Deborah L Thurston

Deborah L. Thurston is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, affiliated with the College of Engineering. She holds a Ph.D. (1987) and S.M. (1984) in Civil Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a B.S. (1978) in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses on sustainable design, lifecycle product strategies, decision analysis for engineering systems, and environmentally conscious manufacturing processes. She has served as Area Editor for The Engineering Economist (1993–2001) and Associate Technical Editor for ASME's Journal of Mechanical Design (1993–1998).

Her research emphasizes integrating environmental considerations into product design and supply chain decisions, with contributions to remanufacturing systems, disassembly planning under uncertainty, and lifecycle profit optimization. Recent work leverages immersive computing technologies to enhance decision-making in complex engineering systems. Key publications include studies on sustainable lifecycle design (2010), disassembly sequence evaluation using VR (2015), and optimization frameworks for engineering systems (2017).

Dr. Thurston has received numerous awards, including the 2014 Kos Ishii-Toshiba Award, ASME Fellow distinction (2010), and the 2011 American Academy of Environmental Engineering Honors Award. She has advised over 30 students in environmental engineering and mechanical design, with notable contributions to senior design projects such as the 'Zero Wastewater Discharge Operation' (2001) and 'Analysis and Design of Baby Changing Table' (2003). Her work bridges academic research and industry applications, addressing global challenges in sustainable manufacturing and policy integration.