Dr. Paul E. Hess III is a naval architect at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division where he began his career in 1989. Dr. Hess earned his B.S. and M.S. in Aerospace and Ocean Engineering at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and completed his Ph.D. in Reliability Engineering at the University of Maryland. Dr. Hess has experience in surface ship structural analysis, design applications and structural reliability. Most recently, Dr. Hess has been heavily involved in conducting reliability and risk studies for the US Navy. His areas of expertise include structural reliability analysis and tool/process development (metallic and composite); development of reliability-based design criteria; probabilistic and statistical data analysis; and ship structural failure analysis.