John E. Akin is Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering in Rice University's George R. Brown School of Engineering, holding a joint appointment in the Department of Computational and Applied Mathematics. He earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Tennessee Polytechnic Institute in 1964, an M.S. in Engineering Mechanics from Tennessee Technological University in 1966, and a Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1968. Dr. Akin's distinguished career at Rice University has focused on advancing computational methods in engineering, contributing to both teaching and research in mechanical engineering.

His primary research specializations include adaptive finite element analysis, computer-aided design, and computational mechanics. Dr. Akin has authored key textbooks such as Finite Element Analysis: With Numeric and Symbolic Matlab (2022) and Finite Element Analysis Concepts: Via SolidWorks (2010), which support practical implementation of finite element methods using software tools. With 65 publications amassed over his career and cited more than 1,500 times, notable works include "Effect of porous coating and loading conditions on total hip femoral stem stability" (1996), "Computational method for predicting stress shielding following total hip replacement" (1994), and "A Knowledge-Based Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing System for Total Hip Replacement" (1993). In recognition of his contributions, he was elected Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1987. Dr. Akin served on the editorial board of Engineering Computations from 1984 to 2015 and continues on the board of Multiscale and Multidisciplinary Modeling, Experiments and Design since 2016. He holds memberships in the American Society of Civil Engineers, Society of Petroleum Engineers, and U.S. Association for Computational Mechanics.

Professional Email: akin@rice.edu