Professor R. K. Hanson
Professor Hanson earned engineering degrees from Oregon State University, Arizona State 
University and Stanford University.   He has been affiliated with Stanford University since 1972, 
and presently is the Woodard Professor of Mechanical Engineering.  He served as the ME 
Department chair at Stanford from 1993-2003, and has been the principal advisor of more than 
65 Ph.D. graduates.  His research has been in the fields of laser diagnostics and sensors, shock 
wave physics, advanced propulsion and combustion chemistry, and he is the author or co-author 
of over 400 archival publications in these areas.  Dr. Hanson is a Fellow of the American 
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the American Society of Mechanical 
Engineers (ASME) and the Optical Society of America (OSA), and is a member of the National 
Academy of Engineering (NAE).  He is a recipient of the Silver Medal of the Combustion 
Institute and the AIAA awards for Propellants and Combustion and Advanced Measurement 
Technology.    
		04/2006