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About Dr. Cai

Dr. Hua Cai is the Thomas and Jane Schmidt Rising Star Associate Professor at Purdue University, with joint appointments in the Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering and the Environmental and Ecological Engineering. She is also affiliated with Purdue's Institute for a Sustainable Future (ISF)Ecological Sciences & Engineering (ESE) interdisciplinary program, and Institute for Control, Optimization and Networks (ICON), and Applied AI Research Center (AARC). Her research interests include the environmental implications of emerging technologies, smart and sustainable cities, industrial ecology, sustainable and resilient supply chains, and complex adaptive systems.

 

Dr. Cai received her PhD from the University of Michigan in Environmental Engineering and Natural Resources and Environment (jointly conferred). She received her MS from The Pennsylvania State University and her BE from Tsinghua University, both in environmental engineering. Prior to studying at the University of Michigan, she was a laboratory manager and environmental engineer at CDM Smith.

Education

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI  
- Joint PhD in Environmental Engineering & Natural Resources and Environment, 2015

With Graduate Certificate in Complex Systems, offered by Center for the Study of Complex Systems
Graduate Certificate of Science, Technology, and Public Policy, offered by Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM
- Complex System Summer School, 2013

The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
- MS in Environmental Engineering, 2007

Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
- BE in Environmental Engineering, 2005

Professional Experience

Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 2015-present
- Thomas and Jane Schmidt Rising Star Associate Professor, Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering, and Environmental and Ecological Engineering (joint appointments), 2024 - present
- Associate Professor, School of Industrial Engineering, and Environmental and Ecological Engineering (joint appointments), 2021 - 2024
- Assistant Professor, School of Industrial Engineering, and Environmental and Ecological Engineering (joint appointments), 2015-2021

Camp Dresser & McKee (CDM, now CDM Smith), Bellevue, WA, 2007 - 2011
- Laboratory Manager of CDM Environmental Treatability Laboratory (2008-2011)
- Project Engineer (2007-2011)

Certifications

- Licensed Professional Engineer (PE), registered in Michigan, 2012
- LEED® Green Associate, 2010
- 40-hour OSHA HAZWOPER (Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Training), 2007

Selected Awards

- Teaching for Tomorrow Fellow, Purdue University, 2023

- CAPEES Founding President Best Paper Award, 2022

- Best Paper Award, Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 2020

- NSF CAREER Award, 2020

- CAPEES/Nanova Young Investigator Award, 2018

- School of Industrial Engineering Outstanding Mentor for Graduate Students, Purdue University, 2018

- IMPACT (Instruction Matters: Purdue Academic Course Transformation) Fellow, Purdue University, 2017

- Dow Sustainability Doctoral Fellowship, University of Michigan, 2014

- Student Paper Competition, 3rd Place, International Symposium on Sustainable Systems and Technology (ISSST), 2014

- Best Poster Award, 3rd place, AEESP 50th Anniversary Conference, 2013

- First Place Poster Award, 7th International Conference of the International Society for Industrial Ecology, 2013

- Second Place Poster Award, Symposium on Industrial Ecology for Young Professionals, 2013

- Barbour Scholarship, University of Michigan, 2013

- ERM Foundation Sustainability Fellowship, ERM Group Foundation, 2013

- McKee Groundwater Protection, Restoration or Sustainable Use Award, Water Environment Federation, 2011