Prior to forming HMI, he spent 14 years at Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center's Dexterous Robotics Laboratory at NASA in Houston, Texas.

Preceding the DRC, he operated as deputy and chief engineer for Robonaut 2 (R2), a humanoid robot that was developed in partnership between NASA and General Motors.

[6] Additionally, during his tenure at NASA, he became a leader in wearable robotics and exoskeletons for spaceflight, rehabilitation, and abled body human performance augmentation.

[11] Born in Champaign, Illinois, United States, Radford's family moved to Indiana when he was two months old, settling in Columbus when he was five.

After starting his career at NASA-JSC, he attended graduate school remotely at Purdue University and received his Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2012.

"[17] He was the recipient of the Grainger Foundation Outstanding Power and Energy Devices and Systems Award in April 2012, for his contribution to the field of Variable Flux Memory Motors.

[23] He then was employed by Oceaneering Space Systems as an electrical engineer contractor to NASA, where he worked onsite at JSC and became involved with the Dexterous Robotics Laboratory.

In 2008, Radford became a civil servant at NASA as chief engineer and deputy project manager for Robonaut 2, under Direct Hire Authority (DHA).

He led a team of 55 engineers and technicians through design, development and field testing NASA's first full humanoid robot, created to aid in disaster relief efforts.

In Slate's 2015 article "Bot Looks Like a Lady", Radford discussed how NASA "missed a big opportunity" to inspire a new generation of women and girls, in maintaining their official stance that Valkyrie is gender neutral.

"[39][40] Early in the company's life, in 2015, HMI teamed up with Andretti Technologies to develop a new electric motor for Season Two of Formula E Racing.

'[48] The company began working on an autonomous unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV), Aquanaut, capable of operating deeper than 3,000 m in December 2017.

According to his interview in IEEE Spectrum's article "Houston Mechatronics Raises $20M to Bring NASA Expertise to Transforming Robot Submersibles," Radford states, "Personally, I’ve found the transition to be invigorating.