Carolyn C. Seepersad

Carolyn Conner Seepersad received her PhD in mechanical engineering in 2004 from the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. As a graduate student, she was a Hertz Fellow and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. She received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from West Virginia University in 1996, a B.A. in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar in 1998, and a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2001. She is currently an assistant professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Seepersad’s research involves the development of methods and computational tools for engineering design. Much of her work is focused on design for additive and freeform manufacturing, with an emphasis on products with customized mesostructure, including built-in honeycomb and lattice structures. Next-generation topology design methods are being developed that not only arrange material strategically but also account for multifunctionality and robustness to processing and environmental variability. Applications include the design of functionally graded structures, structural heat exchangers, acoustic and vibration absorbing structures, and deployable structures. In a complementary research project, Dr. Seepersad and her students are developing methods for collaborative design exploration of multilevel and multidisciplinary products and systems. Set-based models are being investigated for generating and exchanging preliminary solutions among designers collaborating across scales and disciplines. This research promises to provide a new foundation for coordinating distributed design exploration, with a minimally iterative approach that supports active designer involvement in the process. Another major project is focused on mechanical innovation and the use of empathic techniques for stimulating innovation. Experiments are being conducted to test the effect of empathic experiences on engineering innovation. Empathic experiences involve interacting with products under challenging circumstances (e.g., earplugs to simulate noisy environments) with the intention of helping designers better understand and improve product-user interactions. Dr. Seepersad is also actively involved in developing fundamental principles and metrics for product flexibility and green design as well as techniques and testbeds for predictive process control, with an emphasis on welding applications.

Research Interests:

• Design for solid freeform fabrication
• Multilevel, multidisciplinary product and materials design
• Cellular (honeycomb) materials design
• Product evolution and mass customization
• Innovation and creativity in design
• Green design
• Predictive process control