Lawrence Neeley

Lawrence Neeley is an Associate Professor of Design and Entrepreneurship and Senior Advisor to the President for Strategic Innovation and Practice at Olin College. He joined Olin's faculty in 2011, bringing expertise in design thinking, prototyping, and entrepreneurship. His work focuses on enabling designers to rapidly conceptualize and materialize real-world products. Prior to Olin, he was a postdoctoral associate in mechanical engineering at MIT and a global manufacturing research fellow at Stanford's Product Realization Network.

Education:

• Ph.D. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University
• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (Meyerhoff Scholar, Phi Beta Kappa, Tau Beta Pi)

Research interests include adaptive design expertise, innovation processes, and user-centered design methodologies. His dissertation, A Theory of Design Thinking and Innovation, explores the development of design thinking skills.

Awards and recognitions highlight his contributions to diversity in engineering and design excellence. He has also conducted fieldwork in manufacturing ecosystems globally, including in Shenzhen, China.