Rob Bulaga, President/Chief Engineer, Trek Aerospace

Rob brings over 30 years experience in the aerospace industry to the Company. His diverse background includes aerodynamic and fluid dynamic analysis, performance, stability and control analysis, structural and mechanical design, systems engineering, FAR 23 type certification, component testing, flight testing, creative problem solving, and aircraft accident investigations.

Rob has worked on such projects as aviation ground support equipment, space based experiments, racing cars and dragsters, front-line Air Force fighters, advanced spacecraft, and high performance, general aviation aircraft. Medical and manufacturing experiments that Rob designed have flown on the space shuttle. The wing that he created for a top alcohol dragster allowed that vehicle to go from a regional contender to second place in the U.S. Nationals. He helped create weapon carriage methods and flight profiles that increased the range of the F-15E by over 40%. Rob designed a ducted prop drive for a competition car that achieved over 700 miles per gallon. While the leader of McDonnell Douglas' National AeroSpace Plane (NASP) vehicle performance team, he led analytic investigations in sonic boom noise abatement, chaired multi-disciplinary trouble-shooting teams, and directed the group that developed the unique configuration of that aircraft.

Rob began his career as a design engineer and pilot for Aero Haven Service, Inc., a thriving fixed-base operation in New Jersey. He next joined the Naval Air Engineering Center in Lakehurst, New Jersey as a mechanical engineer. After leaving civil service, Rob moved to St. Louis, Missouri to work with McDonnell Douglas. He began there as a design engineer; his skill with the CADD system earned him a position as an instructor to other engineers. Transferring into their aerodynamics department, Rob was instrumental in the development of the F-15E and the NASP. Leaving McDonnell Douglas, he worked as a fluid dynamicist and systems engineer for Commercial Payloads, Inc., a NASA subcontractor devoted to the commercial development of space.

Since 1994, Rob has worked as an independent aeronautical consultant on various projects. His responsibilities have included systems engineering, structural design, computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis, performance analysis, component testing, flight-testing, accident investigations, and sales support.

Rob earned a M.S. degree from the University of Illinois in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering. He has been an active pilot for over 30 years, using his commercial pilot's license for glider and banner towing, flight instruction, aerobatics, and air show performances. He lives in Folsom with his wife Phyllis.