You can call or write to:

Richard G. Hills
New Mexico State University
Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
POBox 30001/Dept 3450
Las Cruces, NM 88003-8001

Voice Phone: (575) 646-5072
FAX Phone: (575) 646-6111

You can reach me by e-mail at: rhills@nmsu.edu

Education

• B.S., Mechanical Engineering, New Mexico State University, 1972
• M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, 1974
• Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, New Mexico State University, 1979

Active Research and Development Areas

• Inverse Theory, Identification, Model Validation
• Numerical Methods for Partial Differential Equations
• Computer Aided Design/Engineering
• Water Flow and Transport in the Vadose Zone

Professional Experience

• 1997 to present: Professor, Mechanical Engineering, New Mexico State University
• 1994 to 1997: Acting Department Head and Department Head, Mechanical Engineering, New Mexico State University
• 1981 to 1994: Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor, Mechanical Engineering, New Mexico State University
• 1980 to 1981: Member of Technical Staff, Sandia National Labs, geophysical remote sensing, geophysical heat transfer
• 1975 to 1980: Graduate Teaching Assistant, Mechanical Engineering, New Mexico State University, geophysical fluid mechanics, thermal inverse theory and remote sensing
• 1974 to 1975: Research Engineer, Aerojet Nuclear Co., nuclear reactor safety and containment
• 1972 to 1974: Graduate Research Assistant, Purdue University, geophysical fluid mechanics and heat

General Teaching Areas

• Analysis
• Numerical Analysis
• Computer Aided Design/Engineering

Research Contracts and Grants

• Space Marching Inverse Heat Conduction --- Sandia National Labs
• Multidimensional Inverse Heat Conduction --- Sandia National Labs
• Multidimensional Reservoir Identification --- Amoco Production Company
• In-Situ Heat Transfer Experiment --- Sandia National Labs
• Parameter Estimation in Reservoirs --- Amoco Production Company
• Parallel Computer Interconnection --- DARPA
• Transient Multigrid Methods for the FPS T-100 Hypercube --- NASA
• Feasibility Study for a Periodic Downhole Seismic Source --- Mobil
• Stochastic Models for Solute Transport at Arid Waste Sites --- Battelle
• Logo Design and Guidance --- DoD
• Flow and Transport Database and Modeling in the Unsaturated Zone --- USNRC
• Application of Flux Updating Algorithm to Engineered Barriers --- Battelle
• Design and Manufacture of an Off-Road Vehicle --- DoD
• Scissors Lift Development --- EIMCO
• Model Validation Methodology --- Sandia National Labs
• Analysis of Scissors Lift --- Baker Process

Reviewer for the Following Journals

• Advances in Water Resources
• AIAA Journal
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers
• International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer
• Journal of Contaminant Hydrology
• Journal of Heat Transfer
• Numerical Heat Transfer
• Soil Science Society of America Journal
• Water Resources Research

Patents

• Downhole Periodic Seismic Generator (with H. Hardee and R. Striker): Patent issued in France (#8317814, 1985), Canada (#120125, 1986), United Kingdom (# 2 219 559 B 1987), and USA (#4805727, 1989).
• Advanced Downhole Periodic Seismic Generator (with H. Hardee and R. Striker): USA (#5031717, 1991).

