Gerard G. Elia Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Director, Human+AI Design Initiative
Courtesy Appointment, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Christopher McComb is a faculty member in Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. Previously, he was an assistant professor in the School of Engineering Design, Technology, and Professional Programs at Penn State. He also served as director of Penn State’s Center for Research in Design and Innovation and led its Technology and Human Research in Engineering Design Group.
He received dual B.S. degrees in civil and mechanical engineering from California State University-Fresno. He later attended Carnegie Mellon University as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, where he obtained his M.S. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering.
His research interests include human social systems in design and engineering; machine learning for engineering design; human-AI collaboration and teaming; and STEM education, with funding from NSF, DARPA, and private corporations.
Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
B.S., Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, California State University-Fresno
MechE’s Jon Cagan and Chris McComb, BME’s Keith Cook and Rosalyn Abbott, and BME/MSE’s Adam Feinberg are leading sessions at SXSW 2025 that will focus on the application of AI in education and organ transplant technology.
Mechanical Engineering
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University developed a data up-sampling method called TEECNet that enables scientists to run highly efficient engineering simulations.
CMU Engineering
Grasping both general market trends and finer details, a new, hybrid machine learning model from researchers in the Department of Mechanical Engineering predicts financial market volatility with increased accuracy.
CMU Engineering
To build AI teammates that better reflect human designers, Chris McComb is emulating cognitive styles in large language models.
the Manufacturing Futures Institute
Researchers have found a way to reconstruct the complete temperature profile in real time using only the partial data available from in situ sensors used in additive manufacturing.
Mechanical Engineering
This summer, Chris McComb spent three weeks exploring AI in the aerospace industry as part of Boeing’s Visiting Professorship Program. Now, he is eager to continue the collaboration and bring students into the mix.
Autodesk
MechE’s Christopher McComb recently investigated the potential application of Large Language Models (LLMs) in material selection.
CMU Engineering
Carnegie Mellon University has awarded professorships to five exceptional faculty members in the College of Engineering.
Mechanical Engineering
As thawing permafrost unearths ancient disease, Chris McComb, with experts from the U.S. and Canadian gov’t, convened a working group to assess risk and outline mitigation techniques.
CMU Engineering
New research from Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Human+AI Design Initiative underlines the adage “teamwork makes the dream work,” especially when it comes to human-AI collaboration.
CMU Engineering
Chris McComb and collaborators at Penn State, found that mindfulness based interventions (MBI) had an impact on students in an introductory engineering design course.
Mechanical Engineering
How can engineers produce smooth transitions between lattice cells in complex structures? Combining additive manufacturing and machine learning to look at latent space endpoints may help.