Larry L. Howell, PhD, PE, is a Professor, Associate Dean, and past chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Brigham Young University (BYU), where he holds a University Professorship. Prof. Howell received his B.S. degree from Brigham Young University and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Purdue University. Prior to joining BYU in 1994 he was a visiting professor at Purdue University, a finite element analysis consultant for Engineering Methods, Inc., and an engineer on the design of the YF-22 (the prototype for the U.S. Air Force F-22). He is a Fellow of ASME and past chair of the ASME Mechanisms & Robotics Committee. Prof. Howell’s patents and technical publications focus on compliant mechanisms. He is the author of the book Compliant Mechanisms published by John Wiley & Sons.