Omar Rafeh is Vice President and Owner of Innerspace Corporation, where he leads integrated engineering, manufacturing, and R&D for next‑generation propulsion systems for subsea vehicles. He joined Innerspace in 1999 while completing a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Cal Poly Pomona, mentored under the late Calvin A. Gongwer and has overseen day‑to‑day operations since 2010.
Rafeh’s technical work focuses on mission‑critical propulsion at depth. He helped introduce full‑ocean‑depth electric thrusters credited with two Guinness World Records for the deepest ocean salvage dives. His systems are fielded in military and commercial programs and have operated at extreme depths; clients include Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Phoenix International, and National Geographic.
Hands‑on contributions span Hydraulic and Electric Thrusters, propellers, and complete pressure‑tolerant assemblies. Highlights include inventing and implementing a full‑ocean‑depth electric motor product line; extending motor life to 10,000 hours under severe underwater conditions; developing propulsion for a Deep Submergence Rescue Submarine; and designing thrusters for various military and commercial vehicles..
Current work centers on designing and manufacturing autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) motors and propellers to meet emerging performance and reliability requirements in harsh environments.
Rafeh shares methods and results with the community: he has presented at Underwater Intervention several times, Presented at MTS OCEANS and delivered talks with TMA Bluetech in the U.S., U.K., France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, and authored engineering papers on selecting electric and hydraulic thrusters and on evaluating underwater propulsion efficiency.