“This joint appointment offers a unique opportunity to combine my interests in mechanics and sustainability, two fields that are only beginning to come together in the multidisciplinary field of sustainable manufacturing and design,” Liddell says. 

Heather Liddell joined Purdue University as assistant professor of mechanical engineering and environmental and ecological engineering in fall 2023. 

Dr. Liddell’s research interests include sustainable manufacturing, life-cycle assessment, mechanics of multilayered systems, adhesion in paints and coatings, and lightweighting strategies for transportation. She received her Ph.D. in Materials Science from the University of Rochester in 2014, and was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory from 2017 to 2020.

“Purdue has amazing momentum in the industrial sustainability space and a top-notch faculty in both departments,” Liddell says. 

Liddell recently moved to West Lafayette after 10 years working for the federal government in Washington, DC. (DOT, DOD, DOE). She and her family, which includes husband James and three young daughters, are excited about Liddell’s long-awaited return to academia. In her spare time, Liddell is an amateur watercolor artist and an avid family historian/genealogist.

We wish Heather Liddell the best of luck and look forward to her next career steps as part of the EEE family!