Jake Sauer is the Vice President, Chief Technologist at Ball Aerospace. In this role, Dr. Sauer works in cooperation with the Strategic Business Units (SBUs) and Strategic Capabilities Units (SCUs) to focus on critical future technologies and capabilities necessary to create all-domain mission solutions.Since joining Ball in 2012, Dr. Sauer has held numerous leadership positions within the company. He has served as the vice president and general manager of the Tactical Solutions (TS) strategic business unit since 2020, where he was responsible for Ball’s portfolio of tactical mission systems and products for installation on military platforms, enabling warfighters to go forward bravely and return home safely. He also served as the senior director of the Survivability and Strike (SAS) mission area where he held lifecycle responsibility for SAS products and programs from inception to low-rate production.  His vision and business model has put Ball Aerospace on the leading edge of technology development and helped solidify the company as a true mission partner for the warfighter. As an advanced systems director, he established and grew Ball Aerospace’s mission analysis capabilities, helping guide technology development through mission driven architectures, and led technology development and business capture for the business area. Dr. Sauer began his career in 2004 at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory, where he supported the U.S. Air Force Red Team’s air vehicle survivability initiatives. There, he established the GPS Interference Laboratory and led numerous electronic warfare efforts. As a systems analyst, he specialized in electronic warfare in both radio frequency and electro optical/infrared regimes. In 2010, he was promoted to a group leader in MIT Lincoln’s Tactical Systems group, where he led rapid prototyping and flight-testing activities. Dr. Sauer earned bachelor’s degrees in physics and mathematics from the University of Cologne in Germany, a master’s degree in physics and a Ph.D. in quantum computing and control from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is a member of the industrial advisory board for Colorado State University’s Electrical and Computer Engineering department and is an active contributor to several STEM outreach programs.