Jacob Lipa ('76, Civil Engineering)

Jacob Lipa

President, Psomas

CEO, Micropolitan LLC

BS Civil Engineering, Cal Poly Pomona, 1976

MS Civil Engineering, CSU Northridge, 1979

Born and raised in Israel, Jacob Lipa came a long way to study at Cal Poly Pomona. After completing military service in Israel, he was hired by a soil lab that trained him as a soil technician—and inadvertently introduced him to the field of civil engineering.

Impressed with Cal Poly Pomona’s support for foreign students transitioning to the U.S., and once enrolled, he particularly enjoyed the university’s emphasis on hands-on engineering.

“I remember my time at Cal Poly Pomona as fun, fast and full of academic and personal learning.”

After graduation from Cal Poly Pomona, Jacob joined a small engineering firm to provide drafting support and field surveying. Jacob’s next move was to Psomas, where he started as a design engineer, then moved up to project engineer, project manager, team leader, group leader, board member and ultimately president of the company.

Jacob encourages students to “be curious and willing to step beyond present standards. You need to always enhance your education, listen to your clients and develop strong social and work teams.”