Larry L. Howell was appointed as the Associate Academic Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies on July 1, 2019. Prior to his appointment, he served as an associate dean in the Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering. He is a member of the Department of Mechanical Engineering faculty and a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).
Howell’s research focuses on compliant mechanisms, including origami-inspired mechanisms, space mechanisms, microelectromechanical systems and medical devices. He is the co-editor of the Handbook of Compliant Mechanisms and the author of Compliant Mechanisms, which are published in both English and Chinese. His lab’s work has also been reported in popular venues such as Newsweek, Scientific American, The Economist, Smithsonian Magazine and the PBS documentary program NOVA, and CNN's Tech for Good.
Howell joined the BYU mechanical engineering faculty in 1994. Prior to joining the department, Howell was a visiting professor at Purdue University, a finite element analysis consultant for Engineering Methods, Inc. and an engineer on the design of the YF-22 (the prototype for the U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor). In addition to being a Fellow of ASME, he is a past chair of the ASME Mechanisms & Robotics Committee and has been an associate editor for the Journal of Mechanisms & Robotics and the Journal of Mechanical Design. He is the recipient of the ASME Machine Design Award, ASME Mechanisms & Robotics Award, Theodore von Kármán Fellowship, NSF Career Award, Purdue Outstanding Mechanical Engineer (alumni award) and the BYU Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Lecturer Award (BYU’s highest faculty award).
Howell received doctoral and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from Purdue University and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from BYU.
Speeches
"Anatomy of Invention"- BYU Forum, May 2016
"Faith: An Essential Principle of the Gospel"- BYU Devotional, Jun. 2011