John Mizia is a research associate at the Energy Institute and the Director of the Rapid Prototyping Lab. Before coming to CSU he spent a decade working as a propulsion engineer at Lockheed Martin / ULA on the Atlas V Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program. During that time he moved several designs from early concept through vehicle integration and launch using a strict product lifecycle management (PLM) process. This included early concept trade studies, CAD design maturation, system analysis, hardware qualification through testing, and post-installation data analysis. In 2012 he began working exclusively on research projects at the CSU Energy Institute and in 2019 launched the Rapid Prototyping Lab. John Received his Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from Colorado State University in 2003, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1996.