Since he began teaching in 2004, Mr. Cotter has instructed students in PC repair, network engineering, robotics, and engineering. He taught at Battlefield HS for two years, Patrick Henry HS for 4 years, and has been at William Fleming High School since 2010. Mr. Cotter has been working closely with Virginia Western Community College to improve the quality of engineering education throughout the region since 2011 through his involvement in two National Science Foundation grants. He continues to build close relationships with local industry to ensure his program provides students with real-world skills that make them highly valued by local employers.
Mr. Cotter is the William Fleming advisor for SkillsUSA. He has mentored 5 robotics teams, including one world champion team and two others who qualified for the world championships. He has received multiple awards for his innovative approaches to teaching, and was selected as the 2019 Teacher of the Year by both ROTEC and Roanoke City Public Schools, and as a 2020 Virginia Finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.