Dr. Jake Sauer is an executive leader in the Aerospace and Defense community.  He has served in leadership roles in both industry and national laboratories and is currently a member of several advisory boards for industry, academia, and research institutions.  He is an active contributor to engineering senior design projects and STEM outreach programs in partnership with universities along the front range in Colorado. 

Prior to this, Dr. Sauer served as the CTO for Ball Aerospace, setting overall technical strategy and direction for the company.  After joining Ball Aerospace in 2012, Dr. Sauer held numerous leadership positions within the company. He served as the vice president and general manager of the Ball’s Tactical Solutions business unit, where he was responsible for Ball’s portfolio of tactical mission systems and products for installation on military platforms. 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 director of advanced systems, 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 Air Force Red Team’s air vehicle survivability initiatives. There, he established the GPS Interference Laboratory and led numerous electronic warfare efforts. He began as an operational analyst, specializing 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 co-led rapid prototyping and flight-testing activities. 

Dr. Sauer earned undergraduate degrees in physics and mathematics from the University of Cologne in Germany and a Ph.D. in physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology.