Dr. Susan Krumdieck
Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Founder and Director, Advanced Energy and Material Systems Lab
Dr. Krumdieck studied Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at UC Boulder, and worked on wind turbine control systems and solar system testing and certification. She earned a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1989 at Arizona State University in the field of Energy Systems Engineering. Her Masters thesis proposed a theory for a dynamic feedback control model of anthropogenic energy-economic-environment systems. After working as an energy consultant for Energy Simulation Specialist, Inc., she was a contract researcher for NREL characterizing the combustion of biomass derived oil. Her PhD research involved development of an innovate technology, pulsed-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (PP-MOCVD). The PhD was earned in 1999 at the University of Colorado at Boulder under Professor Rishi Raj.
During her years of postgraduate study Susan was the recipient of the prestigious ARCS Scholarship, the Link Foundation Energy Fellowship, the National Air&Waste Management Association First Prize Scholarship, the SAE Doctoral Scholars Award, the American Power Producers Association Scholarship, as well as university fellowships. She gained a highly competitive National Science Foundation SBIR award, and started a R&D company to develop PP-MOCVD thin films for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells.
Susan joined the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Canterbury in 2000 in order to further research the fundamentals of PP-MOCVD and to return to her interests in energy systems and sustainability. She was promoted in 2003, and supervises a large group of graduate students with 11 PhD and 13 Masters completions. Susan received a prestigious RSNZ Marsden Fund Research Grant in 2003, was appointed a member of the Royal Society Energy Panel in 2005, and she is currently the national president of the Engineers for Social Responsibility. Susan’s service in the field includes editor of special issues of Energy Policy and CVD, editorial board of Social Business, convener of the Signs of Change National e-Conference and executive committee of the Sustainable Energy Forum and the New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities. She was selected as the Institute of Engineering and Technology Prestige Lecturer for 2010.
Susan’s strategic research is aimed at delivering sustainability through Transition Engineering, creating the fundamentals of the low-fossil energy system, and conceiving bridging technologies and control systems to manage the transition to sustainable systems. She leads an interdisciplinary research team at the AEMS Lab. The team has close ties with industry including local councils, consultants, power companies and other service providers. This is a truly innovative approach that has already yielded new insights, new engineering methods and software tools, and new ideas. The AEMS Lab research projects include energy constrained transportation systems and urban forms, remote hybrid renewable energy power systems, intelligent power demand response, demand management, geothermal power plant modeling and adaptive design. The AEMS Lab research has also attracted over $2 million NZD in funding in the past 5 years. Dr. Krumdieck has published 77 peer-reviewed papers, and has presented 75 invited keynote lectures at conferences, meetings, and public seminars in the past 4 years.