Ben Thacker

Ben Thacker has extensive experience in mechanical and materials engineering, currently serving as Vice President of Mechanical Engineering and Executive Director of Materials and Fluids Engineering at Southwest Research Institute, a position held since September 1988. Previous roles at the institute include Director of Materials Engineering, Manager, Principal Engineer, Senior Research Engineer, and Research Engineer. Prior to this, Ben Thacker worked at General Dynamics Electric Boat Division from February 1984 to August 1988 as a Senior Engineer, focusing on computer methods development and R&D for naval structures and materials. Ben Thacker holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, specializing in Probabilistic Mechanics from The University of Texas at Austin, as well as an M.S. in Structural Mechanics from the University of Connecticut and a B.S. in Structures from Iowa State University.