JACOB LOPATA

A recent graduate of the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago, Jake Lopata will attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a graduate student within the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics next fall. Jake is a member of the Tau Beta Pi National Engineering Honor Society, and a recipient of the IIT Alumni Association's Outstanding Academic Achievement Award. In addition to his Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering, Jake holds a degree of Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois at Urbana where he majored in political science.

In 1995, Jake was selected by the Illinois Space Grant Consortium and the Office of University Programs at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) to attend the summer NASA Academy at GSFC. As a part of this program, he and Eric Anderson analyzed the feasibility of using modified SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft to place small payloads into orbit via air-launched expendable rocket. The results of this investigation were presented at the 32nd AIAA Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit in Lake Buena Vista, FL, in July of 1996 (AIAA-96-2774). Jake is also a commercial pilot rated for single engine and multi-engine land aircraft and a certified flight instructor.



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