Matt Gross

Alumni
Polymer Engineering

After earning his associate’s from Penn College and bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Penn State, Matt dove into an exciting career in the aerospace industry. He was the youngest materials and process engineer at Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. where he contributed to many NASA projects like the James Webb Space Telescope and investigating protective space suit coatings.

Today, he’s continuing his work with Jibu, an organization dedicated to combatting the water crisis in East Africa. Matt also provides technical sales, process development, and materials engineering support for FlackTek and its innovative mixer used to create products for all types of industries from healthcare to aerospace.

TAKING THE LEAD

Q&A with Matt

WHAT DREW YOU TO THE PLASTICS PROGRAM?

Using sports equipment as a kid I was always frustrated that it couldn’t/wouldn’t last… snowboarding bindings being the main culprit. I wanted to make something better than what I had.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR OTHERS CONSIDERING A CAREER IN YOUR FIELD?

Don’t be close minded—always think outside the box. Operating out of your comfort zone is one of the best things you can do for yourself.

HOW DID THE HANDS-ON APPROACH AT PENN COLLEGE SET YOU UP FOR SUCCESS?

Penn College gave me the best foundation to later bolster my desire to understand the real fundamentals of material science. Getting to work with things hands on gave me a different perspective, and made linking what I learned to how to apply it much easier.

OF ALL THE PROJECTS YOU'VE BEEN INVOLVED WITH, WHICH HAS BEEN THE MOST REWARDING?

Cofounding FlackTek's manufacturing facility has been the most rewarding aspect of my career thus far. The fact that we have the range to make an impact in over 40 different industries means that we have so much reach to change lives through the products and services our customers provide to the world.

Our FlackTek bladeless mixer plays a critical part in things like building space shuttles—you need perfection to ensure crew safety. Or, think about the fact that we take part in R&D and academia to develop new medicines, technologies, and so much more. It’s incredibly rewarding to play a part in these things.

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR LATEST INITIATIVES IN AFRICA?

I’m currently on the board, and still work very closely with Umuryango who has now started a large K-12 school in Rwanda. I’m also still working closely with Jibu who has 8,500 water filtration retail points—that’s 333 MILLION liters of water provided.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO FIND A CAREER THAT WILL CHALLENGE YOU?

I think it’s in our nature to be challenged as humans - we’re always looking for patterns, and solutions to problems. Our movement through life and the world isn’t a straight line, and if you don’t keep up the momentum and challenge yourself you can quickly fall. You have the choice to go up, or down. I love that my work keeps me moving up.

Tomorrow is in the Making

Selected for Alumni Achievement Award

Each year, several standout graduates are selected to receive the Alumni Achievement Award, which is presented during the commencement ceremony. Matt's accomplishments made him a clear choice for this special honor.

His fondest memory of Penn College?

"It’s actually kind of a funny story… I had started the Outdoor Adventure Club and had a great time meeting new people who liked to spend their time adventuring. It was wintertime, and there had been a devastating tsunami in Thailand. We had wanted to show our support for the victims, so we staged an outdoor camp in the snow. We had tents set up, and I remember it was single digits outside, and we’d written in massive letters in the snow “WE SUPPORT THE TSUNAMI VICTIMS”.

Fast asleep in our tents, we were awoken by the sound of sirens and campus police yelling for us to get out of our tents. They sort of dragged us to the side and were questioning why we were there… I remember one of the police officers asking his fellow PO “did they write anything inappropriate”, thinking we were a bunch of pranksters. Eventually, they realized that we were just having a peaceful demonstration in support and let us go—a lasting memory for sure.

Fast forward to today, I’m still very good friends with some of the members. In fact, I just rode the Leadville 100 MTB with my friend Brian. The Outdoor Adventure Club provided a community for life."

A community for life

The passion for outdoors that prompted Matt to enter the field of plastics still remains strong today. Here is Matt with his family after completing the grueling Leadville 100 mountain bike race.

Matt in the News

When you look at Matt's budding talent, active involvement across campus, and career success, it's no surprise that his name made headlines and appeared in news stories over the past decade. Here are a few highlights.

Making his mark

Cosmetic Ambitions: Check out Matt's article in Penn College Magazine detailing his work developing materials for space flight.
Clean Water to Go: Matt's brother, Jason, also graduated with a plastics degree from Penn College. Here's his story.
Internship Selection: Before joining Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. as a full-time engineer, Matt was chosen for the organization's highly selective internship program.
Outdoor Adventure Club: His role as President of the Outdoor Adventure Club has fueled a lifelong love of sport.
Capital Presenter: Matt and fellow classmates were featured presenters at Career & Technology Education Week held at the Capital rotunda.
Business Plan Challenge: Matt took home $5,000 and third place in the Quad College & University Business Plan Challenge.
The FlackTek Phoenix Project: In his current role, Matt and his team recovered equipment burned in the Colorado Marshall fire and recycled the remains to build a replacement product.