Farah Khemani Zuberi, AJ Piplica, and Christopher T. Jones among the 2026 honorees.
Christopher T. Jones, AJ Piplica, and Farah Khemani Zuberi were among the 32 Georgia Tech alumni honored at the 2026 College of Engineering Alumni Award Induction Ceremony, held March 21 in Atlanta.
Each year, the College of Engineering hosts an invitation‑only ceremony to honor a select group of alumni who have made meaningful contributions to the profession, advanced in their careers, and positively impacted the lives of others—both personally and professionally. These outstanding alumni are reviewed by each of the eight schools within the College and formally submitted for selection to receive the College of Engineering Alumni Awards.
Farah Khemani Zuberi, AE 2012
Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni
Farah leads mission execution and payload operations for the Blue Ghost lunar lander and Elytra spacecraft missions. With more than a decade of experience in the aerospace industry, she has built deep expertise in systems engineering, payload integration, and mission risk management. Before Firefly, Farah held key roles at Northrop Grumman, contributing to the James Webb Space Telescope sunshield and submarine-launcher subsystems, and at Boeing, where she served as a satellite vehicle engineer on the GPS IIF constellation and multiple communication satellites. She is known for her technical leadership, collaborative problem-solving, and systems-level thinking, and is passionate about space exploration, advancing sustainable access to space, and inspiring the next generation of aerospace professionals. Farah minored in French at Georgia Tech while earning her aerospace engineering degree.
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Farah Khemani Zuberi inducted into the Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni
A.J. Piplica inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni
A.J. Piplica, AE 2010, M.S. AE 2012
Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni
AJ is an aerospace entrepreneur and technologist, focused on leading the Hermeus team to build the world’s fastest aircraft. He and his co-founders built Hermeus to meet urgent national security needs by bringing an iterative development approach to airplanes, using mature high-Mach technologies to build and field affordable high-speed aircraft.
Christopher T. Jones, AE 1986
Engineering Hall of Fame
Christopher worked in the defense industry for 25 years and retired from the Northrop Grumman Corporation in 2020. He led a complex organization of over 13,000 employees with annual revenues of more than $4 billion. He was responsible for supporting a diverse customer base, including NASA; the U.S. Postal Service; and the U.S. departments of Defense, Energy, Homeland Security, State, and Interior. His expertise includes logistics and sustainment, supply chain management, and technology. In conjunction with his civilian career, Christopher served for 26 years in the U.S. Air Force, primarily as a communications, engineering, and maintenance officer. He has earned four engineering degrees and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Christopher serves on the Norfolk Southern Corporation Board of Directors, the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum Board, and the Board of Trustees for both the Georgia Tech Foundation and the University of Maryland Foundation.
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Christopher T. Jones inducted into the Engineering Hall of Fame