Pathfinder Labs builds production-ready mechanical parts and engineering software — cutting bracket mass 5×, stiffness up to 6×, and design cycles from months to hours. Trained at NASA Goddard, shipped into flight hardware.
We build production add-ins for the Synera low-code engineering platform — marketplace-published tools and custom add-ins for client workflows.
Published · Synera Marketplace
A parametric Synera node that drops standards-compliant fastener hole geometry — and matching ASME Y14.5 drawing callouts — into your workflow. Pick the fastener, point at the centers, get the geometry and the drawing.
Covers ISO · ASME · UNC / UNF · Heli-Coil · Keensert · TimeSert · NAS1130.
Building an internal Synera workflow? We develop custom add-ins against the Synera SDK — from single-purpose automations to full parametric toolchains — and ship them with documentation and support.
Real hardware, real cycle times. Engagements that show what generative design, rapid prototyping, and AI-accelerated engineering look like when they actually fly.
Featured · flew on BOOP
Flight payload on the BOOP scientific balloon mission, launched from Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Concept to flight hardware in about 12 weeks, using AI to accelerate design, component selection, and structural optimization.
Pathfinder Labs designed the flight enclosure, the avionics, and the embedded firmware — mechanical, electrical, and software on a single payload. Structures were algorithmically optimized and CNC-machined from aluminum billet, not additively manufactured, so the parts flew on pre-certified material.
Led by Ryan McClelland (NASA Goddard — Evolved Structures). Collaborators include Scott Hesh, Matt Dosberg, Bhanu Sood, Peter Hughes, Omar Hatamleh, Michael Johnson. Manufacturing by Protolabs.
Case study · Aerospace
Fast-steering-mirror bracket for a NASA Low-Earth-Orbit satellite. Generative design delivered a flight-ready part in under 8 hours.
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Case study · NASA Goddard
2023 NASA Goddard Power Source Summit Challenge — requirements to machined hardware in under 36 hours, via ProtoLabs' NASA partnership.
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Case study · Voice-driven design
First bracket designed entirely through voice interaction with NASA's internal ChatGSFC assistant — requirements in, machinable part out.
View in portfolio →Focused engineering services for aerospace, NewSpace, and advanced-manufacturing teams. Every engagement ships production-ready output — no pure consulting deliverables.
Topology-optimized brackets, mounts, and optomechanical parts — 5× lighter, 3–6× stiffer, CNC-ready.
Custom add-ins and automation pipelines for the tools engineering teams actually use.
Pragmatic, production-ready AI — not demoware — for teams with real specs, procedures, and designs.
Edge AI and instrumentation for teams that need a working bench, not a slide deck.
Partnering, teaming, or IR&D? Pathfinder Labs works with primes, labs, and engineering orgs on specific generative-design and CAD-automation scopes.
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About
Matthew Vaerewyck founded Pathfinder Labs after leading AI-infused generative design and automation programs across spacecraft and advanced engineering domains, including work at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
Pathfinder Labs focuses on practical, production-ready engineering output: LLM-powered design assistants, computer vision for inspection, topology optimization for mechanical and optomechanical parts, and data pipelines that connect CAD/PLM with test systems.
