Zach is a first-year PhD student and an active-duty member in the United States Air Force. He holds a BS and MS in Aerospace Engineering from the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, Boulder. He has held internships at Sandia National Laboratories, Blue Canyon Technology, and MIT-Lincoln Laboratory. Additionally, he has been an astrodynamics research scientist at Lockheed Martin, student pilot at Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training, visiting member of the Department of the Air Force-Artificial Intelligence Accelerator, and a hypersonic research engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory. He plans to explore the intersection of planetary science and robotics through autonomous proximity operation and landing techniques for small bodies. He expects to graduate in 2026.