Spencer Magleby

Spencer Magleby is a professor of Mechanical Engineering at Brigham Young University. He served 11 years as associate dean for the College of Engineering at BYU and is currently the Honors Program director for the university and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education. Dr. Magleby spent 6 years in the military aircraft industry developing tools for advanced aircraft design and manufacture. At BYU he has pursued research and published extensively in areas of product design, technology development, design tools and processes that bridge engineering and business, and engineering education with a focus on international experiences and leadership. He has been especially active in developing new technologies and applications related to compliant mechanisms resulting in over 20 patents. Recent work has explored the use of origami to inspire innovative product design. His work has been sponsored by NASA, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Air Force, the State of Utah, Ford Motor Company and a variety of other industries, consortiums and entrepreneurs.

Professor Magleby has taught design at the graduate and undergraduate level and is interested in educational partnerships with industry. He is a co-founder of the BYU Capstone Program. As director of the Honors Program he has developed and taught new curriculum on Interdisciplinary Thinking. In his leadership roles in the College of Engineering he guided development of study abroad programs for engineers. He has advised over 60 graduate students and helped oversee more than 260 undergraduate and graduate design projects through his involvement with the Capstone program and efforts in his laboratory. He has been nationally recognized for his contributions in engineering design education. Dr. Magleby received BS and MS degrees in Civil Engineering from BYU and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.