Larry L. Howell is a professor and Associate Academic Vice President (AAVP) at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

(BYU). His research focuses on

compliant mechanism In mechanical engineering, a compliant mechanism is a flexible mechanism that achieves force and motion transmission through elastic body deformation. It gains some or all of its motion from the relative flexibility of its members rather than fro ...

s, including

origami ) is the Japanese paper art, art of paper folding. In modern usage, the word "origami" is often used as an inclusive term for all folding practices, regardless of their culture of origin. The goal is to transform a flat square sheet of pape ...

-inspired mechanisms,

microelectromechanical systems Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), also written as micro-electro-mechanical systems (or microelectronic and microelectromechanical systems) and the related micromechatronics and microsystems constitute the technology of microscopic devices, ...

, medical devices, space mechanisms, and developable mechanisms. Howell has also conducted research in

lamina emergent mechanisms Lamina Emergent Mechanisms (also known as LEMs) are more commonly referred to as "Pop-up Mechanisms" as seen in "pop-up-books". LEM is the technical term of such mechanisms or engineering. LEMs are a subset of compliant mechanisms fabricated from ...

and nanoinjection. He received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

from BYU and

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

and

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

degrees from

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

. His Ph.D. advisor was Ashok Midha, who is regarded as the "Father of Compliant Mechanisms."

Biography

Howell joined the BYU faculty in 1994 and served as chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering from 2001 to 2007 and as Associate Dean of the Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering from 2016 to 2019. In addition to research, he has been a BYU AAVP since 2019. Prior to joining BYU, he was a Visiting Professor at Purdue University, a Finite-Element Analyst for Engineering Methods, Inc., and he was an engineer on the design of the

YF-22 The Lockheed/Boeing/General Dynamics YF-22 is an American single-seat, twin-engine fighter aircraft technology demonstrator designed for the United States Air Force (USAF). The design was a finalist in the USAF's Advanced Tactical Fighter co ...

, the first prototype of the U.S. Air Force

F-22 Raptor The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is an American single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather stealth tactical fighter aircraft developed for the United States Air Force (USAF). As the result of the USAF's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, th ...

. His patents, technical publications, and research focus on compliant mechanisms, including origami-inspired mechanisms, space mechanisms, microelectromechanical systems, and medical devices. His research has been funded by the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

, Air Force Office of Scientific Research,

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

, Department of Defense, and industry. He is the author of the book Compliant Mechanisms'' and co-editor of the Handbook of Compliant Mechanisms, which are available in English and Chinese. His lab's work has also been featured in popular venues such as the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

documentary program

NOVA A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...

. Howell is a Fellow of the

American Society of Mechanical Engineers The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...

(ASME), the Past Chair of the ASME Mechanisms and Robotics Committee, and a past Associate Editor for the Journal of Mechanical Design. His research has been recognized by the

National Science Foundation CAREER Award The National Science Foundation CAREER awards, presented by the National Science Foundation (NSF), are in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through research and education, and the integration of these endeavors i ...

, the

Theodore von Kármán Theodore von Kármán ( hu, ( szőllőskislaki) Kármán Tódor ; born Tivadar Mihály Kármán; 11 May 18816 May 1963) was a Hungarian-American mathematician, aerospace engineer, and physicist who was active primarily in the fields of aeronaut ...

Fellowship, and the ASME

Mechanisms and Robotics Award The Mechanisms and Robotics Award is an honor that is given annually by the Mechanisms and Robotics Committee of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), to engineers known for a lifelong contribution to the field of mechanism design o ...

, the 2015 "Vizzies" Overall People's Choice Award, the ASME Machine Design Award, and the Purdue University Outstanding Mechanical Engineer (alumni award) among others. Howell is originally from

Portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...

