Paul Hess

Paul Hess

Adjunct Professor and Senior Advisor, Naval Engineering

Dr. Paul Hess has a strong background in science and technology development through demonstration for the military with expertise in ship structures and system reliability. Dr. Hess recently retired from his role as Program Officer at the Office of Naval Research in the Sea Warfare and Weapons Department. He came to ONR in November 2005 from his prior position as a Naval Architect (structures) at the David Taylor Model Basin (now Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division) where he began his career in 1989. Dr. Hess studied Aerospace and Ocean Engineering at Virginia Tech and earned his B.S. in 1989 and M.S. in 1994. In 2004, he completed his Ph.D. in Reliability Engineering at the University of Maryland. Dr. Hess' duties at ONR included responsibility for programs in the area of Ship Structural Reliability and at-sea sustainment development programs such as: motion-compensating crane for at-sea ship-to-ship cargo transfers; motion accommodating ramp for at-sea ship-to-ship vehicle transfers, and Environment and Ship Motion Forecasting. Dr. Hess has developed tools and processes to determine the performance of naval ship structures using risk and reliability-based methods. His areas of expertise include system reliability and risk analysis with application to ship structures, development of reliability/risk-based design criteria; probabilistic and statistical data analysis; and failure analysis for metallic and composite structures. He has led international collaborations in ship structures research, has published over 40 technical reports, conference papers and journal articles to document his research, and participates as a reviewer for refereed journals.