“Long” short
biography
Paul D. Ronney is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical
Engineering at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA. Prof.
Ronney received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the
University of California, Berkeley, a Master of Science degree in Aeronautics
from the California Institute of Technology, and a Doctor of Science degree in
Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He
held postdoctoral appointments at the NASA Lewis (now Glenn) Research Center
and the Laboratory for Computational Physics at the U. S. Naval Research
Laboratory and a position as Assistant Professor in the Department of
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University before assuming
his current position at USC. Prof.
Ronney was the Payload Specialist Astronaut (Alternate) for Space Shuttle
mission MSL-1 (STS-83, April 4 - 8, 1997) and the reflight of this mission
(STS-94, July 1 - 16, 1997).
Professor Ronney has extensive research experience in small-scale
combustion and power generation, turbulent combustion, flame ignition by
transient plasma discharges, micro-scale combustion, bioengineering (robotic
insect propulsion), edge flames, flame propagation in confined geometries
(Hele-Shaw cells), internal combustion engines, premixed-gas combustion at
microgravity and flame spread over solid fuel beds. One of his experiments, a study of
premixed-gas flames at low gravity, flew on three Space Shuttle missions.
Prof. Ronney has published over 80 technical papers in
peer-reviewed journals, made over 250 technical presentations (including over
35 invited presentations at international conferences), holds 7 U.S. patents,
and has received over $12 million in funding for his research projects. In
recognition of his achievements, he is a Fellow of the American
Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Combustion Institute, an Associate
Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics,
and is a
recipient of the National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator
Award. He has received the Distinguished Paper Award from the Combustion
Institute (for a work published in the Proceedings of the Combustion
Institute, Vol. 37) and the Starley Premium Award of the Institution of
Mechanical Engineers (for the best paper of the year published in the Journal
of Automobile Engineering.)
“Short” short biography
Paul Ronney is Professor and
Chair of the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at USC. Prof. Ronney received a B.S. in Mechanical
Engineering from Berkeley, an MS in Aeronautics from Caltech, and a Sc.D. in
Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT.
He held postdoctoral appointments at the NASA Lewis Research Center and
the U. S. Naval Research Laboratory and a position as Assistant Professor at
Princeton University before assuming his current position at USC. He was also a Payload Specialist Astronaut
(Alternate) for Space Shuttle Missions STS-83 and STS-94 in 1997. Professor Ronney research areas include
micro-scale combustion, turbulent combustion, internal combustion engines,
microgravity combustion and fire spread.
He has had experiments flown on three Space Shuttle missions. In recognition of his achievements he is a
Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Combustion
Institute, an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics and a recipient of the National Science Foundation Presidential
Young Investigator Award and the Combustion Institute Distinguished Paper
Award.