Thomas Maani successfully defended his PhD Dissertation on July 17, 2024, and officially deposited his dissertation on July 24, 2024. 

Thomas is advised by Dr. John W. Sutherland, Head of the Environmental and Ecological Engineering Department. Originally from Kampala, Uganda, Thomas earned his bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and a master’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Toledo in Ohio. Following his master’s, he joined the Laboratory for Sustainable Manufacturing (LSM) to pursue his PhD.

His PhD research investigated the material flows, environmental impacts, and economics associated with critical materials used in electric vehicles (EVs) with a special emphasis on circular economy principles. When Thomas joined LSM, he worked on a 3-year project funded by the Ford Motor Company whose goal was to develop decision support tools and identify technologies that will help evaluate and pursue EoL value recovery and closed loop recycling/reuse strategies for rare earth permanent magnets (REPM) in electric vehicles (EVs). Circularizing these REPMs through reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling will help mitigate the supply risks for these magnets while simultaneously lessening the solid waste burden associated with end-of-life (EoL) EVs. Upon the successful completion of the 3-year Ford project in the summer of 2022, Thomas embarked on an internship at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). While there, he contributed to a project aimed at enhancing their Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy in Technologies (GREET) model. Recognizing his exceptional contributions, Thomas was granted $93,000 to further his research endeavors in critical materials analysis for electric vehicles in partnership with ANL, a collaboration that extended throughout the duration of his PhD studies.

During his Ph.D. program, Dr. Maani has authored or co-authored 9 papers published in prestigious journals and conference proceedings. He was awarded the 2024 Outstanding Research Award by the College of Engineering at Purdue. Additionally, he is a recipient of the Environmental Research and Education Foundation (EREF) scholarship, which recognizes excellence in doctoral research and education in waste management.

Dr. Maani’s dissertation titled “Sustainability Analysis of Critical Materials in Electric Vehicles with Emphasis on Circular Economy Principles” evaluated the demand for critical materials in the U.S. transportation sector under various scenarios, focusing on both light-duty vehicles (LDVs) and medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (MHDVs). Additionally, the potential for value recovery of critical materials from electric vehicles was assessed, followed by an analysis to determine the most effective methods for achieving this recovery.