Dr. Richard Neptune earned his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Davis in 1996. He joined the faculty of The University of Texas at Austin in 2001. In 2004, he received a Faculty Early Career Development Award from the National Science Foundation.

Dr. Neptune researches musculoskeletal and sport biomechanics and the neuromotor control of human movement. His research integrates experimental data with advanced musculoskeletal modeling and computer simulation techniques to analyze stroke and amputee patient populations. The goal of this work is to identify the causes of their movement disabilities and design more effective rehabilitation strategies. A second area of his research involves applying rapid prototyping techniques to improve orthotic and prosthetic devices for those with lower-limb disabilities with the goal of improving patient comfort and mobility while reducing the cost of these devices.