Initially, Cotton’s focus will be on stackable directional control valves, piston pumps and motors. He is expected to move quickly into Fletcher’s production engineering department, where he will work with a broad variety of hydraulic and mechanical systems.
Cotton has been designing mining equipment since 1996, when he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from West Virginia Institute of Technology and was recruited by another international manufacturer.
His assignments required him to locate first to Pennsylvania, then to Virginia, Ohio and finally Kentucky.
“Throughout my career, I’ve always had a keen eye on Fletcher, because as I met with customers and visited mines, I found that Fletcher had an outstanding reputation for quality and safety, and was the leading manufacturer of roof bolting machines,” Cotton said.
