Bogdan Marcu

Bogdan Marcu (born April 13, 1959, Bacău, Romania) is a Romanian aerospace engineer, Ph.D. in aerospace engineering, and expert in the design and development of rocket engines.

Bogdan Marcu
Born	(1959-04-13) 13 April 1959 Bacău, Romania
Nationality	Romania United States
Alma mater	Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest, Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Engines section, Class of 1984 * Doctoral studies at University of Southern California
Organizations	University of Southern California (1991 - 1998), * Rocketdyne (1998 - 2011), * SpaceX (2011 - 2016), Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings (2016 - present).
Known for	Rocket engines * Merlin 1D, * Merlin VacD, * prototype turbine of the Raptor engine and * RS-25 for NASA Space Launch System
Scientific career
Fields	Aircraft engines Rocket engines Rocketry

Since 1991, the specialist in jet engines Bogdan Marcu has been studying for his doctoral studies at the University of Southern California and has worked in the United States of America, in the field of rocket engine construction, in the following order: at Rocketdyne (1998 - 2011), SpaceX (2011 - 2016), and again at Rocketdyne, renamed Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings (2016 - present).

Between 2011 - 2016, Bogdan Marcu worked at SpaceX, the company created by American-Canadian entrepreneur of South African origin Elon Musk, where he was the chief designer of the rocket engines Merlin 1D and Merlin VacD, currently operating the Falcon 9 rocket, as well as the prototype turbine of the Raptor engine.

From 2016 to the present, the Romanian specialist returned to Rocketdyne, which, after changing its ownership and name, is now called Aerojet Rocketdyne. Here, he works as a project manager on the new engines derived from RS-25, for the NASA Space Launch System (launch system known by the acronym SLS).

Biography

In Romania (1984 - 1991)

Bogdan Marcu is a graduate of the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest, Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Turbomachinery section (then Propulsion Systems I), class of 1984.

After graduating, his first position was as an engineer at the Aviation Enterprise Bacău, previously known as Aircraft Repair Plant and Aircraft Enterprise Bacău, now Aerostar. There, the fresh engineer worked in the military aircraft engine repair department for Mig-15 and Mig-21.

During those early years, I sought to get involved in interesting projects that were underway: initiating the production of an auxiliary engine type RU-19 (Soviet Union license), planned to enter Romanian production in the mid-1980s, and using that type of engine on a prototype maritime rocket, a Romanian-conceived modification of Soviet rockets from the 1960s of the Y-15 type, a project that was eventually abandoned.

— Bogdan Marcu in an interview with Corina Negrea, Interview at Radio România Cultural

In 1986, he transferred to the Aviation Institute of Bucharest, later becoming the National Research-Development Institute for Turbomachinery (also known by the short name Comoti S.A.), engines department. There, he worked on projects related to the production of helicopter engines under French license Turmo IVC and British Rolls Royce Viper (both then in production at Turbomecanica). He participated in the testing and homologation of the Rolls-Royce Spey 512 as well as other Rolls Royce jet engines from Rolls-Royce Holdings that were planned to be manufactured at Turbomecanica starting from 1989 - 1990. In addition, he was part of a team that was considering the viability of producing the Soviet RD-33 jet engine.

In 1990, during the Mineriade, he decided to leave Romania, given the turbulent political climate.

In the United States (since 1991)

After emigrating to the United States of America in 1991, Bogdan Marcu continued his doctoral studies in aerospace engineering at the University of Southern California.

After earning his Ph.D., Bogdan Marcu began working at Rocketdyne, a company known for its important role in the Cold War NASA rocket program. At Rocketdyne, he specialized in the production of rocket engines for the space industry and, at the same time, began to train other engineers who entered the profession.

In 2011, he left Rocketdyne, joining the company SpaceX created by Elon Musk. For SpaceX, he was responsible for the design and production of the Merlin 1D and Merlin VacD rocket engines. He also oversaw the construction of a prototype turbine for the Raptor engine.

In 2016, Bogdan Marcu returned to Rocketdyne, which had been reorganized and renamed Aerojet Rocketdyne. He works on the design and implementation of derivative engines from RS-25, part of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) project.