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Rick Cooper has held various roles in the technology industry since 2002. In 2002, they were the VP of Business Development at PolyFuel, where they created strong brand awareness and increased market share from 0 to 45% over a 4-year period. From 2011-2012, Rick served as an Advisor for the von Liebig Entrepreneurism Center UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, a Board Member and Treasurer for Tech Coast Angels, and an Advisory Board Member for the Agile Strategy Institute. From 2012-2013, they were a Director at Yapert and IntraStage. From 2015-2018, Rick was the Chairman and CEO of MANTA Instruments Inc., where they launched the company as co-founder and CEO, built and led a world-class team, achieved 100% success with patent prosecution, and achieved highly effective financing. In 2018, they became an Entrepreneur In Residence at the University of California San Diego, where they advised faculty and students on topics such as team building, business plans, strategy, and more. Finally, in 2019, Rick was appointed Director at South 8 Technologies, Inc., where they helped develop a novel Liquefied Gas Electrolyte (LiGasâ„¢) chemistry for next-generation lithium batteries and electrochemical capacitors.

Rick Cooper obtained their BSME in Mechanical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo between 1989 and 1992. Rick also attended British Columbia Institute of Technology between 1980 and 1982, studying Chemistry. Additionally, they have taken executive education courses on management, marketing and finance at Stanford University Graduate School of Business and the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business. In 1993, they obtained their Professional Engineer (PE) certification from the State of California Department of Consumer Affairs.