Dr. Dan Polis

Dr. Dan Polis is the Senior Vice President, Engineering & Dream Chaser® at Sierra Space. In this role, he leads a highly skilled team through the final phase of system verification and prepares America’s Spaceplane® for its inaugural flight. Additionally, Dan oversees Engineering Solutions, managing profit and loss for Propulsion, Hypersonics, and Advanced Materials, and provides strategic direction for enterprise-wide engineering initiatives. Under his leadership, the engineering team is advancing innovation across frontier technologies, including the next-generation VORTEX® fuel-rich LOX/LH₂ upper-stage engine, advanced monopropellant and bipropellant in-space propulsion systems, and enabling technologies such as additive manufacturing, catalytic synthesis, hot structures, propulsion chemistry, thermal protection systems, and non-destructive evaluation methods. Since joining Sierra Space in 2012, Dan has held a variety of leadership positions, making significant contributions across the organization.

Prior to joining Sierra Space, Dan worked at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. There he played an integral role in the hardware development for several one-of-a-kind missions, including the NESC’s Composite Crew Module, the James Webb Space Telescope, and the Hubble Space Telescope’s fourth servicing mission. Dan’s work was recognized by several NASA awards, including NASA’s Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal.

Prior to NASA, Dan worked for General Electric, where he was program leader for their ceramic injection molding group and developed several patented technologies.

Dan earned an M.S. and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from The University of Pennsylvania and a degree in Chemistry from the College of William and Mary.