David Klyde, Ph.D. ('87, ARO; '90 ARO MS)

Tech Fellow, Flight Controls, Virgin Galactic Holdings LLC

BS Aerospace Engineering, Cal Poly Pomona, 1987

MS Aerospace Engineering, Cal Poly Pomona, 1990

Ph.D. Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands, 2022

David Klyde’s first dream was to be a pilot, but that short-lived—his eyesight degraded enough that he had to wear glasses. But from this setback came a new dream.

“I started thinking that if you can’t fly them, why not build them?” Klyde says.

Klyde entered Cal Poly Pomona as an aerospace engineering student and thrived. He co-founded a student club, co-led a senior design team and served as president of Sigma Gamma Tau, the aerospace honors society.

“Successfully navigating undergraduate engineering at Cal Poly Pomona is demanding and difficult. Attrition is expected, but it is not a battle of statistics; it is a battle of will,” he says.

And by will he graduated with a degree in hand and a job at Systems Technology, Inc. He worked there for over 30 years, ascending from staff engineer to technical fellow. He had a major hand in groundbreaking projects, like developing a stability augmentation system for the T-45 Goshawk jet trainer. In short, his work resolved long-standing ground handling deficiencies and completely eliminated catastrophic incidents that had previously resulted in the loss of life.

Today, he’s a technical fellow in flight controls at Virgin Galactic Holdings LLC, where he applies his decades of experience to commercial spaceflight.

“My time at Cal Poly Pomona taught me that hard work pays off,” Klyde says. “Once you get to industry, the grades you received as an undergrad no longer matter, but the tools you bring with you do. Cal Poly Pomona gave me a great set of tools.”