Dr. Ropp has over 18 years experience in technical operations and educational development in risk-sensitive technology industries, including supervisory roles in air vehicle airframe maintenance operations for a major U.S. air carrier. He has taught in SATT's Aeronautical Engineering Technology area since 2005, using the School's large transport laboratory jets as research and immersive learning platforms for students. His research focus areas include technology innovations for Advanced Aerospace Manufacturing and Next Generation air vehicle lifecycle management; Safety Risk Management for aerospace and airport surface operations. Dr. Ropp has served on the Federal Aviation Administration's Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) Institute through the Joint Planning and Development Office in Washington, D.C. (2008-2010) as a safety working group member, and has researched and presented on safety risk management systems around the world. While at Purdue he has developed and deployed safety management systems, quality management system and human factors leadership training in several industry sectors including work with the U.S. Navy’s Undersea Weapons facility at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and some of the largest aviation MRO and Air Carrier organizations in North America.
Dr. Ropp is Director of the Aerospace and MRO Technology Innovation (AMT-I) Center at Purdue and leads its R&D arm - Hangar of the Future Research Laboratory. The lab focuses on novel technology innovations for next generation air vehicle MRO and advanced aerospace manufacturing processes. His award winning undergraduate and graduate student research teams are often published, are invited presenters at conferences and STEM career and education demonstrations around the U.S. and have patent disclosures on key projects. His students have won and placed in national design competitions with FAA, and Boeing and at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine - Transportation Research Board (TRB) Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) University Design Competition. His Hangar of the Future lab and student teams have been featured in Aviation Week and Space Technology, Popular Mechanics magazine and the national Big Ten Network.
