Grace D. O'Connell is an American biomechanical engineer known for her research on the biomechanics of the human

spine Spine or spinal may refer to: Science Biology * Spinal column, also known as the backbone * Dendritic spine, a small membranous protrusion from a neuron's dendrite * Thorns, spines, and prickles, needle-like structures in plants * Spine (zoology), ...

, on the degeneration and regeneration of spinal tissue, and on the comparison of its properties with the spines of animals used in the study of lumbar disc disease. She is an associate professor of

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, where she also held the Don M. Cunningham Chair in Mechanical Engineering.

Education and career

O'Connell was a high school student at

Upper Darby High School Upper Darby High School (UDHS) is a four-year public high school located in Upper Darby Township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Upper Darby School District. Established in 1895, it is the oldest high school in Delaware Count ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. After being inspired by a high school engineering class, and also taking flying lessons as a high school student, O'Connell began an

aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

program at

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

and then transferred to the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

, graduating in 2004. She earned a Ph.D. in bioengineering in 2009 from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, supervised by Dawn Elliott. She was a postdoctoral researcher with Clark Hung at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

from 2009 to 2013 before joining the University of California, Berkeley faculty. She has also held an adjunct faculty position in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...

since 2017. At Berkeley, she was promoted to a tenured associate professorship in 2019. In 2021 she was named as associate dean for inclusive excellence in the

UC Berkeley College of Engineering The University of California, Berkeley College of Engineering (branded as Berkeley Engineering) is the public engineering school of the University of California, Berkeley (a land-grant research university in Berkeley, California). Established i ...

Outreach

O'Connell is a member of the National Society of Black Engineers and the

Society of Women Engineers The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is an international not-for-profit educational and service organization. Founded in 1950 and headquartered in the United States, the Society of Women Engineers is a major advocate for women in engineering and ...

. As a woman of color in engineering, she has been sensitive to the challenges faced by minorities in engineering and has worked to improve the diversity of the field. Her work in this area has included serving as an advisor for the Berkeley Society of Women Engineers and Black Engineering and Science Student Association, and leading the Berkeley Girls in Engineering Program.

Recognition

O'Connell was the 2019 recipient of the Y. C. Fung Young Investigator Award 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 edu ...

, named for her "pioneering work in multiscale mechanics of musculoskeletal soft tissues". She was named as a Fellow of the

American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) is a non-profit organization founded in 1991, and headquartered in Washington, D.C. It represents 50,000 medical and Biomedical engineering, biomedical engineers, and academic i ...

in 2021 "for outstanding contributions to understanding biomechanical degeneration and failure of fiber-reinforced biological tissues by creating integrated computational and experimental approaches". Upper Darby High School named her to their alumni wall of fame in 2021. In 2022, O'Connell received the early career distinguished alumni award from the College of Engineering at the University of Maryland.

References

External links

O'Connell Lab
* {{DEFAULTSORT:OConnell, Grace Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American biomedical engineers American mechanical engineers African-American engineers African-American women engineers Women bioengineers American bioengineers University of Maryland, College Park alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni University of California, Berkeley faculty Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering 21st-century American engineers 21st-century American women engineers 21st-century African-American scientists 21st-century African-American women