Dale Turner

Dale Turner serves as Director of the UCLA California Smart Manufacturing Innovation Center (Cal SMIC). In this role, he leads strategy, growth, and operations for UCLA’s Smart Manufacturing initiatives, advancing awareness of the value and impact of Smart Manufacturing (SM) technologies across California.

Dale works closely with industry leaders, educational institutions, and government partners to help manufacturers adopt SM technologies and leverage high-performance computing to increase productivity, competitiveness, and workforce readiness. His work is supported through several major statewide initiatives, including the State of California Smart Manufacturing Leadership Program (CA SMLP), the California Shipbuilding Ecosystems Alliance (CalSEA), UCLA Cal SMIC, the State of California Smart Manufacturing Apprenticeship Program, and the State of California AI/ML Grant program.

Dale brings more than 32 years of experience supporting the U.S. Department of Defense and other federal agencies, including 22 years in senior executive leadership. He has led business development and capture teams with a 94%-win rate, contributing to more than $13.1 billion in awarded federal grants and contracts. He also has over 14 years of entrepreneurial experience in the private sector.

He previously served as Vice President of the UCLA/CESMII Smart Manufacturing Innovation Center (SMIC) Network and earlier as Director of the Western SMIC, where he helped establish a nationally recognized network of “lighthouse” innovation centers supporting adoption of SM technologies and growing national membership.

Before joining UCLA and CESMII, Dale founded and served as Vice President of the Camden Defense Business Initiative under the Arkansas Economic Development Commission’s Manufacturing Solutions MEP Center, partnering with federal, state, and regional organizations to support major U.S. defense manufacturers and supply-chain partners across the south-central United States.

Earlier in his career, Dale was Senior Vice President at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, leading business development efforts across advanced engineering, C4ISR, security systems, infrastructure integration, weapons lifecycle support, and mission-critical technology services.