Who designed the Enterprise-D?

Question

In movies you are sometimes told who has designed a significant piece of equipment or machinery. For example, in "Titanic" we are introduced to the designer of the ship as he was aboard its maiden voyage in the movie.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation, is there information on who designed the Starfleet ship class that the Enterprise-D belonged to in the show, i.e. the fictional engineer of the ship?

I am not looking for who thought up the visual design of it. I also don’t mind if the information is seen on-screen, or if it’s a separate comment from, say, a writer or director.

You've got [tag:star-trek] and [tag:star-wars-legends] on the same question. Also, you might want to specify which Enterprise you're referring to. The Enterprise from Ent was designed by very different people than the TOS or TNG Enterprises. — MichaelS, Oct 04 '16 at 04:02
This answer talks about the out-of-universe design of the TOS Enterprise. — MichaelS, Oct 04 '16 at 04:07
@MichaelS, when I say out-of-universe , I mean if they never said who did in the actual show, but for example, a director says that this person designed it. — KyloRen, Oct 04 '16 at 06:41
This could be improved by being specific about which Enterprise. But there's also the fact that they probably would have designed the class of starship, not the individual vessel: NX-class, Constellation class, Excelsior class, Ambassador class, Galaxy class, Sovereign class and Odyssey class. — PointlessSpike, Oct 04 '16 at 06:44
@KyloRen- It's a little more important that you specify which Enterprise you mean. Which series (or film)? — PointlessSpike, Oct 04 '16 at 06:51
@PointlessSpike, did not really want to narrow it down that far, so I edited the question again. Multiple answer or designers are welcome for an answer. — KyloRen, Oct 04 '16 at 07:04
Are you curious about the hull design, engines, computer systems? I highly doubt there is a individual engineer/designer that you could point at. They are extreme large and complex systems, and almost certainly took large teams of people at Utopia Planitia. For example we know that Leah Susan Brahms was heavily involved with the Warp engine designs for the Enterprise D. — Zoredache, Oct 04 '16 at 07:44
“in "Titanic" we are introduced to the designer of the ship” — I think that’s mainly because the Titanic is a real ship that was specifically designed to be unsinkable, and then sank on its maiden voyage. It’s kind of the entire point of the story. — Paul D. Waite, Oct 04 '16 at 08:06
W.M Jefferies (http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/W.M._Jefferies) is credited as "one of the designers of the NX-Class starships." But note that he is only one designer on a team of designers, and that's only for one class of ship. Also, Henry Archer and Zeffrene Cochran were the men who specifically designed the warp drive in the NX-Class ship. If you don't narrow your question, this will likely get closed as too broad, because there are simply too many names to cover every designer of every aspect of every ship class of every ship named "Enterprise". — DisturbedNeo, Oct 04 '16 at 09:12
Which Enterprise? There were at least 12 of them, not including the extra one from the comic and all the Enterprises shown in the start sequence of ST: Enterprise. — Valorum, Oct 04 '16 at 09:32
@NKCampbell - That's not even taking into account the quantum universes in Parallels. 200,000+ Enterprises seen/mentioned in that episode. — Valorum, Oct 04 '16 at 16:51
For the record, @KyloRen, there are some pretty solid answers if you're willing to disambiguate which Enterprise you mean. — Valorum, Oct 04 '16 at 16:52
@Valorum, I am not up to date with older Star Trek, so I could not tell you which one. I really have only seen the lasted movies and it is definitely not in any of those. — KyloRen, Oct 05 '16 at 09:36
@Kyloren - There are really only three of any serious importance. The Original Series Enterprise, the one from TNG and the one from the new movies. — Valorum, Oct 05 '16 at 10:02
@Valorum, thanks for the guidance, it helped a lot. I had to do a bit a research to see what each one of those series were, but well worth the time. — KyloRen, Oct 05 '16 at 11:39

score 8 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 16 '20 at 09:31

There are two designers who are mentioned 'in universe' as members of the design teams that worked on the Enterprise.

Larry Marvick

A Federation engineer and one of the designers of the Enterprise TOS. Larry Marvick Memory Alpha

Leah Brahms

A junior team member of the Theoretical Propulsion Group for the Enterprise 1701 D

Leah Brahms Memory Alpha

UPDATE 10/5/2016

There is very little information on who the 'in universe' designers of any of the Enterprise' starships other than the two I mentioned above and have appeared on screen. There are 'dedication plaques' on the bridges of each of the incarnations Memory Alpha Dedication Plaque but they are mostly the names of the 'out of universe' design teams responsible for the 'look' of the show.

It was not the fifth ship to bear the name 'Enterprise'! :-) — rnoodle, Jan 28 '17 at 23:44

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 05 '16 at 23:24

Given the size and complexity of the ships in-universe, it’s probably unrealistic to conceive of one person who designed it.

The Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual says this regarding the Enterprise-D’s in-universe development:

The history of the Galaxy Class Project, and of the USS Enterprise in particular, is a story of technological innovation and teamwork spanning more than twenty years. Research and fabrication centers throughout the Federation, under the direct authority of Starfleet Command's Advanced Starship Design Bureau (ASDB), combined their efforts to plan and execute the newest and most complex vessel to join Startleet's inventory.

So, sounds like there’s a whole Bureau’s worth of people involved, not just the shameless ass-kissers who make their way onto the dedication plaque.

Who designed the Enterprise-D?

2 Answers2

UPDATE 10/5/2016