Aerospace / Extreme-Environment Materials Selection Consultant

Good Ground Innovation, Consultant Opportunity Posting Confidential | NDA Required Prior to Full Scope Disclosure Aerospace / Extreme-Environment Materials Selection Consultant Good Ground Innovation, LLC Location: Remote Engagement: Contract, project-based, Phase II extension possible Start: Contingent on federal SBIR award. Not yet funded. About the Opportunity Good Ground Innovation is an independent invention company with three issued USPTO patents and a fourth allowed. We have submitted a NASA SBIR Phase I proposal built around a patented omnidirectional energy capture architecture, and are preparing a related NSF submission. Both involve a structural geometry intended to operate in extreme environments, including Mars surface conditions (CO2 atmosphere, thermal cycling, radiation exposure, dust storm wind loads up to 25 m/s) and high-stress terrestrial deployments. We need a materials selection consultant to evaluate candidate materials for the shell structure, dimpled capture surfaces, and pivot bearing assembly under these conditions. This is materials selection and trade-study work, not materials invention. We need someone who has done this kind of evaluation before, ideally in aerospace, defense, or space-systems contexts, and can work from existing material property databases (MatWeb, ASM Aerospace Specification Metals, NASA MAPTIS) to produce defensible candidate recommendations with documented trade-offs. What This Is Not This is not a funded position yet. We are pre-award. If you require guaranteed paid work starting immediately, this is not the right fit right now. We are building a bench of qualified, vetted consultants ready to move the moment award funding clears and want an honest conversation about availability and rate before that happens, not after. Scope (Phase I, Pending Award) Candidate material screening for shell structure, dimple surface, and pivot bearing under Mars thermal cycling, CO2 atmosphere, and radiation exposure Trade-off analysis: weight, cost, manufacturability, and survivability under the above conditions Documentation suitable for a federal technical deliverable (clear sourcing, defensible rationale, no unsupported claims) Coordination with a separate CFD/structural analysis consultant, whose output (wind load and stress data) will inform your material recommendations What We're Looking For Demonstrated aerospace, defense, or space-systems materials selection experience, not general industrial materials work Comfort working from public/licensed material property databases rather than running new physical tests (Phase I is analytical, not lab-based) Ability to produce federal-proposal-grade documentation Willingness to sign an NDA before any technical scope, patent details, or proprietary geometry are shared. This is non-negotiable. No exceptions, regardless of reputation, reviews, or prior federal work. Process A signed NDA is required before any further technical detail, including the patent number, full geometry description, or proposal documents, is shared. If you are interested, please respond with relevant aerospace/extreme-environment materials experience and your standard consulting rate. We will follow up with qualified respondents to begin the NDA process. We are not in a position to pay for proposal-stage conversations. We are direct and transparent about funding status throughout this process and expect the same in return. Good Ground Innovation, LLC | Nevada incorporation, Washington State operations