Mechanical Engineer, Author and Editor

A Caltech graduate magna cum laude, George W. Sutton developed the ablation heat shield that allowed reentry from space. First used on missiles, it was later used on America’s first satellite earth observation system for film recovery. He designed the first high power laser and also developed the high frequency transcutaneous energy supply that now powers artificial hearts. For 30 years, Dr. Sutton was Editor-in-Chief of the AIAA Journal of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He was a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and co-authored three books.