Paul Bevilaqua

In 1990, he invented the lift fan for the Joint Strike Fighter F-35B along with fellow Skunk Works engineer, Paul Shumpert.

[1] In 2005, Bevilaqua was elected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering for his theoretical contributions, practical innovations, and increased operational utility in vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.

[3] He became Deputy Director of the Energy Conversion Lab at WP-AFB, managed by jet inventor Hans von Ohain.

In 1975, Paul left the Air Force to be a Manager of Advanced Programs at Rockwell International's Navy Aircraft Plant.

[9][10][11] Bevilaqua was working for Lockheed Skunk Works in 1986, when DARPA and the similar British agency launched a program called ASTOVL[11] and issued a 9-month contract to develop concepts[12] for a stealthy supersonic STOVL plane, in accordance with USMC wishes, but without the usual strict technical requirements.

One of the key factors in handing the $200B[3] JSF contract to LM is said[18] to be when the X-35B took off from 150 feet of runway, went supersonic, and landed vertically in one flight on July 20, 2001[19] - a performance that only the X-35B had done, and only because of the LiftFan concept.