Walter F. Laredo was born in Bolivia. He studied Aeronautical Engineering at La Plata University in Argentina, and worked for the National Commission of Atomic Energy as a mechanical designer for components for the first Latin American experimental nuclear reactor. Laredo traveled to the United States to complete his education and graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor’ s of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Since then he has been employed at the Principal Aerospace Companies designing aircraft and rockets, as an aircraft structural engineer at McDonald Douglas and Rockwell, and as an engineer for aircraft advanced concepts at the Advance Projects department of the Boeing Company.