, a small city in northern

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

with a 2010 census population of 245 people. As a young man, he served as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

Books

Howell, L.L., Compliant Mechanisms, John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, 2001. Morgan, D.C., Halverson, D., Magleby, S.P., Bateman, T., and Howell, L.L., ''Y Origami?: Explorations in Folding'', American Mathematical Society (AMS), 2017. Chinese Translation of Compliant Mechanisms published (under agreement with Wiley), by Higher Education Press, an official publisher of the State Education Department of China. Translator: Professor Yue-Qing Yu. Howell, Larry L., Spencer P. Magleby, and Brian M. Olsen, eds. Handbook of Compliant Mechanisms. John Wiley & Sons, 2013. Chinese Translation of ''Handbook of Compliant Mechanisms'' (under agreement with Wiley) by Higher Education Press, an official publisher of the State Education Department of China. Translators: Guimin Chen, Jingjun Yu, Hongbo Ma, and Lifang Qiu.

Selected articles

Howell, L.L., “Complex Motion Guided without External Control,” ''Nature'', News & Views, Vol. 561, pp. 470-471, 2018. Yellowhorse, A., Lang. R.J., Tolman, K.A., Howell, L.L., “Creating Linkage Permutations to Prevent Self-Intersection and Enable Deployable Networks of Thick-Origami,” ''Scientific Reports'', Vol. 8, paper 12936, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-31180-4, 2018. Lang, R.J., Tolman, K., Crampton, E. Magleby, S.P., Howell, L.L., “A Review of Thickness-Accommodation Techniques in Origami-Inspired Engineering,” ''Applied Mechanics Reviews'', Vol. 70, 010805-1 to 010805-20, DOI: 10.1115/1.4039314, 2018. Lang, R.J. and Howell, L.L., “Rigidly Foldable Quadrilateral Meshes from Angle Arrays,” ''Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics,'' Vol. 10, 021004-1 to 021004-11, DOI: 10.1115/1.4038972, 2018. Dearden, J., Grames, C., Orr, J., Jensen, B.D., Magleby, S.P., Howell, L.L., “Cylindrical Cross-Axis Flexural Pivots,” ''Precision Engineering'', Vol. 51, pp. 604-613, DOI: 10.1016/j.precisioneng.2017.11.001, 2018. Merriam, E.G., Tolman, K.A., and Howell, L.L., “Integration of Advanced Stiffness-Reduction Techniques Demonstrated in a 3D-Printable Joint,” ''Mechanism and Machine Theory'', Vol 105, pp. 260-271, DOI:10.1016/j.mechmachtheory.2016.07.009, 2016. Morgan, J., Magleby, S.P., Howell, L.L., “An Approach to Designing Origami-Adapted Aerospace Mechanisms,” ASME ''Journal of Mechanical Design'', Vol. 138, pp. 052301-1 to 052301-10, DOI: 10.1115/1.4032973, 2016. Nelson, T.G., Lang, R.L., Pehrson, N., Magleby, S.P., Howell, L.L., “Facilitating Deployable Mechanisms and Structures via Developable Lamina Emergent Arrays,” ASME ''Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics'', Vol. 8, pp. 031006-1 to 031006-10, DOI: 10.1115/1.4031901, 2016. Hanna, B.H., Lund, J.N., Lang, R.J., Magleby, S.P., Howell, L.L., “Waterbomb Base: A Symmetric Single-Vertex Bistable Origami Mechanism,” ''Smart Materials and Structures'', Vol. 23, paper no. 094009, DOI:10.1088/0964-1726/23/9/094009, 2014. Zirbel, S.A., Lang, R.J., Magleby, S.P., Thomson, M.W., Sigel, D.A., Walkemeyer, P.E., Trease, B.P., Howell, L.L., “Accommodating Thickness in Origami-Based Deployable Arrays,” Journal of Mechanical Design, Vol. 135, paper no. 111005, DOI: 10.1115/1.4025372, 2013. Aten, Q.T., Jensen, B.D., Tamowski, S., Wilson, A.M., Howell, L.L., Burnett, S.H., “Nanoinjection: Pronuclear DNA Delivery using a Charged Lance,” Transgenic Research, DOI 10.1007/s11248-012-9610-6, Vol. 21, No. 6, pp. 1279–1290, 2012. Greenberg, H.C., Gong, M.L., Howell, L.L., and Magleby, S.P., “Identifying Links Between Origami and Compliant Mechanisms,” Mechanical Sciences, doi:10.5194/ms-2-217-2011, Mechanical Sciences, Vol. 2, pp. 217–225, 2011. Jacobsen, J.O., Winder, B.G., Howell, L.L., and Magleby, S.P., “Lamina Emergent Mechanisms and Their Basic Elements,” ''Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics'', Vol. 2, No. 1, 011003-1 to 011003-9, 2010. Lott, C.D., McLain, T.W., Harb, J.N., and Howell, L.L., “Modeling the Thermal Behavior of a Surface-micromachined Linear-displacement Thermomechanical Microactuator,” Sensors & Actuators: A. Physical, Vol. 101, Nos. 1-2, pp. 239–250, 2002. Harb, J.N., LaFollette, R.M., Selfridge, R.H., and Howell, L.L., “Microbatteries for Self-Sustained Hybrid Micropower Supplies,” Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 104, No. 1, pp. 46–51, 2002. Jensen, B.D., Howell, L.L., and Salmon, L.G., “Design of Two-Link, In-Plane, Bistable Compliant Micro-Mechanisms,” Journal of Mechanical Design, Trans. ASME, Vol. 121, No. 3, pp. 416–423, 1999. Howell, L.L. and Midha, A., “Parametric Deflection Approximations for End-Loaded, Large-Deflection Beams in Compliant Mechanisms,” Journal of Mechanical Design, Trans. ASME, Vol. 117, pp. 156–165, March 1995. Howell, L.L. and Midha, A., “A Method for the Design of Compliant Mechanisms with Small-Length Flexural Pivots,” Journal of Mechanical Design, Trans. ASME, Vol. 116, pp. 280–290, March 1994.

