Ted Southern is the president and co-founder of Final Frontier Design. Ted has served as the Principal Investigator for 5 NASA SBIR contracts since 2011, is the lead for a Space Act Agreement with NASA’s Commercial Space Capabilities Office (CSCO), and is currently overseeing multiple softgoods development contracts for NASA’s Lunar xEMU space suit. Ted also served as the primary contractor for a fixed price contract with NASA JSC for space suit glove development, and has overseen the development and build of 4 generations of commercial IVA space suits at FFD. Ted is the acting president of FFD and oversees management, accounting, day-to-day operations, and long term vision of the company, as well as overseeing specific projects.
Prior to working with space suits, Ted worked in the costume and special effects industry for more than 15 years, with design and fabrication experience on major television, movie, broadway, opera, fine art, and commercial productions, including Victoria’s Secret, Cirque du Soleil, Gladstone Gallery, and Paramount Pictures. Ted also teaches the “Future Wearables” class as part of the School of Visual Arts Interactive Design Masters program. Ted studied as an music undergraduate at the University of Puget Sound, and received a MFA from Pratt Institute in 2007.