Rate My Professor Jason Gross

Jason Gross is Professor and Chair of the Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering in the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources at West Virginia University. He received his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from West Virginia University in 2011, with a dissertation on sensor fusion based fault-tolerant attitude estimation for small unmanned aerial vehicles, advised by Dr. Marcello R. Napolitano. Gross also holds dual B.S. degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanical Engineering from WVU in 2007, graduating summa cum laude from the University Honors College after completing an honors thesis on low outgassing photogrammetry targets for spacecraft alignment. His early career included internships at NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center in 2006 and 2007, participation in the NASA Academy in 2007, and serving as WVU Student Body President from 2006 to 2007. From 2011 to 2013, he worked as a Technologist II in the Near Earth Tracking Applications Group at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, contributing to GNSS data analysis, GPS processing software modernization, and CubeSat mission concepts. Returning to WVU, Gross joined as Assistant Professor in 2014, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2019, served as Associate Chair for Research in 2021-2022 and Interim Chair in 2022, and has been Chair since 2022.

Gross directs the WVU Navigation Laboratory, coordinates the university's robotics program, and leads WVU's Space Robotics Challenge 2 team. His research focuses on robotic systems and unmanned aerial systems, emphasizing perception and localization in GNSS-denied environments, cooperative UAV-UGV navigation, sensor fusion for attitude estimation, planetary rover navigation, subterranean exploration, and precision pollination robots. He has authored or co-authored over 35 journal articles, conference papers, book chapters, and holds U.S. Patent No. 9,057,780 B2 for real-time precise orbit determination and positioning (2015). Key publications include 'Cooperative Localization for GNSS-Denied Subterranean Navigation: A UAV-UGV Team Approach' (NAVIGATION, 2024), 'Factor Graphs for Navigation Applications: A Tutorial' (NAVIGATION, 2024), 'Wind Sensing and Estimation Using Small Fixed-Wing UAVs: A Survey' (Journal of Aerospace Information Systems, 2021), and 'Robust UAV Relative Navigation with DGPS, INS and Peer-to-Peer Radio Ranging' (IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, 2015). Gross's impact is evidenced by awards such as the Institute of Navigation Per Enge Early Achievement Award and Samuel M. Burka Award (2024), elevation to AIAA Associate Fellow (2024), WVU Statler College Outstanding Research – Senior Level (2021), New Researcher of the Year (2016), West Virginia State Journal Generation Next 40 under 40 (2023), and NASA Space Robotics Challenge awards including 1st Place ($750,000, 2016). He is a member of IEEE-AESS Navigation Systems Panel, ION, and AIAA GNC Committee, supporting the department's large research enterprise and award-winning student design teams.