Executive Management Team
Mark Cochran
Chairman of the Board
Mark Cochran brings over 37 years of subject matter expertise in military and civil aviation and maritime operations, safety and training to the ATAC Board of Directors. He joined ATAC in 2002 as a senior military aviation analyst and was the Director of Military and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems (UAS) Programs until retiring in December 2015. Mark became a member of the ATAC Board of Directors in November 2015, and was named Chairman of the Board in the same month.
At ATAC, Mark was responsible for expanding the use of the Naval Aviation Simulation Model (NASMOD) — which was originally developed to support Navy air training capacity analysis through modeling and simulation — to include complex regional range and airspace operations analysis, as well as environmental and range sustainment/encroachment analysis for all four Department of Defense service branches and foreign military partners. He also led ATAC’s entry into the UAS market through operations analysis work with the Department of Defense and then expanded ATAC’s UAS presence to the FAA with the UAS Test and Engineering Team at the William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Prior to his work at ATAC, Mark spent 23 years in many leadership positions in the U.S. Navy. He directed a wide range of aviation operations and training in joint strategic Command, Control, and Communications (C3) missions, maritime patrol, and aircraft carrier and battlegroup safety and risk management. He has over 5,000 hours total flight time in the EC-130Q; EC-135J; E-6A; P-3C; A-6E; EA-6B; S-3B; and F-14D aircraft. Mark has a B.S. in Engineering from Arizona State University.
Scott Simcox
President and CEO
Scott Simcox has over 30 years of leadership and management experience in a variety of roles within the aviation and aerospace fields. He provides leadership for ATAC’s business development and marketing efforts, and oversees ATAC’s existing product and service lines, including the Airport and Airspace Simulation Model (Simmod), the Military Airspace Simulation Model (NASMOD), the BirdWatch Reporting System (BWRS), and the Graphical Airspace Design Environment (GRADE®). Scott also works with clients to develop tailored consulting services solutions that leverage ATAC’s unique knowledge and insights in aviation systems modeling and simulation and aviation systems analysis.
Scott began his career in the United States Air Force where he served as a meteorologist, engineering project manager, and satellite operations officer. At the University of California, Berkeley, Scott was the Program Manager and Research Development Director for the National Center of Excellence for Aviation Operations Research (NEXTOR), where he led development efforts and provided management support to faculty and research engineers at five universities, including UC Berkeley, MIT, Maryland, Virginia Tech, and George Mason University.
Prior to taking on his current responsibilities at ATAC, Scott led the business development and marketing initiatives for ATAC’s entire product and consulting services portfolio. Scott received a B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan, a M.S. degree in Meteorology from Penn State University, and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley.
Dave Schleicher
Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Dave Schleicher has more than 30 years of experience in the research, development, and systems analysis of advanced air traffic control and cockpit technologies as well as advanced vehicle concepts. Dave also has over 20 years of experience in management of research and development (R&D) projects and organizations and business development.
Dave received his B. S. E. degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (summa cum laude) from Princeton University. After receiving his Master’s degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford University, Dave started his career as a NASA aerospace engineer at NASA’s Ames Research Center working on the design and assessment of advanced military and high-speed civil rotorcraft including civil tiltrotors. After receiving a Diploma (avec grand fruit) at the Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics in Brussels, Belgium, focused on aerodynamics study and research, Dave returned to NASA Ames and served on the research program development and management team that led NASA’s emerging Advanced Air Transportation Technologies (AATT) program. In the AATT program, Dave served as the manager for Benefits and Safety Assessment, where he led in-house and contractor analytical efforts and simultaneously obtained his private pilot’s license.
Since serving at NASA, Dave has worked in multiple roles in private industry as an Air Traffic Management systems engineer, R&D project manager, and business development lead focused on the development of advanced ATM technologies. Dave’s extensive NextGen experience includes the design and development of real-time ATM automation systems spanning the domains of airport, metroplex, and en route airspace as well as the development of advanced general aviation cockpit technologies.
Dave is a co-holder of a patent on a smart airport automation system and has developed algorithms for NASA’s Center-TRACON Automation System’s En route Descent Advisor (EDA). Dave has also led teams in developing both real-time and fast-time ATM simulations and associated scenario generation and analysis tools as well as demonstrations and assessment of new ATM operational concepts for major U.S. government agencies including NASA, the FAA, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Dave has served ATAC as Director of Strategic Programs, and currently serves in the role of Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO). As COO, he manages and oversees all active projects, including services, tool development, and IR&D, and works with the Business Development Team to support new strategic business outreach efforts to current and new government and private industry clients.
Joe Isaacs
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Joe Isaacs has over 30 years of financial management experience in all aspects of business operations including accounting and finance, strategic planning, annual operating plans, proposal pricing, indirect expense planning and control, and mergers and acquisitions. He began working at ATAC in the position of Controller in 2017 and was promoted to the position of Chief Financial Officer in May 2019.
Prior to joining ATAC, Joe served for 23 years at Space Systems / Loral – Maxar (SSL), a $1 billion satellite manufacturer in Palo Alto, California. At SSL, he worked in a series of positions with progressively increasing levels of responsibility, culminating in his assignment as SSL’s Controller, a position in which he worked closely with the CFO. Joe began his career as an auditor for Deloitte.
Joe has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and a Masters of Professional Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin.
