The University of Texas at Austin
Affiliation: WVU
Bio
Carolyn Conner Seepersad is the J. Mike Walker Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and a member of the U.T. System Academy of Distinguished Teachers. She received a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech, an MA/BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University (as a Rhodes Scholar) and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from West Virginia University. Dr. Seepersad’s research involves the development of methods and computational tools for engineering design and additive manufacturing. Her research interests include simulation-based design of complex systems and materials, design for additive manufacturing, innovation and environmentally conscious design of products and energy systems.
Dr. Seepersad has earned many awards for her research and teaching, including the inaugural International Outstanding Young Researcher Award in Freeform and Additive Manufacturing from the additive manufacturing community, the University of Texas Regents’ Award for Outstanding Teaching by an Assistant Professor (the highest teaching award for faculty in The University of Texas System), the Outstanding Young Investigator award from the ASME Design Automation Committee and the ASEE Outstanding New Mechanical Engineering Educator award. Dr. Seepersad is the recipient of a Best Paper Award from the ASME Design Automation Conference, the ASME Design Theory and Methodology Conference, the ASME International Conference on Design Education, and the ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, and four papers on the list of top 10 papers for the annual Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium and ASME IDETC Design Automation Conference. She is the author of more than 120 peer-reviewed conference and journal publications and one book.
She co-organizes the annual Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium and she is a member of the ASME Design Engineering Division Executive Committee. She has been a member of the executive committee for the ASME Design Engineering Division (2018 – present), the IDETC Design Automation Conference (2015 conference chair) and the advisory board for the Design Society (2017-present). She has also been a participant and session organizer for the annual NAE Frontiers of Engineering Symposium, a symposium organized by the NAE for a select group of emerging engineering leaders ages 30-45, and an invited speaker for the German-American FOE on the topic of design for additive manufacturing. She has been a keynote speaker for several international conferences, including the 2015 International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED) on the topic of design for additive manufacturing. She teaches courses on product design, additive manufacturing and computational methods for engineering design. Her research has been featured by several popular media outlets, including Popular Science, The Conversation, US News and World Report, The Christian Science Monitor, Time Warner Cable News, 3DPrint.com and the Daily Dot.
