The Cullen College’s electrical and computer engineering (ECE) department is kicking off the new year by welcoming four new members to its Industry Advisory Board (IAB).
The ECE IAB connects leaders in industry, government and academia with students and faculty from the Cullen College’s ECE department. Through collaboration and idea sharing, the IAB strives to enhance the overall academic and research experience for ECE students, as well as to support the department in educating the next generation of global, world-class engineers.
The IAB’s newest members – Jeff Anderson of INEOS Olefins and Polymers, Tommy Cooper of Cooper Consulting Service, David Hanson of Axon Energy Products and Don Waller of Keysight Technologies – bring an array of diverse industry experience and expertise to the table. Learn more about each new member below!
Jeff Anderson
Jeff Anderson is the Electrical Engineering Authority (EA) at the Battleground Manufacturing Complex for INEOS Olefins and Polymers (O&P) in La Porte, TX, an industrial site that produces high density polyethylene and polypropylene plastic and has a state-of-the-art technical center that integrates research and development, technical services and quality assurance. Jeff has over eight years of experience in the power distribution field where he was quickly promoted to his current position, which he has held since 2013.
As the Electrical EA, he manages a team of power, instrumentation and safety instrumented systems engineers, designers, electrical specialists, high voltage electricians and summer interns. Under his tenure, the INEOS O&P BMC site has set new production and reliability goals by implementing new KPI’s, expanding the preventative maintenance (PM) program by developing in-house expertise, transitioning his team to a predictive maintenance (PdM) organization, and developing new project design standards. His team on a day-to-day basis supports continued reliability improvement through Root Cause Failure Analysis, performing and analyzing PM’s, troubleshooting, identifying obsolete equipment, initiating projects and providing subject matter experts for project development.
Tommy Cooper
Tommy Cooper is the founder in 1986 of Cooper Consulting Service (CCS) located in Friendswood, Texas. CCS is an engineering design and development company with a focus on medical devices. He earned his B.S. an M.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Houston in 1974 and 1981, respectively, and is a registered professional engineer in Texas. He has been the Chair of the IEEE Houston Consultants Network for five years. He served for 12 years as the co-chairman of the AAMI Blood Pressure Transducer Committee that developed the ANSI-AAMI national standard for blood pressure transducers. He has written over 16 articles for publication in professional journals and holds 22 patents in the field of medical devices. He has designed and developed numerous products, such as, kidney dialysis machines, sleep study systems, electronic stethoscopes, disposable pressure transducers, a defibrillator-monitor, a laser based opto-acoustic patient monitor, wireless ambulatory patient monitors, an intracardiac pressure-volume monitor, teaching devices for physiological sound auscultation, automated test system and many others. He works with medical product companies of all sizes, start-up companies, medical schools and foundations. His focus is on new product development from concept to regulatory approval and production
David Hanson
David Hanson is currently President of the BOP Control Systems division of Axon Energy Products, a Houston-based oil and gas equipment manufacturer. He is responsible for managing the profit and loss for the business unit. Hanson joined Axon in 2013.
Prior to Axon, Hanson was with Stewart & Stevenson for almost 15 years where he designed control systems, electronics and software for a variety of oil well servicing equipment. He managed the control systems group and eventually became engineering manager, leading 25 mechanical and electrical engineers as well as designers, drafters and technicians. His most recent assignment with S&S was Vice President of Research and Development where he was responsible for managing the product portfolio to maximize the utility of R&D funding.
Hanson worked full-time as a software developer for W. R. Biles & Associates, a SCADA software company, while working on his B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Houston. Hanson gives enormous credit to the University of Houston for allowing commuter students the flexibility to work and study. It was a long, unconventional process, but he would not have been able to earn a degree without that accommodation.
In 2009, Hanson became a proud double-Cougar when he graduated from UH’s Bauer School of Business with an MBA.
Don Waller
Throughout his 22 year career with HP/Agilent/Keysight, Don Waller has held a variety of individual contributor and management roles including Sales Representative, Product Sales Specialist, District Sales Manager and now as Regional Universities Manager. He also spent time at Exfo and Acterna as Director of Global Sales to AT&T.
Waller’s specific focus areas have included microprocessor development systems, copper and optical telecommunications systems as well as wireless network optimization and test.
Waller is a graduate of Texas A&M University and was a member of the Advisory Board for the Department of Engineering Technology for over five years. He is also a current member of the South Limestone County Hospital District Board of Directors.