Rhys Jones is an Australian mechanical and aerospace engineer and university professor of engineering. His main areas of research are aircraft structural mechanics, corrosion repair, and airworthiness. He has written extensively in the field, both books and academic publications. In 2018, he was appointed a

Companion of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

for his service to engineering and education.

Early life and education

Jones initially studied Applied Mathematics at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

. He obtained his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1974, also from the University of Adelaide.

Professional career

Academic career

After graduating with a PhD, Jones started as a lecturer in Civil Engineering at

Swinburne University The Swinburne University of Technology (or simply Swinburne) is a public research university in Melbourne, Australia. It is the modern descendant of the Eastern Suburbs Technical College established in 1908, renamed Swinburne Technical College ...

. In 1976, he joined the Aeronautical Research Laboratory (ARL) at the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organisation; he held the position of Research Leader in Aircraft Structures and Materials Division there until 1993. In 1993, Jones moved to

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

where he took up the role of Chair Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, a position he held until 2017. While there, he led the Centre of Expertise in Aircraft Structural Mechanics, focusing on enhancing the safety and longevity of aircraft structures. On his retirement, he was appointed Professor Emeritus in January 2018. Between 2016 and 2019, Jones was also a professor in the School of Applied Sciences, Computing, and Engineering at

Wrexham University Wrexham University (; ) is a public university in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales, with campuses in Wrexham, Northop and St Asaph. It offers both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, as well as professional courses. The universit ...

. Commencing 2021, Jones joined the

Australian Research Council The Australian Research Council (ARC) is the primary non-medical research funding agency of the Australian Government, distributing more than in grants each year. The Council was established by the ''Australian Research Council Act 2001'', ...

Industrial Transformation Training Centre in Surface Engineering for Advanced Materials (SEAM) as a Senior Associate Investigator. He was also an Adjunct Professor at

in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Product Design Engineering.

Contributions to engineering

Jones' contributions have mainly concerned improving aircraft safety, an interest which began in 1988 when

Aloha Airlines Flight 243 Aloha Airlines Flight 243 (IATA: AQ243, ICAO: AAH243) was a scheduled Aloha Airlines flight between Hilo International Airport, Hilo and Honolulu International Airport, Honolulu in Hawaii. On April 28, 1988, a Boeing 737-209, Boeing 737-297 servi ...

suffered explosive decompression in flight. He has conducted extensive research on the most effective ways to repair cracks and corrosion, which are leading causes of aircraft structural failures. In collaboration with RUAG and the U.S. Navy, Jones developed a technique to remediate aluminium corrosion by spraying fine metal particles at supersonic speed onto the aircraft bodies, effectively restoring them nearly to their original condition. In March 2018, Jones joined the Australian manufacturing company Titomic Limited as Structural Mechanics and Integrity Advisor.

Professional service

Jones serves as an Associate Editor for the Polymeric and Composite Materials section of Frontiers in Materials.

Awards and recognition

In the

2018 Australia Day Honours The 2018 Australia Day Honours are appointments Australian honours system, to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2018 by the Governor General of Australia, Pet ...

, Jones was awarded Australia's highest civilian honour, Companion of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

, "for eminent service to mechanical and aerospace engineering, and to education as an academic, researcher and author, particularly in the area of aircraft structural mechanics, corrosion repair and airworthiness." This is the first time that this honour was awarded to a structures/materials scientist. Other awards and achievements include: * 2019 Best Paper Award 2019 Australian International Aerospace Conference * 2017 Best Paper Award 2017 Australian International Aerospace Conference * 2012 RAAF Maritime Systems Project Office Commendation * 2008 Top Ten Defence Science Paper in the Period 1907-2007: the Australian Chief Defence Scientist selected Jones's work on thermo-elasticity as one of the top ten Defence Science publications during the century from 1907 to 2007 * 1994 The Technical Cooperation Program (TTCP) Defence Science Award for "Defects in Composite Structures" * 1989 Sir George Julius Medal, awarded by The Institution of Engineers Australia * 1982 Institution of Engineers Australia Engineering Excellence Award, for his work on Mirage III aircraft

Publications

Academic papers

ResearchGate ResearchGate is a European commercial social networking site for scientists and researchers to share papers, ask and answer questions, and find collaborators. According to a 2014 study by ''Nature'' and a 2016 article in ''Times Higher Education' ...

lists 558 of his scientific publications with 10,034 citations. Meanwhile,

Google Scholar Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of Academic publishing, scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. Released in Beta release, beta in November 2004, th ...

lists 13,714 citations to his works, giving an

h-index The ''h''-index is an author-level metric that measures both the productivity and citation impact of the publications, initially used for an individual scientist or scholar. The ''h''-index correlates with success indicators such as winning t ...

of 56.

Books

* * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

* at Monash University {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Rhys Living people 20th-century Australian engineers 21st-century Australian engineers Australian scientists Companions of the Order of Australia Academic staff of Monash University University of Adelaide alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Academic staff of Swinburne University of Technology Australian aerospace engineers People associated with Wrexham University