Fabrizio Pinto

Fabrizio Pinto was born and raised in Rome, Italy, where he obtained his early education in physics at the University of Rome - La Sapienza, the same university where Enrico Fermi conducted his first ground breaking experiments in nuclear physics. While there, he was awarded a competitive Enrico Persico scholarship before graduating cum laude in 1984 with a thesis on the format ion of globular star clusters in the protogalactic halo, under Professor Vittorio Castellani. Further, most valuable educational experiences in Rome were due to his opportunity to learn from such world renowned scientists as Professors G. Altarelli, A. DeGasperis, L. Maiani, G. Pizzella, and R. Ruffini. Between 1984 and 1986, he fulfilled his compulsory military service duties as an artillery officer in charge of atmospheric corrections to projectile trajectories. Following his military service, and a brief experience as a high school teacher, Pinto left for the United States where he pursued graduate studies in Physics & Astronomy at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. There, he won every departmental student award and graduated in 1989, in less then three years, with a Ph. D. dissertation on the dynamics of protoglobular clusters, under Professor Clark G. Christensen.

Further defining educational opportunities in astrophysics and general relativity were provided by Professors H. McNamara and B. K. Harrison. His dissertation resulted in two major publications in referred journals and was awarded a prize from the local chapter of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, of which he is an honorary member. Between 1989 and 1996, Fabrizio Pinto accepted several academic positions at Ricks College, Boise State University, and Oregon State University, before working as an Assistant Professor at Portland State University. During this time, he published several papers in the areas of new technologies in physics education and in popular astronomy. He won an honorable mention and a third prize in the Griffith Observer annual competition for articles in popular astronomy, sponsored by Hughes Aircraft. He also actively pursued a research program on the effects of intense gravitational fields on highly excited Rydberg atoms which resulted in several publications and in a third prize in 1994 in the annual competition on papers in gravitation sponsored by the Gravity Research Foundation. In 1996, Pinto joined the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a Scientist in the Navigation and Flight Dynamics Section. There, he contributed to navigation and orbital dynamics activities for the Stardust, Deep Space 1, Genesis, and Galileo missions. He also worked as a senior astrophysics lecturer at the University of Southern California in the 1998-99 academic year. In 1998, he was appointed on a first exploratory panel to study the feasibility of robotic interstellar travel. Inspired by this involvement, Fabrizio Pinto started a personal research program, independently of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which led to the development of the first patent application in the area of quantum vacuum engineering and, eventually, to his departure from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and his involvement as the Founder, President, and CEO of InterStellar Technologies Corporation, in Monrovia, California. In May 2000, he received an Honorable Mention from the Gravity Research Foundation for an essay on his basic research on the behavior of neutral atoms near conducting surfaces.

He is the father of two daughters with whom he loves to spend most of his free time. His personal interests include a very active involvement in competitive ballroom dancing, recreational sailing, classical guitar, and regular reading of the Roman and Greek classics in their original languages.