Dr. Hassan is a native of Raleigh, North Carolina. He earned his bachelor鈥檚 degree in 1988, his master鈥檚 degree in 1990, and his Doctorate in Aerospace Engineering from North Carolina State University (NCSU) in 1993. He is currently the Director of the Engineering Sciences Center, where he is responsible for leading advances in S&T capabilities by integrating theory, computational simulation, and experimental discovery and validation across length and time scales to assess complex physical phenomena and systems supporting Sandia鈥檚 national security mission.听 Previously, he served as Director of the Chief Research Office and Deputy Chief Research Officer, where he led Sandia鈥檚 research strategy development, including the execution of the Laboratory Directed Research and Development program, and oversaw Sandia鈥檚 external partnership and technology transfer programs. Since joining Sandia in 1993, Dr. Hassan has worked in and managed all phases of research and development (R&D) and applications work, that help fuel Sandia鈥檚 national security mission.
Dr. Hassan has served in a variety of R&D positions in the areas of aerodynamics and aerothermodynamics of high-speed flight vehicles, drag reduction for low-speed ground transportation vehicles, and high-velocity oxygen fuel thermal sprays. He has overseen all aspects of engineering sciences R&D and applications work at Sandia. Most notably, he supported National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in determining the cause of the Space Shuttle Columbia accident in 2003 and was part of the team that shutdown the Deepwater Horizon oil well after the explosion and spill in 2010.
Dr. Hassan is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and served on its Board of Trustees (2019-2023) as the Institute President (2020-2022). Previously, he served on AIAA鈥檚 Board as Vice President and Director from 2008-2017. He served on several national review boards for the National Academies, NASA, DARPA, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the National Science Foundation, and has been an external member of the NASA Engineering and Safety Center since 2004. Dr. Hassan chairs the Development Committee of the North Carolina State University (NCSU) Engineering Foundation Board and serves on the External Advisory Board for Research and Innovation at the University of Colorado at Boulder.听 He has served on other similar boards for North Carolina State University, New Mexico State University, Texas A&M University, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of New Mexico, and the Georgia Institute of Technology. He was the 2008 recipient of the AIAA Sustained Service Award and a 2017 recipient of NCSU鈥檚 Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award.听