Richard H. Crawford is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, holding the Earl N. & Margaret Brasfield Endowed Faculty Fellowship and serving as Director of the Design Projects Program. His educational background includes a BSME from Louisiana State University (1982), and MSME (1985) and Ph.D. (1989) from Purdue University. Dr. Crawford's research spans computer-aided mechanical design, design theory, and engineering education, with four primary focus areas: (1) computer representations for conceptual design and design retrieval; (2) geometric modeling for engineering design and manufacturing; (3) additive manufacturing including design tools and applications; and (4) pre-college engineering education. His industrial collaborations include faculty internships at Ford Motor Company, IBM, and Sandia National Laboratory. His recent publications demonstrate consistent emphasis on design optimization, metamodeling (particularly NURBS-based approaches), additive manufacturing applications, and biomedical engineering solutions for prosthetics and orthotics, reflecting integration of computational methods with practical engineering challenges. Dr. Crawford has received significant recognition: 1995 Fred Merryfield Design Award from the American Society for Engineering Education 2010 Ralph Coates Roe Award for exemplary Mechanical Engineering education 2011 University of Texas System Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award He co-founded the Design Technology and Engineering for All Children (DTEACh) program providing K-12 teacher training, and partnered with UTeach to develop the "Engineer Your World" high school curriculum adopted by over 200 school districts, featuring a dual-credit option through UT System institutions.
