Dr. Monica Cortez is the TMAC Statewide Director of Business Operations. She has a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from California Polytechnic University and a Master’s and Ph.D. degree in Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She gained valuable industrial experience working at Lockheed Martin and Exelon Nuclear before finding her passion to support businesses along their journey toward sustainable growth, global competitiveness and profitability. She joined TMAC in 2016 and held several positions within the organization before becoming the Statewide Director of Business Operations. She is currently certified as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt as well as a certified instructor through the TWI Institute, for Job Instruction and Job relations. She provides oversight for the TMAC regional offices located a Texas Tech, UTEP, UTRGV, UTA, Univ. of Houston, Lamar Institute of Technology (LIT), and Southwest Research Institute (SwRI).