Publications, Reports, and Presentations - Past 5 Years

• Hills, R.G. and P.J. Wierenga, with contributions from S. Luis, D. Mclaughlin, M. Rockhold, J. Xiang, B. Scanlon, and G. Wittmeyer, INTRAVAL Phase II Model Testing at the Las Cruces Trench Site, NUREG/CR-6063, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC., January 1994.
• Hills, R.G., K.A. Fisher, M.R. Kirkland, and P.J. Wierenga, Application of Flux Corrected Transport to the Las Cruces Trench Site, Water Resources Research, Vol. 30, No. 8, pp. 2377-2385, 1994.
• Wierenga, P.J., R.G. Hills, A.W. Warrick, and T.C. Yeh, Controlled Field Study for Validation of Vadose Zone Models, NUREG/CR-6120, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC., August 1994.
• Wierenga, P.J., J. Vinson, M.H. Young, R.G. Hills, Validation of Stochastic Flow and Transport Models for Unsaturated Soils, Final Report for Battelle/NRC Contract No. 04 90 058, 1994.
• Rockhold, M.L., R.E. Rossi, R.G. Hills, G.W. Gee, Similar Media Scaling and Geostatistical Analysis of Soil Hydraulic Properties, to appear in the proceedings of the 33rd Hanford Symposium on Health and the Environment., Richland, Washington, November, 1994.
• Hills, R.G., and P.J. Wierenga, Model Validation at the Las Cruces Trench Site, Invited paper, Presented at the Soil Science Society of America, 86th Annual Meeting, Seattle, Washington, November, 1994.
• Rockhold, M.L., R.G. Hills, R.E. Rossi, G.W. Gee, Similar Media Scaling and Conditional Simulation of Soil Hydraulic Properties, Presented at the Soil Science Society of America, 86th Annual Meeting, Seattle, Washington, November, 1994.
• Nicholson, T.J., R. Hills, M. Rockhold, G. Wittmeyer, T. Rasmussen, A. Guzman, Conclusions from Working Group1: Partially-Saturated Porous and Fractured Media Test Cases: Las Cruces Trench and Apache Leap Tuff Studies, to appear in the preceedings of GEOVAL 94: An International Symposium of Validation through Model Testing with Experiments, Paris, France, October, 1994.
• Goodrich, M.T., and R.G. Hills. Co-chaired presentation session on Addressing Parameter Uncertainty in Unsaturated Flow and Transport Models I. Fall Meeting of Americal Geophysical Union, Dec. 5-9, 1994.
• Goodrich, M.T., and R.G. Hills. Co-chaired poster session on Addressing Parameter Uncertainty in Unsaturated Flow and Transport Models II. Fall Meeting of Americal Geophysical Union, Dec. 5-9, 1994.
• Meyer, P.D., M.L. Rockhold, W.E. Nichols, G.W. Gee, R.G. Hills, Infiltration Evaluation Research for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Evans Workshop VII: Flow and Transport through Unsaturated Fractured Rock, Phoenix, Az., Jan. 31-Feb. 3, 1995.
• Hills, R.G., Meyer, P.D., Rockhold, M.L., PolyRES: A Polygon-Based Richards Equation Solver, NUREG/CR-6366, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC., December 1995.
• Rockhold, M.L., R.E. Rossi, and R.G. Hills, Application of Similar Media Scaling and Conditional Simulation for Modeling Water Flow and Tritium Transport at the Las Cruces Trench Site, Submitted to Water Resourses Research for review, 1995.
• Hudson, D.B., P.J. Wierenga, and R.G. Hills, Unsaturated Properties from Upward Flow into Soil Cores, accepted by Soil Science Society of America Journal for March-April 1996.
• Wierenga, P.J, R.G. Hills, M.H. Young, and J. Vinson, A Field Study for Evaluating Unsaturated Zone Flow and Transport Models, Joint USGS/USNRC Workshop on Research Related to Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal, Proceedings, Reston, Virginia, USGS Water Resources-Investigations Report 95-4015, pp. 119-128, 1996.
• Hills, R.G., and P.J. Wierenga, Analysis of Unsaturated Flow and Transport Models, Joint USGS/USNRC Workshop on Research Related to Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal, Proceedings, Reston, Virginia, USGS Water Resources-Investigations Report 95-4015, pp. 128-136, 1996.
• Vinson, J., P.J. Wierenga, R.G. Hills, and M.H. Young, Flow and Transport at the Las Cruces Trench Site: Experiment IIb, NUREG/CR-6437, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC., July 1997.
• EIMCO Design Tolerance Study, Advanced Manufacturing Center, New Mexico State University, May 1998. Hills, R.G., Statistical Validation of Engineering and Scientific Models: Background, Engineering Research Center, New Mexico State University, October 1998.
• Hills, R., Results of the 1999 D-90 Twist-Off, Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, New Mexico State University, 47 pages, May 1999.
• Hills, R. Finite Element Analysis of the Baker Process 400,000 ft-lb Scissors Lift, Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, New Mexico State University, 20 pages, May 1999.

Professional Societies

• American Geophysical Union
• American Society for Mechanical Engineers, Full Member
• Sigma Xi
• Society of Automotive Engineers

Honors and Awards

• Dynamic Diveshaft Award, presented by ASME students for most "helpful" professor, 1982
• Dow Award for Outstanding Young Educator, Gulf-Southwest Section, 1984
• New Mexico State University Bromilow Award for Research, 1985
• Most Valuable Professor, NMSU ASME/Pi Tau Sigma student chapters, 1997