Thomas Beutner 

Thomas Beutner received a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering in 1987. After pursuing advanced degrees at Stanford University, he launched a career that propelled innovation in the U.S. Department of Defense, resulting in enhanced aircraft and weapons systems. In 1993, Beutner joined the Air Force Research Laboratory, focusing on advanced diagnostics. Two years later, he became program manager for Turbulence and Rotating Flows in the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. In 2005, Beutner transitioned to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) as project manager in its Tactical Technology Office. He furthered his career by joining the Office of Naval Research in 2010 as director of the Aerospace Sciences Research Division and becoming department head of the Air Warfare and Weapons Department in 2014. Returning to DARPA in 2018 as deputy director of the Tactical Technology Office, Beutner contributed substantially to the DOD. In 2022, he joined the faculty at the University of Maryland as a research professor. Purdue honored Beutner with a Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award in 2018 and inducted him into the Cooperative Education Hall of Fame.