Steve Nichols

Steve Nichols serves as a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Texas-Austin. He also serves as the director of the Chair of Free Enterprise and the director of the Advanced Manufacturing Center in the Cockrell School of Engineering. Nichols focuses on creating and nurturing a culture of technology innovation, creativity, and leadership at the University of Texas and the global community that the university serves. He organized the Roden Scholar (leadership) program, supported the start-up of the Engineering Entrepreneurship Society, and founded the Idea to Product®(I2P®) technology competition. He is a fellow of ASME and has received the Kauffman Outstanding Entrepreneur award, the Olympus Innovation Award, the Fred Merryfield Design Award, and the Joe J. King Engineering Professional Achievement Award. Nichols received his Ph.D. in engineering in 1975 and his J.D. in 1983, both from the University of Texas-Austin.