Jacob Helvey
Jacob Helvey is an accomplished mechanical engineer, entrepreneur, and researcher whose career bridges the worlds of advanced engineering design, aerospace experimentation, and pioneering physics. With a background in both academia and industry, he combines rigorous technical expertise with a passion for exploring breakthrough propulsion concepts.
Education and Early Career
Helvey earned his Bachelor of Science in Engineering Physics from Morehead State University in 2011, followed by a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kentucky in 2015. At Kentucky, his focus was experimental fluid mechanics, where he gained hands-on research experience analyzing complex aerodynamic and hydrodynamic systems.
During his graduate studies, Jacob completed an internship at NASA Ames Research Center, contributing to experiments at the Hypervelocity Free-Flight Facility (HFFF)—a facility dedicated to studying extreme speed flight and aerodynamics. He also worked as a research assistant at the University of Kentucky, conducting fluid mechanics experiments, and earlier as an engineering technician at Lexmark International, where he built a foundation in mechanical systems and testing.
Professional Engineering Career
Jacob’s industry experience spans multiple sectors, including defense, automation, and precision systems. He began his career as a design engineer at Polypack, Inc., before moving to Mettler-Toledo International, where he developed high-precision mechanical systems for industrial applications. From there, he advanced to Leonardo DRS, serving as a Mechanical Engineer II and working on projects tied to advanced defense technologies.
He continued to expand his expertise at M&S Machining and later became a Senior Project Engineer at Bluegrass Tool & Industrial, where he specializes in complex mechanical assembly design, CAD and FEA analysis, industrial automation, and optomechanical systems. In every role, Jacob has been recognized for his ability to solve intricate technical challenges and lead engineering projects to successful completion.
Frontier Gravity LLC
In 2017, Helvey founded Frontier Gravity LLC, an independent research organization dedicated to exploring unconventional physics with the potential to revolutionize propulsion. His work focuses on theories advanced by Znidarsic, Ivanov, Reed, Jennison, and Drinkwater, which describe matter through the wave dynamics of bounded photonic resonators. Within this framework, inertia is modeled as a Doppler effect of photon reflections in response to external forces, while the possibility of reactionless propulsion emerges from applying an inverse Doppler effect as a frequency differential within the system.
Through Frontier Gravity, Jacob has pursued the experimental validation of these concepts, with the long-term goal of developing practical gravity-control propulsion technologies that could radically transform aerospace and space travel.
Technical Expertise and Vision
Helvey’s career demonstrates both breadth and depth. His skills encompass mechanical design, project management, CAD/FEA simulation, and data analysis, along with deep knowledge of experimental physics and engineering research. His work is guided by the belief that today’s boundary-pushing experiments can become tomorrow’s engineering breakthroughs.
From contributing to NASA experiments on high-velocity aerodynamics to advancing the frontiers of gravity research through Frontier Gravity LLC, Jacob Helvey exemplifies the spirit of innovation—where disciplined engineering meets visionary physics.