Biography

Experience

• 1993 – 94, 1998 – 2004, Vice Chairman, Dept. of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering
• 1984 – Professor, Department of Mechanical, and Aeronautical Engineering, University of California, Davis; Teaching undergraduate and graduate courses and conducting research in areas of mechanical and aeronautical engineering
• 1982 – 1984 – Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical, Aeronautical, and Materials Engineering, University of California, Davis
• 1977 – 1982 – Research Scientist, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA. Conducting and directing research in Advanced Vertical and Short Takeoff and Landing (V/STOL) aircraft; Specific research activity involved the automatic and manual control of V/STOL aircraft including rotorcraft
• 1975 – 1976 – Assistant Professor, Department of Aeronautics, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA; Conducting on-sight research at NASA Ames Research Center. Research activity involved rotorcraft handling qualities prediction and cockpit display design
• 1970 – 1975 – Assistant Professor, Department of Aeronautics, Naval Postgraduate School; Teaching graduate courses and conducting research in aeronautical engineering

Professional Activities

• Associate Editor, Journal of Aircraft (1977 – 2020), an archival technical journal of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
• Associate Editor, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics[1] (1980 – 2013), an archival technical journal of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
• Associate Editor, Journal of Aerospace Engineering, Proceedings Part G of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Great Britain (1999 – 2018)
• Consulting Editor, International Journal of Applied Aviation Studies, a publication of the FAA Academy, Oklahoma City, OK, (2010 – 2012)
• Associate Editor, IEEE Transactions on Human/Machine Systems (2013 – )
• Member, AIAA Technical Committee on Guidance Navigation and Control (1985 – 1988)
• Member, IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Administrative Committee (1986 – 1989)
• Member, IEEE/SAE Aerospace Control and Guidance Systems Committee, (1998 – ); Co-Chairman Subcommittee D, Dynamics, Computations, and Analysis (1999 – 2017)
• Chairman, IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Technical Committee on Manual Control (1986 – 2002)
• Member, AIAA Technical Committee on Atmospheric Flight Mechanics (1988 – 1991), and (2006 – 2007)
• Vice-President, Membership, IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Society (1989 – 1991)
• Faculty Advisor, University of California, Davis Student Chapter of AIAA (1984 – 2002, 2012 – 2021)
• Member, National Research Council Committee on the Effects of Aircraft-Pilot Coupling on Flight Safety (1996-1997)
• Consulting Editor International Journal of Applied Aviation Studies, A Publication of the FAA Academy, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, (2010 – )
• Member, National Research Council Committee for the Review of NASA’s Revolutionize Aviation Panel for the Review of the Aviation Safety Program (2002-2003)
• Member, National Transportation Safety Board Group investigation crash of American Airlines Flight 587, (2003-2004)
• Member of five-person panel conducting peer review of the Dynamic Systems and Controls Branch at NASA Langley Research Center, Nov. 2005
• NATO Lecture Series Speaker: 2007 NATO/RTO Lecture Series LS-SCI-175; Rostock, Germany; and Florence, Italy; Davis, CA. USA: “System Control Technologies, Design Considerations & Integrated Optimization Factors for Distributed Nano Unmanned Air Vehicle Applications,” to be held May, 2007
• Member of five-person panel conducting peer review of the Flight Dynamics Branch at NASA Langley Research Center, Oct. 2008
• Member of five-person panel conducting peer review of the Dynamic Systems and Controls Branch at NASA Langley Research Center, Nov. 2010
• Member of the four-person panel conducting peer review of the Flight Dynamics Branch at NASA Langley Research Center, Oct. 2012
• Member of International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) Technical Committee TC 9.2 Social Impact of Automation, 2014 –

Professional Awards

• AIAA deFlorez Award for Flight Simulation, 2019, Citation: “For contributions in the field of simulation fidelity for the improvement of air vehicle simulation and trainers, aircraft man machine interface and flight controls.”
• IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society Outstanding Contribution Award, October, 1995, Citation: “For leadership and continuing service as a Transactions Associate Editor, and for many contributions to research and scholarship.”
• AIAA Mechanics and Control of Flight Award, August, 2000, Citation: “For advances toward the design and analytical evaluation of flight control systems, emphasizing the safe piloted control of Aircraft,”
• Best Paper Award, AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference, 2005. “Nonlinear Inversion Control for a Ducted Fan UAV,” Co-authors: C. Spaulding (Prof. Hess’ graduate student), M. Mansur, M. Tischler, and J. Franklin
• Best Paper Award, AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Sessions, 2008, Citation: “for the outstanding paper titled,” “Metrics for the Evaluation of Pedal Force/Feel Systems in Transport Aircraft.”
• AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference Plenary Address, AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii, August, 2008, “Illuminating the Pilot Vehicle System,” with David Klyde. This was the inaugural McRuer Lectureto be presented each year at the AIAA AFM Conference
• Two papers by Ronald Hess (and grad student) selected by the AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics (AFM) Technical Committee to be included in “AFM Most Influential Papers of the 1980s.” Presentation to be made at the 2012 AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference, Minneapolis, MN, 13-16 Aug., 2012
  • (1) Hess, R. A., “A Pilot Modeling Technique for Handling Qualities Research,”presented at AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference, Danvers, Mass., August 11-13, Paper No. AIAA 1980-1624, 1980
  • (2) Hess, R. A., and Watson, D. C., “Cross-Coupling in Pilot/Vehicle Systems,” Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Vol. 9, No. 6, 1985, pp. 614-620
• Best Paper from the Unmanned VTOL Technical Sessions at the Vertical Flight Society’s 77thAnnual Forum, “Deterministic Reconfiguration of flight Control Systems for Multirotor UAV Package Delivery,” Co-authors: A. Gong (Prof Hess’ PhD student) and M. Tischler

Professional Affiliations

• Emeritus Member American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (2020)
• Fellow, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (2011 – )
• Life Senior Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (1991 – )
• Member  American Helicopter Society
• Tau Beta Pi (elected as Eminent Engineer in 1990)
• Sigma Xi

Professional Engineering/Teaching Credentials

• Registered Professional Engineer in the state of California – Control Systems Engineering, Certificate No. CS001927 (1977 – )
• California Community College Instructor Credential No. 208887, (1979 – )