Debora Maia Silva, EEE PhD Candidate, received the Outstanding Graduate Research Award. Congratulations Debs! This honor recognizes outstanding PhD candidates who have demonstrated excellence in research through publications, recognized contributions to the research field and society, leadership within a research community, academic achievements, and participation in professional societies.

Maia Silva came to Purdue after graduating from the University of Campinas in Brazil and has a background in Civil and Computer Engineering. “I work with data analysis and I'm passionate about data storytelling, visualization and machine learning” says Maia Silva. She is a self-proclaimed sports fanatic and especially loves football (or as we think of it, soccer. She is Brazilian after all!).

Much of Maia Silva’s research is done with Professor Roshi Nateghi and her team in the Laboratory for Advancing Sustainable Critical Infrastructure. “I work with models that try to understand the relationship between climate change and electricity consumption, focusing on the energy infrastructure response to the changes we see in climate” Maia Silva says of her work.

Nature Communications recently published “The critical role of humidity in modeling summer electricity demand across the United States” authored by Maia Silva, Rohini Kumar, and Roshi Nateghi. Follow Maia Silva on Twitter to find out more about her research.