Joe Mele believes he can revolutionize how we build aircraft wings. A man who spent his career working for the Grumman aircraft company, Mele received two master’s degrees in mechanical engineering and applied mechanics, and has several patents as well. And experience. At 96 years old, he’s got a lot of experience. Mele spent most of his life around Manhattan and Brooklyn, and lives at a New Bern retirement center.

His daily life is challenged by being legally blind and the fact that he’s steadily growing hard of hearing. But he moves about like a man much younger, and an interview with him showed his mind is as sharp as a whip’s crack. He was honored for his work by the Sons of Italy in America, New York, in 2013, and will be honored nationally by the same organization in a Washington, DC, ceremony on May 22.