Peter Stuckey

Learn more about the Owner and Chief Engineer.

2016 – Present             Raven Wireless Design, LLC – Chantilly, VA

• I started Raven Wireless Design out of a love of RF design and engineering.  I’ve purchased copies of all SW I use in design, including AWR Microwave Office 226 (MWO), Visual Systems Simulator 250 (VSS), Sonnet gold, Orcad capture, Mathcad.  I’ve also acquired many pieces of test equipment, and have recently upgraded my soldering station with a new JBC nano station.
• RF design lead engineer for a US Navy Radar.  Developed the system architecture of RF path from antenna to/from ADC/DAC.  System cascade analysis.  Designed RF PCB for block up/downconversion.  Designed built-in-test and control that included RF tone generation, power detection, switching and linear supplies, and interface to Zync processor.  Link analysis using Carpet for navigation waveforms and custom Mathcad code for special missions.  Developed lab test setup for the RADAR.
• Design and validation of innovative new concept for automotive RADAR application.

 
2016 – Present           Aerospace Corp – Chantilly, VA

• Provide expert advice to government on RADAR, wireless communications and Sigint.  Perform detailed simulations and develop lab prototypes to validate analysis.  Design prototype payloads for small satellite application.
• Designed small custom PCB for small satellite.  PCB was 3.5”x3.5” and contained two independent channels of arbitrary waveform from 1-5 GHz.
• Developed VSS model to determine the effects of RF degradations on Radar waveforms after pulse compression.  Components included power amplifiers, LO (phase noise), variable attenuators and channel effects such as Doppler shift.
• Developed a system model using VSS of a complete satellite link.  The model included multiple ground stations transmitting to a satellite, where signals were muxed together, frequency converted, then amplified with a non-linear device and transmitted to multiple receiving ground stations.  Model included antenna effects, phase noise, filter effects, non-linear amplification, linearizer, propagation, forward error correction (FEC) and interleaving.
• Developed testbed for satellite modem characterization.  Used to characterize COTS and special modems for performance under scenarios that fall outside of typical use cases.
• Traveling Wave Tube (TWT) and Linearizer characterization.
• RF Safety analysis for high power transmit installation.
• Propagation and link analysis.

 
2011 – 2016              Ultra Electronics Ocean Systems, – Chantilly, VA

• RF lead for Periscope Detection RADAR for US Navy.  Designed the RF/IF path from bits (ADC, DAC) to the antenna.  This was a combination of RF PCB, connectorized (coax) components, and waveguide components.  Worked with mechanical, digital, and software engineers to debug entire system.  System was validated in over-water testing.
• RADAR propagation analysis and system performance predictions.
• Test and debug of first high power, x-band, GaN Solid State Power Amplifier (SSPA).  This included 1 kW, 2 kW, and 8 kW units.  Developed test setup for High Voltage Power Supplies (HVPS) and Traveling Wave Tube (TWT) amplifiers.
• Designed block converter, ADC/DAC, and RF front-end for a 175 Mbps communications system for surface ship to an Unmanned Ocean Vehicle (UOV).  Designed the packaging concept and did the link analysis for this system.
• Developed system architecture for submarine EW system.
• Received multiple performance bonuses.

 
2005 – 2011               Trident Systems Inc. – Fairfax, VA

• Principal Investigator for SBIR A07-114, arbitrary waveform generation for counter IED system.  Selected by US Army for Phase 2, and nominated for an Army achievement award.
• Designed block converter for US Navy UAV to enable frequency agility in the field with narrowband COTS radios.
• Designed block converter to translate 802.11g WiFi to/from military frequency for USMC QRC project.  Developed a 6 layer custom RF PCB with frequency conversion, filtering and amplification.
• Designed four channel SIGINT tuner covering 20 MHz – 3 GHz, which reduces size, weight and power (SWAP) and cost, while achieving performance of larger systems.
• Principal Investigator on SBIR SC05-005, communications system for high capacity, long range (10+ miles) two-way datalink for small UAV.  Selected by SOCOM for Phase 2 development.
• Developed miniature RADAR transceiver for Special Forces application.  Designed several small RF boards and validated simulation results with over-the-air testing.
• Received multiple Trident performance awards.

 
2001 – 2005           Raytheon (formerly E-Systems) – Falls Church, VA

• Designed the receiver for a broadband communication system for DARPA Future Combat System (FCS).  Designed the digital receiver, which was a custom multi-layer board that covered a range of 20-3000 MHz, with an instantaneous bandwidth of up to 25 MHz.  Developed custom analysis code to quickly optimize gain, noise, and intercept (GNI) of receiver.  The system was successfully demonstrated in multiple tests at military test sites.
• Designed RF Distribution (RFD) units for UAV, helicopter, HMMWV and other platforms.
• Developed FEC and interleaving approach for wideband OFDM system.
• RF propagation analysis and link margin analysis.
• Wrote RF section of winning DARPA FCS proposal.  Project started as a white paper then went on to five multi-million dollar funding phases.
• Received multiple Raytheon achievement awards.

 
1999 - 2001             Lockheed Martin Advanced Projects - Manassas, VA

• Designed control system for a tactical missile.  Published Design Information Release.
• Wrote a program for probabilistic modeling of damage caused to chemical and biological manufacturing facilities by high temperature incendiaries.
• Wrote technical sections of proposals.  Gave technical presentations to customers.

 
1997 – 1999           Atlantic Research Corporation - Gainesville, VA

• Developed technical specifications, drawing package, and test plans for first US produced Hall thruster.  Also identified over $750,000 of manufacturing cost savings.  Conducted reliability analysis and mission analysis for satellite systems.  Developed electromagnetic (EM) finite element models of electric propulsion systems.
• Wrote a proposal that won a $2.5M NASA contract.