Vice President, Engineering
Dennis D. Olcott joined Piper in 2007 and has since held various positions of increasing responsibility, including lead development responsibility for the PiperJet and other major product innovations. Olcott earned his B.S. and Ph.D. (1992) in Mechanical Engineering from Brigham Young University, where he specialized in the dynamic behavior of composite structures. Prior to completing his doctorate, Olcott worked for LTV Military Aircraft in their Composites Development Group, at AIM Aviation performing structural analysis, and at Cirrus Design, where he was responsible for the design and fabrication of the wing structure on the ST-50 turboprop aircraft. Olcott was an early employee of Adam Aircraft, and as Vice-President of Engineering helped launch a new company that achieved FAA certification on the A500 push-pull twin-engine piston aircraft.
A licensed Professional Engineer, Olcott holds an FAA Private Pilot license with ASEL and glider ratings. He holds patents for aircraft design, composite processing, and dynamic aircraft seats. Throughout his career, he has been directly involved in the development of new aircraft configurations, performance analysis, structural analysis, material and process development, loads, and structural testing.