Peter Joseph Beck

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Peter Beck (2013)

Peter Joseph Beck (* 1976 or 1977 in Invercargill ) is a New Zealand inventor , rocket designer and entrepreneur. He became internationally known as the founder and technical director of the New Zealand-US space company Rocket Lab .

Career

Youth, Education and Research

Peter Beck grew up in Invercargill in the south of New Zealand. His father Russell Beck was a renowned gemologist and director of the Southland Museum and Art Gallery , New Zealand's largest cultural heritage organization. The Beck family has a long tradition of engineers and inventors, and Peter Beck followed this example. For example, there are anecdotes about his school days that he constructed his first bicycle from aluminum parts and that he fitted his Mini with a turbocharger . At a young age he developed an interest in astronomy and rocket technology , in which he continued his education and research throughout his further career.

After graduating from James Hargest High School in Invercargill, he moved to Dunedin at the age of 18 and began an apprenticeship as a toolmaker and precision technician with the household appliance manufacturer Fisher & Paykel . In 2001 he switched to the state research institute Industrial Research Ltd. in Auckland and worked there on manufacturing processes for high-temperature superconductors (HTS). He is the inventor of a patented device for the production of HTS cables. In 2009 he and his research team were awarded the Cooper Medal of the Royal Society of New Zealand for their basic work.

Rocket Lab

In 2006, Beck founded the New Zealand space company Rocket Lab, whose headquarters he later relocated to Los Angeles , United States . He was able to win well-known investors such as Stephen Tindall , Khosla Ventures , Lockheed Martin and Bessemer Venture Partners as financiers and, with his team, constructed the Ātea-1 , which in 2009 was the first private rocket built in the southern hemisphere to reach space . Another pioneering achievement was the establishment of the world's first privately operated launch site for orbital rockets, the Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in northeast New Zealand. When it was completed in 2016, it preceded the US space entrepreneur Elon Musk , whose spaceport in Texas was also due to open in 2016, but was several years late. At the beginning of 2018, Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 successfully launched the new Electron rocket, which, among other things, is breaking new ground with its CFRP construction and electrically operated fuel pumps.

Private

Peter Beck is married and has two children.

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Alan Dixon: Southern scientist aimed for stars and won. In: Southland Times. December 2, 2009, accessed March 26, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b Simon Hendery: National Portrait: Peter Beck - NZ space pioneer once mocked for his vision. In: stuff.co.nz. January 7, 2017, accessed March 27, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Business Leader of the Year Award: Peter Beck. In: New Zealand Herald. December 14, 2015, accessed March 26, 2018 .
  4. ↑ a b c d Grant Bradley: The Rocket Man: Who is Peter Beck? In: New Zealand Herald. May 25, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2018 .
  5. ↑ About us: Peter Beck - CEO, CTO, Founder. Rocket Lab, accessed March 27, 2018 .
  6. ↑ a b Peter Beck. In: Science Learning Hub. August 22, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2018 .
  7. ^ Peter Joseph Beck: Apparatus for forming HTS continuous conductor elements. In: patents.google.com. December 21, 2006, accessed March 27, 2018 .
  8. ↑ a b Scientists celebrate Cooper Medal win. In: Dominion Post. January 31, 2009, accessed March 27, 2018 .
  9. ^ New Zealand Innovator of the Year. New Zealander of the Year Awards, accessed March 27, 2018 .
  10. ^ Peter Beck joins University of Auckland faculty. In: CIO.co.nz. September 3, 2019, accessed September 4, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Beck, Peter Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION New Zealand inventor, missile designer and entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH 1976 or 1977
PLACE OF BIRTH Invercargill