LOGAN – Jan Sojka, professor and head of the Utah State University Department of Physics, recently celebrated his 45th year of employment at USU.
Dr. Sojka was also the longtime adviser to USU’s student-led Get Away Special space research team (GAS).
One of the many student members of the GAS team whose lives were affected by Dr. Sojka was Mel Torrie, currently CEO and founder of Cache Valley-based Autonomous Solutions, a manufacturer of ground vehicle robotics.
Saturday, Aug. 3, during a gathering of fellow GAS team alums and current undergrad team members, Torrie announced his $100,000 gift he hopes will jump-start the Jan J. Sojka GAS Fellowship Endowment.
Torrie said his goal for 24 years has been to give back for the experience that opened the door to pursue his dreams and start a company.
Several other GAS team alumni on hand Aug. 3 shared experiences that gave them a chance to secure aerospace careers.
USU’s current GAS team was just chosen for NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative, which might give these undergrads the chance to launch their “GASRATS” CubeSat to the International Space Station, for deployment into Earth’s orbit in 2026.