Christopher M Vargas
Madisonville
Summary
Demonstrated Successful Leader in program management and engineering with 20 years of industry experience. Skilled in project scheduling and regulatory compliance. Successfully led planning and execution for multiple strategic projects, ensuring alignment with customer requirements and industry standards.
Overview
2027
2027
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Program Manager, Warhead Development/Production
Ensign Bickford Aerospace and Defense
Graham
2024 - Current
- Lead Program Manager for all C-UAS and Shoulder Fired programs: over $30 million in revenue.
- Propose, negotiate, and execute programs that support current US Government (USG) contracts.
- Single point of communication to the Customer for Warhead Development and Production Programs including manufacturing, test and qualification testing.
- Provide current/future Customer requirements to EBAD leadership to ensure that production capacity can achieve Customer needs.
- Lead Strategic planning for all new and recurring products to include material and labor estimations.
- Monitored production, product storage, and testing to meet ISO, ATF, and DOD regulations.
- Provide Estimate to Completion for respective programs based on manufacturing, procurement and engineering input.
Production Lead Engineer
Ensign Bickford Aerospace and Defense
Graham
2021 - 2024
- Lead a team of Engineers for the Plastic Bonded Explosives (PBX) and Warhead production lines. Products include multiple EBAD PBX products, AMRAAM®, GMLRS, ASM-509, AT4-CS and other warhead products.
- Reviewed standard work for accuracy, enhancing process capacity insights for effective scheduling.
- Lead and implement continuous efforts for continuous improvement for product Safety, Quality, Delivery and Cost (SQDC) utilizing Kaizen tools and principles.
- Lead Engineering estimate/quote process for standard PBX products, recurring Warhead production and new products. Efforts include labor estimating IAW multiple MIL-STD
- specifications, writing technical assessments and proposed manufacturing processes to demonstrate compliance with the Customer request.
Development Engineer
Ensign Bickford Aerospace and Defense
Graham
2015 - 2021
- Program Lead for production cell Setup, Validation and Completion of First Article Conformance for multiple US Army, Navy, and other Military programs. Utilized Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Project to establish program plan, and action items to ensure project was on schedule. Held weekly status meeting with KY site leadership. Multiple Programs required installation of new equipment, new manufacturing, and test facilities.
- Project Lead for the Definition, Installation and Qualification of 40 ft Drop Tower in accordance with MIL-STD-331 for Graham Test Facility
- Lead Engineer for Supplier development, Product assembly and Qualification testing IAW MIL-STD-810 and entry into production of multiple US Government Warhead Products
- Streamlined team efforts to meet production program deadlines.
- Engineering Lead for proposal efforts that require design documentation, design development, production process development and testing.
- Lead failure and problem-solving investigations on qualification and production programs
- Created technical reports documenting qualification efforts, product performance, and process changes to production process.
- Continuous Improvement activities to reduce product cycle times; tracked on Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost (SQDC) tracking boards.
Manufacturing Engineer
Ensign Bickford Aerospace and Defense
Simsbury
2012 - 2015
- Manage Production Technicians
- Schedule all work for Limited Production Floor.
- Work in a cross functional team to design, develop and qualify new hardware for use on Space Launch Vehicles: Lockheed Orion, Boeing SLS, Atlas V and Delta IV.
- Participate in failure investigations on qualification and production programs
- Participate in Critical Design Reviews with NASA, FAA, and other Aerospace/Defense agencies.
- Inventory management of raw materials
- Mentor for High School Co-Op Program
Adjunct Professor
University of Hartford
West Hartford
2012 - 2014
- Introduce undergraduate engineering students of various disciplines to the Engineering Industry
- Develop undergraduate engineering students’ technical writing and presentation skills.
- Introduce students to brainstorming, design validation, design solutions, failure investigation, and problem-solving techniques.
- Introduce students to various program schedule/layout techniques.
- Create and organize multiple team-based design projects to get students comfortable working in a team environment.
Project Engineer
Ensign Bickford Aerospace and Defense
Simsbury
2008 - 2012
- Lead Qualification of PBXN-109 production.
- Critical Design Reviews with NASA, FAA, and other Aerospace/Defense agencies
- Work with a cross-functional team to design, develop and qualify new hardware for use on Space Launch Vehicles.
- Provide proposal input for design documentation, development, and production tests.
- Complete compliance matrices to document full compliance to Customer requirements
Design and Development Engineer
Hamilton Sundstrand
Windsor Locks
2005 - 2008
- Coordinated and developed designs of multiple system components with Manufacturing, Quality, Procurement, System Project and Program Managers.
- Created Acceptance Test Procedures, Qualification Test Procedures, Verification and Validation Test Procedure and associated Test Reports for Liquid-to-Air Heat Exchangers.
- Coordinated FAA Conformity of test hardware for Qualification Testing.
- Coordinated and witnessed FAA Conformed Qualification Testing on Liquid-to-Air Heat Exchangers.
Education
Master of Science - Mechanical Engineering
University of Hartford
West Hartford, CT01-2008
Bachelor of Science - Mechanical Engineering
University of Hartford
West Hartford, CT01-2005
Skills
- DCSA Clearance: Secret
- Ensign Bickford Industries Management Fundamentals
- Ensign Bickford Industries Leadership Orientation
- Program management
- Regulatory compliance
- Risk management
- Engineering design
- Continuous improvement
- Project scheduling
- Cross-functional collaboration
Certification
- IFSAC Fire 1 - Simsbury Volunteer Fire Department, 2011
- IFSAC Fire 2- Simsbury Volunteer Fire Department, 2014
- HAZMAT Operational- Simsbury Volunteer Fire Department , 2011
Timeline
Program Manager, Warhead Development/Production
Ensign Bickford Aerospace and Defense
2024 - Current
Production Lead Engineer
Ensign Bickford Aerospace and Defense
2021 - 2024
Development Engineer
Ensign Bickford Aerospace and Defense
2015 - 2021
Manufacturing Engineer
Ensign Bickford Aerospace and Defense
2012 - 2015
Adjunct Professor
University of Hartford
2012 - 2014
Project Engineer
Ensign Bickford Aerospace and Defense
2008 - 2012
Design and Development Engineer
Hamilton Sundstrand
2005 - 2008
Master of Science - Mechanical Engineering
University of Hartford
Bachelor of Science - Mechanical Engineering
University of Hartford