Faculty Members Honored as Rising Star Professors
Hua Cai; Thomas and Jane Schmidt Rising Star Associate Professor
Dr. Hua Cai is the Thomas and Jane Schmidt Rising Star Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering, with a joint appointment in Environmental and Ecological Engineering.

Cai runs the Urban Sustainability Modeling & Analysis Research Team (uSMART), which uses agent-based modeling, life cycle assessments, system dynamics, big data analytics, GIS, and optimization tools to study the environmental implications of emerging technologies from the systems perspective. Our research interests include energy-water nexus, emerging transportation systems, energy policy, and sustainable consumption.
Cai is also affiliated with the Purdue Climate Change Research Center (PCCRC) and the Ecological Sciences & Engineering interdisciplinary program.
David Johnson; Ravi and Eleanor Talwar Rising Star Associate Professor
David Johnson, who has a joint appointment with Political Science specializes in "long-term decision analysis under deep uncertainty. Experienced in environmental and renewable energy issues, but interested in developing new methodologies and applying them to a range of interesting problems."
Ramses Martinez; Hall Family Rising Star Associate Professor
Ramses Martinez, joint appointment with the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, runs the FlexiLab. "The goal of our research is to conceptualize, develop, and implement new strategies for producing multifunctional flexible devices with advanced applications, such as tissue-like wearable and implantable nanoelectronics that are resistant to body fluids, and sufficiently flexible and stretchable to adapt to tissue and body motions. What motivates us is the potential of nanomanufacturing technologies to improve human well-being by creating disruptive solutions for personalized medicine, ubiquitous health monitoring, and neuron-to-machine interfaces for prostheses."
Brandon Pitts; Elliott Sigal Rising Star Associate Professor
Brandon Pitts runs the Next-Generation Human-Systems and Cognitive Engineering (NHanCE) Lab, which works to "understand how human operators in a wide range of complex transportation, work, and home environments (such as driving, aviation, manufacturing, and healthcare) interact with various next generation technologies and to enhance their performance through interface (re)design."
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