You were recently awarded the Estus H. and Vashti L. Magoon Award for Research Excellence from the College of Engineering. What did this honor mean to you, and how did it feel to represent SEE at the college level?

This is a great recognition of my achievement in academic research. I received this award largely because of my work on life cycle assessment (LCA) of early-stage technologies https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acssuschemeng.5c06793
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42461-025-01448-1
Representing SEE at the college level made me realize how impactful LCA research can be. I felt proud that LCA was able to serve as a strong representation of the department and showcase SEE's research excellence across engineering disciplines.

You also received the Department of Energy E-SCRAP Award. Can you share your role on the team and how this experience has influenced your research?

I am the captain of the GaCycle team. I led team discussions, assigned responsibilities, and drove the proposal-writing process. Receiving this research grant as a student was the coolest thing I have done during my Ph.D.

This grant made me realize that I have the potential to become a principal investigator. The experience inspired me to build and lead my own research team in the future.

What are you working on this summer?

From May to June, I worked as an intern with the Manufacturing Energy Efficiency Research and Analysis (MEERA) Group (Manufacturing Energy Efficiency Research and Analysis | ORNL) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). During my internship, I conducted a techno-economic analysis (TEA) of an emerging technology that converts coal into graphite.   

For the rest of the summer, I returned to Purdue to work with Prof. Fu Zhao, Prof. Oliver Heidrich from Newcastle University, and Prof. Daniel Cooper from the University of Michigan on material flow analysis of copper by-products.

At the same time, I am preparing for the graduate-level Material Flow Analysis course that I will teach this fall at Purdue.

What are your plans for the future?

I hope to become a faculty member, build my own research team, and mentor the next generation of sustainability engineers while advancing research in industrial ecology.

How has your involvement in SEE helped prepare you for your next steps?

I have participated in many exciting projects. Thanks to the support of Fu Zhao, I have been able to develop my strengths in critical materials research in SEE. I have published papers, received research grants, and gained laboratory, teaching, and internship experience. These are all important aspects of preparing for a future faculty career.