Her undergraduate studies in Mechanical Engineering at Columbia University sparked a keen interest in energy and climate interactions. “Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar were becoming very inexpensive during my undergrad,” Rebecca recalls. “I remember wondering how we were going to manage all the extra energy. Where would we store it?”

These inquiries led her to Carnegie Mellon University, where she earned a Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy. This unique blend of policy and engineering is unconventional but fitting for driving change in the energy and environmental sectors.

Regarding her choice of Purdue EEE, Rebecca explains, “I don't quite fit into a traditional, single-discipline engineering program. When I began searching for positions, I knew I was looking for something different.”

Dr. Ciez has now been a part of EEE for four years, publishing 14 peer-reviewed articles and earning accolades such as serving as a fellow in the Research Corporation for Science Advancement’s Scialog: Negative Emissions Science program, and receiving a Scialog Collaborative Innovation Award from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Her research focuses on modeling energy systems and decarbonization technologies using optimization as well as identifying life-cycle costs and environmental impacts for decision and policy analysis.

Rebecca and other ME faculty have recently been exploring up-and-coming industrial decarbonization technologies. They are working on high temperature heat pumps – a technology that transfers heat instead of generating it by burning fuel. While heat pumps are widely used for space heating and cooling, they have not yet been able to deliver temperatures high enough for many industrial processes. By increasing the temperatures that a heat pump can produce, more segments of industry can use electricity instead of fossil fuel resources. Collaborating with faculty on research and being involved with large scale efforts is what Rebecca always hoped to do.

“Research is my passion,” she admits. “It allows me to tackle truly challenging problems. Bridging the gap between the technical side of energy systems and the societal impacts of adopting and using those technologies is what’s most interesting.”

As an educator, Rebecca also recognizes the need for a comprehensive education that equips students for success in their careers. “I integrate real-world data, case studies, and policy change into my teaching. We may analyze an aspect of the Wabash River or a proposed EPA regulation and use that to talk about real issues and events going on today,” she says.

Her advice to students?

“Occasionally you may get lost in the nitty gritty of problem sets and learning specific software. It’s vital that you remember that technical processes and software have real-world implications. It’s so important to gain a larger, encompassing view of what engineering is and what it can be. Learning and retaining those real-world relationships will help you immensely in your engineering education and beyond.”