Dr. Dale A. Cope has been named director of industry assistance, announced Dr. M. Katherine Banks, vice chancellor and dean of engineering and director of the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES).
In this position, Cope will coordinate assistance activities for TEES by identifying industry needs, developing proposals and managing the delivery of assistance to individual companies.
Additionally he will lead the Technical Assistance Program (TAP), a program in which TEES forms partnerships that encourage innovation and economic growth in Texas.
Cope joined TEES after spending six years as program manager in the Aerospace Structures Section at the Southwest Research Institute. In that role he managed large multidisciplinary projects in support of the U.S. Air Force Aircraft Structural Integrity Program. Cope was also a research laboratory director for the National Institute for Aviation Research and an aircraft structures engineer for the Boeing Company.
Cope earned a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering from Texas A&M in 1982, a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1988, and a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from Wichita State University in 2002.
He is a retired Air Force officer, having served on active duty as an aeronautical engineer on the KC-135 and as an assistant professor in the aeronautics department at the U.S. Air Force Academy. He also served in the Kansas Air National Guard as an aircraft maintenance officer on the B-1B and KC-135R.
About the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES)
As an engineering research agency of Texas, TEES conducts research to provide practical answers to critical state and national needs. TEES partners with academic institutions, governmental agencies, industries, and communities to solve problems to help improve the quality of life, promote economic development, and enhance the educational systems of Texas.