Nordica MacCarty

Nordica MacCarty is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering at Oregon State University (OSU), holding the Richard and Gretchen Evans Professorship in Humanitarian Engineering. She leads programs in Humanitarian Engineering and Engineering Design for Society within the College of Engineering. Her research focuses on interdisciplinary approaches to user-centered design of clean energy technologies, blending thermal fluid sciences with sensor-based impact monitoring to address global energy challenges.

• PhD, MS, and BS in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University (2015, 2013, 2000).
• Over 10 years of international consulting experience in developing countries, focusing on renewable energy systems design and testing.
• Executive Director of the non-profit Aprovecho Research Center.
• Associate Editor for Energy for Sustainable Development and faculty advisor for OSU’s Engineers Without Borders.

Research Interests: Interdisciplinary systems modeling, sensor-based monitoring, and engineering design applied to energy-society-environment relationships. Key areas include biomass cookstove innovation, emission reduction technologies, and adoption dynamics of clean energy solutions in low-resource settings.

Awards:

• 2020 OSU International Service Award
• Elevating Impact Award (Lemelson Foundation)

Grants & Funding: Supported by the US Department of Energy, EPA, NSF, VentureWell, and private foundations. Her work emphasizes stakeholder engagement and global partnerships to scale sustainable energy solutions.

Labs/Teams: Leads the Humanitarian Engineering program and collaborates with the Aprovecho Research Center to advance clean energy technologies for underserved communities.