Business Team

Matthew Rossi

*Director*
**AERO ‘24**
This is Matthew’s third year on the team and first year as director. He is studying Aerospace engineering and has a passion for fixed-wing aircraft. Matthew builds and flies remote control airplanes as a hobby, bringing important experimental knowledge to the team.

Christopher Karber
**MEEN ‘24**
Team Liaison

Kathryn Carter

MEEN ‘26

Sponsorship/Outreach

Kara Grassau
**CSCE ‘24**
Social Media/Merch

Kevin Valencia
**ELEN/PHYS ‘26**
Social Media/Public Relations

Joshua Stevenson
**ENGR ‘26**
Sponsorship/Outreach

Josh Cannon
**AERO ‘25**
Sponsorship/Outreach

Regular Class Officers

Patrick Cramer
**AERO ‘24**
Chief Engineer
This will be Patrick's third year on the team. As the chief engineer, he will lead the regular class through designing, building, and testing our aircraft. In his free time he enjoys building and flying fpv drones. He is an avid space nerd and is excited to pursue a career in space travel.

Konstantin Nelson
**MEEN ‘25**
SMS Product Owner
This will be Konstantin’s 2nd year on the team and his 1st as SMS Product Owner, where he is responsible for leading the development process of the Regular Class SMS subteam. In his spare time Konstantin likes to ask questions.

Brandon Behenna
**AERO ‘24**
ASC Design Lead
This will be Brandon’s third year on the team and first as ASC Design Lead, where he has used his experience in CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) to bolster the team’s design process. Brandon is passionate about aerospace and want to use his position to better prepare himself and others for a career in engineering.

Walker Buckle
**AERO ‘25**
SMS Design Lead
This will be Walker's second year on the team and first as SMS Design Lead, where he has used his experience in both in CFD and FEA to optimize processes of transferring loads accurately to inform structural optimizations. Outside of SAE Aero, he is a member of the MAESTRO lab focusing on development and optimization of morphing UAVs. More than anything, he wants to use his role to develop a passionate team culture and teach members how to grow as engineers..

Mason Viergutz
**MXET ‘25**
ASC Product Owner
This will be Mason's third year on the team and he is now the ASC Product Owner, where he is responsible for leading the ASC subteam's design of this years competition aircraft.

Chantz Elliott
**AERO ‘23**
Shop Manager
This will be Chantz’s fourth year on the team. As shop manager, Chantz works on keeping the SAE workshop clean and with enough supplies to help both teams prototype and build successful planes. He is also responsible for the team’s compliance with all safety procedures.

Regular Class Team Members

Aerodynamics, Stability, and Controls (ASC)

Timothy

Kurtin

AERO ‘26

Structures and Materials Science (SMS)

Samuel

Crow

AERO ‘24

Our Advisors

Dale Cope

Faculty Advisor

Dr. Dale Cope is an Associate Professor within the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He received his bachelors at Texas A&M University in Aerospace Engineering, his masters at the Air Force Institute of Technology, and doctorates at Wichita State for Aerospace Engineering. Dr. Cope has had experience as an Air Force officer, working on the KC-135 program. He is currently working on Unmanned Aircraft Systems for agriculture and engineering education.

Scott McHarg

Pilot

My name is Scott McHarg and I am an Advisor for the Texas A&M SAE AERO Design team. I have been an advisor for the team now for 5 years. I have also had the honor to serve as the team pilot for the past 3 years and developmental pilot for the past 10 years. I’ve been flying R/C airplanes for over 33 years now and have flown everything there is to fly over the course of my career. I’ve been flying commercially for private entities and the military for about 30 years now beginning with the RQ2 Pioneer UAV. I have almost 13,000 hours of mission time and my current passion is turbine jet aerobatics.

There’s nothing that I haven’t seen over the years that is until I became an advisor for this amazing team. The designs, iterations, and final concepts that this team produces amaze me more each year. The cohesiveness of this group is unlike anything I’ve been part of. I’m truly honored and blessed to be involved with these students and can’t wait to head back to the competition.

Blake Rogers

Student Advisor

This will be my fourth year with the TAMU SAE Aero Design team. In the previous years, I have served as a Regular Class ASC sub-team member as well as the Regular class ASC Product Owner. After three years, I have moved into an advisor position to continue serving the team in a new role as I finish up my senior year in Aerospace Engineering.

Jay Grinstead

Faculty Advisor

Dr. Jay Grinstead is an Associate Professor within the Department of Aerospace Engineering. He received his bachelors at Southern Methodist University in Mechanical Engineering, and his masters and doctorates at University of Virginia for Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Dr. Grinstead is currently working on optical and laser-spectroscopic diagnostics in various environments, testing methodologies for ground-to-flight traceability, and hypersonic signature characterization.

Micro Class Officers

Hunter Hadden

AERO ‘24

Chief Engineer

This is Hunter’s third year on the team, and second as the Micro Class Chief Engineer. As an avid RC enthusiast, Hunter brings practical technical knowledge to the team. Outside of SAE he does research within dual pulse laser energy deposition.