Steven Ray Hall (born July 6, 1959 in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

) is the Chair of the Faculty and Professor of

Aeronautics and Astronautics Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial, and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astro ...

at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

, in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. His research interests are in aerospace controls systems, including flexible space structure control, control of noise and vibration, especially in helicopters, and the development of smart material actuators. He is the coauthor of seven patents, mostly in the area of smart material actuation. His teaching includes graduate and undergraduate subjects in signals and systems, control theory, guidance and navigation, and flight mechanics and control. Hall was the lead instructor for the Unified Engineering course freely available through

MIT OpenCourseWare MIT OpenCourseWare (MIT OCW) is an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to publish all of the educational materials from its undergraduate- and graduate-level courses online, freely and openly available to anyone, anywh ...

Personal life

He grew up in Florida, living in a half dozen towns throughout the central part of the state before graduating from high school in

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...

. Living in Florida at the height of the

space race The Space Race (, ) was a 20th-century competition between the Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between t ...

, he developed an interest in aircraft and rockets early in life. Since 2008, he is the Associate Housemaster of Simmons Hall, where he runs the Simmons Hall Residential Scholar program. He greatly enjoys living with the Simmons Hall community of students and scholars, which he describes as “warm, welcoming, and vibrant.” His daughter Caitlin lives with him at Simmons Hall and is a graduate student at

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It also maintains campuses in Los Angeles and Well, Limburg, Netherlands (Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of Public Speaking, o ...

. His son Michael lives in nearby

Watertown, Massachusetts Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Sq ...

. He is a certificated pilot, and proud owner of a Cessna Cutlass RG, which he flies on weekends and vacations.

University positions

* Chair of the Faculty, 2013–present * Associate Professor, 1991 – present * Assistant Department Head, 1997-1998 * Assistant Professor, 1985-1991

Honors and awards

* MacVicar Faculty Fellow, 2002 * Raymond L. Bisplinghoff Fellow, 1998 * Hertz Fellow, 1983-1985 * Member,

Tau Beta Pi The Tau Beta Pi Association (commonly Tau Beta Pi, , or TBP) is the oldest engineering honor society and the second oldest collegiate honor society in the United States. It honors engineering students in American universities who have shown a ...

Society memberships

* Associate Fellow, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics * Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers * Member, American Helicopter Society * Member, American Society for Engineering Education

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Steven Ray Living people 1959 births American aerospace engineers MIT School of Engineering faculty Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni