project LXi

G650 cabin — designed in CAD, then rendered (not AI).

Flying Experience

Private pilot with 65+ flight hours and 200+ landings. 5+ solo flight hours.

  • Aircraft — Pipistrel Sinus Max, Cirrus SR20, Cessna 172, and L-23 Super Blaník (glider)
  • Hours — 65+ flight hours · 5+ solo
  • Landings — 200+ · 9 different airports
Pipistrel Sinus Max light-sport aircraft on the apron with the cabin door open
Pipistrel Sinus Max
Cirrus SR20 on the tarmac in lime green and silver paint
Cirrus SR20
Cessna 172 on the tarmac in white with blue and red accents
Cessna 172

Professional Experience

Tesla — Sales & Delivery Advisor II

Seasonal · Lisle & Schaumburg, IL · Fall 2023–Spring 2024

  • Delivered 85+ cars in the last 2 days of Q4; 49 vehicles in a single 13-hour shift.
  • Brought engineering and physics into Cybertruck conversations with customers.

Tesla — Sales, Service & Delivery Advisor I

Full-time · Libertyville, IL · Fall 2022–Spring 2023

  • Built and ran a rules-based delivery system.
  • Explained vehicle and energy systems to customers.

Aviation Association — Cofounder

Student organization

  • Helped raise ~$75k; acquired a Redbird LD flight simulator.
  • Hosted speakers including General Bunch and Astronaut Col. Hopkins.

Education

B.S. Aerospace Engineering

University of Notre Dame · Expected May 2027

Mechanical & Materials Engineering Undergraduate, Fall 2024–Spring 2025 · University of Alabama at Birmingham

Skills

  • ANSYS (Meshing, Fluent, Structural)
  • SolidWorks
  • MATLAB
  • LaTeX
  • Rapid prototyping / G-code
  • Haas CNC
  • Welding / fabrication
  • Casting
  • Forge / branding
  • Private pilot

Contact