Grads

Alumni Spotlight

Thomas Lipp, Class of 1998

I started at Cold Spring School when I was 5 years old and thought I may grow up to be a Fashion Designer or Roller Coaster Designer. (There was a physics segment in Karen Zwick’s class that really spoke to me.)

A memorable experience at CSS was the day-long immigration simulation in Karen Zwick’s class in which we traveled to Ellis Island and learned that they spoke Italian there (which was not at all like Spanish).  I also remember the almost year-long wagon train activity in Karen Chapman’s class in which the lives of our wagon mates depended on luck, disguised as skill, when we had to throw pennies over our shoulder into trash cans behind us.  I also enjoyed the Spanish fairy tales that the sixth grade class would write and perform at all school meetings (we were especially proud of Blanca Nueve).

All of the teachers at Cold Spring were memorable but if I have to pick a couple:  Penny Serafin, Karen Zwick, Karen Chapman, and Fitness Teacher Diana Richter were particularly unforgettable.

I currently work as the Guidance Navigation and Controls Engineer at SpaceX. If you ever watch the webcasts, you can sometimes hear me say things like, “Vehicle pitching downrange” or “GNC confirms good insertion orbit.” I’m proud of writing the landing burn guidance algorithm that helps land the SpaceX rocket.

After Cold Spring I attended Hopkins for high school then went on to Princeton University and Stanford for Graduate School (Ph. D. in Mechanical Engineering). I’m happy to share that I still keep in touch with Leland Milstein, who was best man at my wedding, which was also attended by Aaron Cross. Other fun facts about me: I’m an avid knitter and board game fiend.