Urban Sustainability with EEE's Hua Cai

Boilermaker Engineering Engenuity Podcast

For July 2020, we are featuring research from across Environmental and Ecological Engineering (known as EEE at Purdue) in three episodes. This first episode is hosted by John Sutherland, the Fehsenfeld Family Head of Environmental and Ecological Engineering and features an interview with Hua Cai, an assistant professor in Environmental and Ecological Engineering and in the School of Industrial Engineering at Purdue University.

Cai discusses urban sustainability and efforts being made to meet the demands of urban populations while trying to use resources wisely and efficiently. She also shares about her research related to the three revolutions happening in transportation: electrification, shared mobility and autonomous driving.

Cai's research team is called Urban Sustainability Modeling & Analysis Research Team (uSMART) and 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. The team's research interests include energy-water nexus, emerging transportation systems, energy policy, and sustainable consumption.

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