Selected Patents

“Methods and Devices for Charged Molecule Manipulation,” Aten, Q.T., Howell, L.L., Jensen, B.D., Burnett, S.H., U.S. Patent 10,119,151, issued November 6, 2018. “Surgical Retractor,” Bryce Edmondson, Quentin Allen, Michael McCain, John J. Pierce, Terri Bateman, Larry Howell, U.S. Patent 9,936,937, issued April 10, 2018. “Surgical Forceps,” Bryce Edmondson, Clayton Grames, Landen Bowen, Eric Call, Terri Bateman, Spencer Magleby, Larry Howell, U.S. Patent 9,867,631, issued January 16, 2018. “Inverted-Serpentine Spinal Stability Device and Associated Methods,” Bowden, A.E., Howell, L.L., Nelson, T., Stephens, T., U.S. Patent 9,642,651, issued May 9, 2017. “Spinal Implant,” Halverson, P., Howell, L.L., Magleby, S.P., and Bowden, A., U.S. Patent 9,314,346, issued April 19, 2016. “Spinal Implant,” Halverson, P.A., Howell, L.L., Magleby, S.P., and Bowden, A.E., U.S. Patent 8,308,801, November 13, 2012. “Carbon Nanotube-based Compliant Mechanism,” Culpepper, M.L., Magleby, S.P., Howell, L.L., DiBiasio, C., Panas, R., U.S. Patent 7,884,525, February 8, 2011.

References

External links

Compliant Mechanisms Research Group (compliantmechanisms.byu.edu)

Origami in Space (news.byu.edu)

BYU Devotional Address (byutv.org)

PBS (pbs.org)

PBS NOVA (pbs.org/wgbh/nova)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howell, Larry Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American mechanical engineers Brigham Young University alumni Purdue University College of Engineering alumni Brigham Young University faculty Fellows of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers