J. Michael McCarthy

John Michael McCarthy (born c. 1952) is an American mechanical engineer known for his work in robotics, kinematics, and linkages. He is a Distinguished Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), where he has taught since 1986.

Biography McCarthy attended Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, earning a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1974.

McCarthy's research has focused on robotic systems, mechanical linkages, and geometric modeling. His research team maintains the Synthetica, Sphinx, and MecGen software packages used in the computer-aided design of spherical and spatial linkage systems. He was a chief editor for the ASME Journal of Mechanical Design from 2002 to 2007 and the founding editor for the Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics from 2007 to 2014. He was secretary for the Orange County Engineering Council in 2012. He was also a visiting professor at the Stanford University School of Engineering where he taught Kinematic Synthesis of Mechanisms in 2018.

Racing McCarthy has participated, advised, and refereed Formula racing for three decades. He competed in the Xtreme Gravity Racing (XGR) Competition in 2006 and 2007 and won Most Innovative Design for a novel virtual kingpin steering linkage. He was chair of the governing board of SAE International's Southern California section from 2009 to 2011. Fariborz Maseeh Best Teaching Award (2009) Machine Design Award, ASME (2009) UCI Teaching Excellence in Undergraduate Engineering Award (2010) Robert E. Abbott Lifetime Service Award (2013)

Books Geometric Design of Linkages, Springer (2000); 2nd Ed. 2010; ISBN 978-1441978912 21st Century Kinematics, Springer (2012); ISBN 978-1447145097 Introduction to Theoretical Kinematics: The Mathematics of Movement, MDA Press (2018); ISBN 978-0978518035 Kinematic Synthesis of Mechanisms, MDA Press (2019); ISBN 978-0978518059 Design of Mechanical Walking Robots, MDA Press (2021); ISBN 978-0978518066