Grace D. O'Connell is an American biomechanical engineer known for her research on the biomechanics of the human spine, on the degeneration and regeneration of spinal tissue, and on the comparison of its properties with the spines of animals used in the study of lumbar disc disease.
[4] After being inspired by a high school engineering class, and also taking flying lessons as a high school student,[1] O'Connell began an aerospace engineering program at Virginia Tech[5] and then transferred to the University of Maryland, College Park, graduating in 2004.
[2] She has also held an adjunct faculty position in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco since 2017.
[6] In 2021 she was named as associate dean for inclusive excellence in the UC Berkeley College of Engineering.
[4] In 2022, O'Connell received the early career distinguished alumni award from the College of Engineering at the University of Maryland.