The Tom Mueller Engineering Innovation Fund at LMU Frank R. Seaver College of Science and Engineering
Tom Mueller, M.S. ’92, believes that by harnessing power in space, we can reserve energy on Earth and save our planet. As one of the founding members of SpaceX, an expert in propulsion technology, and a self-proclaimed idea man, he might be the one to do it. In fact, Mueller has a lot of big ideas, which is why he’s started his own company where he can “develop cool things and contribute to the world.”
Mueller’s contributions go beyond aerospace technology. He also enjoys speaking to students of all ages to get them excited about science. “I tell students, the reason I did well in engineering is because I’m an optimist,” Mueller said. “Be innovative and positive that you can make something that will help make the world a better place.”
Mueller is putting his mark on the world in more ways than one; he recently endowed the Tom Mueller Engineering Innovation Fund at LMU’s Frank R. Seaver College of Science and Engineering to support undergraduate senior capstone projects.
“Tom’s transformative gift allows us to expand on the student capstone experience with powerful opportunities to collaborate across disciplines with leading thinkers and innovators from top industries,” said Dean Tina Choe, Ph.D., of Seaver College. “Tom understands that to create leaders in science and engineering, you must inspire students to think confidently and creatively to solve a challenge. Tom’s Engineering Innovation Fund will encourage students to take their projects and imaginations to the next level.”
While Mueller did not have a capstone project as a graduate student at Seaver College, he has fond memories of professors who had a major impact on his career.
“Emeritus Professor Dr. Franklin Fisher’s graduate-level design class went quite a few levels deeper than what I had learned before,” he said. “I learned a lot about how to make lightweight structures in that class, which I think in some way helped us come up with lightest, highest, thrust to weight rocket engine in the world. I can tie that directly back to Dr. Fisher’s teaching.”
Mueller recognizes that professors like Fisher and many others were instrumental in his career, and hopes his endowment will help inspire future research collaborations between students and professors.
“I’ve been fairly blessed with my career, and I had a lot of help from people along the way — other classmates and professors, and people in the industry; I want to reciprocate that help as much as possible,” he said. “I like to speak to college kids who have already picked a career in science or engineering and help them gain the confidence to go make it happen. If I can do that, the world can become a better place.”
For more information about creating an endowment for student research in the LMU Frank R. Seaver College of Science and Engineering, contact Lynn Witherspoon, senior director of development, 310.338.7856 or lwitherspoon@lmu.edu. To support capstone projects, visit here.