Duke Valentour

About Duke Valentour

Duke Valentour is an Industrial Engineer and Systems Engineer at Ball Aerospace/BAE Systems in Boulder, Colorado. Ball Aerospace, part of BAE Systems and now known as Space & Mission Systems, develops and delivers space-related technologies and solutions, focusing on national security, intelligence, and civilian space missions.

Duke also has his Commercial Pilot License and is a Certified Flight Instructor. His passion for aviation comes from his grandfather, an early influence on Duke’s journey in the skies.

As an Industrial and Systems Engineer with Space & Mission Systems (Ball Aerospace), Duke Valentour is responsible for examining the engineering department workflow to identify the cycle and process times of assembly and fabrication operations and leads process improvement projects in Research and Development, Production, and Depot Programs for Optical Systems.

Duke Valentour performs root-cause analyses to uncover process failures and develop sustainable production solutions. He leads initiatives to improve processes and products while regularly engaging with production technicians.

He began as an intern at Ball Aerospace in 2020 and was later hired. In 2024, Duke was promoted to his current position. Ball Aerospace was acquired by BAE Systems in 2024.

As a young boy, Jonathan Wayne Valentour grew up going to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force (NMUSAF) located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, with his grandfather, Colonel Wayne Basset. The NMUSAF is the world’s oldest and largest military aviation museum, with over 360 aircraft and missiles on display.