
Al Reisz is working on the Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) Space Engine. He currently directs the Reisz Engineers program to develop a gas dynamic mirror electromagnetic propulsion system at NASA’s MSFC. This effort is under a NASA STTR grant with the University of Michigan as the Research Institute. Reisz has also been involved with the current development of the J-2X. In the 1960s he was a propulsion engineer with Boeing in Huntsville, AL, the integration contractor for the Saturn V for NASA where he was involved with the J-2 engine development, flight performance and flight reconstruction. He was an engineering consultant to the Skylab program and started his firm, Reisz Engineers in 1974. With his firm he developed one of the earliest large scale solar energy system used in industrial processing. This solar energy system was employed in the processing of soybeans into vegetable oil and high-protein food stuffs at the Gold Kist Soy plant in Decatur, AL and was in response to the national oil shortage due to the OPEC embargo in the late 1970s. His firm designed and developed a greenhouse facility to use the waste warm water for heating and cooling at TVA’s Browns Ferry Power Plant. This project was recognized as one of the ten outstanding engineering projects of 1978 by the National Society of Professional Engineers. His industrial engineering projects includes designing and developing automotive ignition systems for Chrysler, and facilities and infrastructure designs for airports, industrial plants, and commercial facilities. Mr. Reisz is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and a Fellow of the Society of American Military Engineers. He is a member of AIAA and recently received the Alabama Mississippi Section AIAA Professional of the Year Award. He serves on the Alabama Professional Engineers Board having been appointed by Alabama Governor Bob Riley and is currently Vice Chair. He is Vice President of the Von Braun Astronomical Society and serves on the Advisory Board of Americans In Orbit. He has authored and co-authored several technical papers at ASME and AIAA conferences. He is author of “To Go Beyond” published in “Mechanical Engineering”, publication of ASME in November 2008. He previously authored “Earthrise” and co-authored with Steve Rodgers of NASA “Engines for the Cosmos” in “Mechanical Engineering”. He is a mechanical engineering graduate of the University of Kentucky.
Recent Comments