Professor George Sowers
George Sowers, Ph.D., FAIAA is Professor of Practice at the Colorado School of Mines and President at Sowers Space Solutions.
George joined the Colorado School of Mines in 2017 where he is a Professor of Practice and Mechanical Engineering. He is also part of the Space Resources Program leadership. It is the first program in the world focused on educating scientists, engineers, economists, entrepreneurs, and policy makers in the developing field of space resources.
In the same year, 2017, George founded his own private Space Advocacy, the Sowers Space Solutions. He offers consulting in Systems Engineering, Systems Development, Business Development, and System Strategy.
George has 30 years of experience in systems engineering and in the space transportation field. During a continuous span working for Martin Marietta, Lockheed Martin, and the United Launch Alliance, including as the chief systems engineer for the development of the Atlas V launch system, George helped develop more than a dozen launch systems. Among others, he led the development of the Vulcan Rocket Concept including the Blue Origin Be-4 Engine and of the Advanced Cryogenic Upper Stage (ACES) including the Revolutionary Integrated Vehicle Fluids (IVF) Technology.
George was Deputy Chief Engineer of the Titan IV Program at Martin Marietta and Chief Systems Engineer in Atlas V Development at Lockheed Martin. There he led Systems Engineering and Integration for the Development of the World’s Most Successful and Reliable Rocket.
As well, he was the Director of Atlas Mission Integration where he led the integration of dozens of missions for the Military, Intelligence Community, NASA, and Commercial Customers.
George developed deep relations with customers across the spectrum, in agencies as diverse as NASA and the NRO. He architected the strategy for the United Launch Alliance to transform its business from a government regulated monopoly to a commercially viable competitor.
George believes it’s time to head back to the Moon. The former United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vice President and Chief Scientist believes water deposits on the Moon will make deep space travel possible. His team developed an architecture for fully reusable in-space stages fueled by propellant mined, refined, and distributed in space. He has been at ULA since 2006, when he started in Business Development and Advanced Programs, until 2017, ending his Chief Scientist in Advanced Programs role.
Prior to ULA, George was Director at Lockheed Martin. First as the Director of Mission Integration and later as the Director of Advanced Programs.
George started his academic career in geological engineering, but he eventually switched to physics. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1980. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics in 1988 from University of Colorado Boulder.
George is also a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Lockheed Martin’s Nova Award winner, and the Inventor of the Year at Martin Marietta.
His lifelong passion has been philosophy, especially Nietzsche’s audacity and rebelliousness. For years, George read and studied extensively, branching out from his mathematical physics and engineering roots. He learned the basics of biology and the theory of evolution, studied the brain and theories of mind and consciousness.
In November 2013, the culmination of a 20-year project came out with his self-publication of The Philosophy for the Future.
George has as well throughout the years written and published extensively in his field of aerospace engineering. He is a regular speaker at meetings and conferences. In philosophy, he has published one article in Mind and another in the online Journal of the Transhumanist Association.
George has four children, all grown. After three post-divorce years, he met Karri. They have been together living in Colorado.
Watch Mining the Moon for Fun & Profit: George Sowers. Watch George Sowers | Apollopalooza. Listen to him on The Space Show. Listen to Professor of Space Resources Dr. George Sowers – Background Mode Interview.
Read A Conversation with George Sowers of Sowers Space Solutions. Read New Policy Needed To Advance Space Resources Industry. Read Testimony to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of US House of Representatives.
Visit his LinkedIn profile, his professional page, and his homepage. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.