Peter Beck (engineer)

Peter Beck
Peter Beck in 2013
Nationality New Zealand
Employer Rocket Lab

Peter Beck is a New Zealand engineer, and founder and Chief Executive of Rocket Lab.

Early life

Beck grew up in Invercargill. His father is a former museum and art gallery director and gemologist.[1] His mother is a teacher.[2]

His family loved machines.[1] He developed an interest in powerful engines as a teenager, and he spent time working on an old Mini and 'supercharging' it.[1]

As a child he wanted to build rockets when he grew up.[3] His high school careers counsellor requested a meeting with his parents because they were concerned that his dream job didn't fit any "pre-defined boxes" and was "absurdly unachievable".[3]

Career

He describes the course of his career as "enabling me to learn more, or provide resources to ultimately build bigger and better rockets".[3]

Beck left home at 17 to become a toolmaking apprentice at Fisher & Paykel.[1][4] While working there he used the company workshop to experiment with rockets.[4]

He later worked at Industrial Research (now Callaghan Innovation).[1][3] He worked on smart materials, composites and superconductors.[4] While he working there he met Stephen Tindall, who later invested in Rocket Lab.[1]

Rocket Lab

Beck established Rocket Lab in 2006.[1]

Awards

Beck has been awarded the Meritorious Medal from the Royal Aeronautical Society for service of an exceptional nature to New Zealand aviation.[5]

He has also awarded the Royal Society's Cooper Medal.[5]

In 2014, he won the Innovation in Design and Engineering Award at the NZ Innovators Awards.[2]

In 2016, he was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year.[6]

Personal life

Beck is married to an engineer,[4] and has two children.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Bradley, Grant (2016-10-13). "Peter Beck: The man with the one million-horsepower rocket". NZ Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  2. 1 2 "Innovation Heroes: Peter Beck". Idealog. 2015-04-16. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "National Portrait: Peter Beck - NZ space pioneer once mocked for his vision". Stuff. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Noted. "Rocket Lab's Peter Beck and Mark Rocket talk to Metro Magazine about their space plans - Metro". Noted. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  5. 1 2 "Peter Beck: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  6. ↑ "Rocket Lab's Peter Beck name EY Entrepreneur of the Year". NZ Herald. 2016-10-13. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
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