Dr. Jessica Jones is an expert in aeroelastic research which focuses on the interactions of aerodynamics, dynamics, and elasticity to create safer and more advanced aircraft.

Jones is currently the Flight Physics Project Lead at Aurora Flight Sciences, a subsidiary of Boeing Company that develops innovative aircraft using autonomous systems, manufacturing processes, and propulsion technologies.

Despite being less than six years out of grad school, Jones has already made discoveries that will revolutionize aviation. During her studies at the University of Michigan, she co-developed the Nonlinear Aeroelastic Simulation Toolbox, a tool and methodology that supports the development of various projects, including the composite Experimental High Altitude Long Endurance testbed.

She also validated flutter analysis for NASA's X-56 Multi-Utility Aeroelastic Demonstrator using aircraft modeling techniques and tools validated by the testbed.

In her first project at Aurora, Jones used the modeling experience she gained from building the UM/NAST tool to develop a controller-in-the-loop framework for the Odysseus High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellite, a fully autonomous, highly flexible aircraft.

She also developed an automated process for condensing high-fidelity three-dimensional structural models into one-dimensional beam models, which is now being used in the aeroelastic database and load generation tool she refined for the Medium Altitude Long Endurance Unmanned Aircraft System for Aurora.

Jones's tools and processes from the MALE UAS project are now being applied to the aeroelastic analysis of the Virgin Galactic mothership, an air launch carrier being developed to support Virgin Galactic's space flight system.

They are also being used to study the design impacts on whirl flutter in the development of the Wisk Aero electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle.

These technology demonstrators are crucial to Boeing's next generation of commercial transports, including the Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) concept, which recently won NASA's Sustainable Flight Demonstrator program and was championed by academic aeroelasticity, including Jones's contemporaries at the University of Michigan who used the tools she and her colleagues developed.

Jones is actively involved in supporting young Black women in STEM through exposure, scholarships, and mentorship programs.

She mentors underprivileged students through local University of Michigan alumni groups, connects recruiters to minority-serving academic institutions through the Aurora chapter of the Boeing Black Employees Association, and speaks at various events such as the AIAA SciTech Forum, AIAA Aviation Forum, and Women in Aviation Annual Conference.

Jones was part of Aurora's diversity, equity, and inclusion committee, which established important initiatives. She believes that women in engineering and technology can serve as role models for young women and inspire them to pursue their interests in these fields.

She is committed to changing the narrative around career paths for girls and promoting the value of women in these disciplines.