Nordica MacCarty

Dr. Nordica MacCarty is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Oregon State University, where she is an active contributor to the growing humanitarian engineering program. Her research is focused on the design and evaluation of clean water and energy projects with particular attention to user issues including usability and sensor-based monitoring. Many of her graduate students are earning dual degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Anthropology, and are also working to commercialize technologies researched or developed in her lab. She serves as Associate Editor for the journal Energy for Sustainable Development and was recently recognized with the Elevating Impact Award for social entrepreneurship from the Lemelson Foundation. Her work is funded by the National Science Foundation, VentureWell program, and other private foundations. She is faculty co-advisor for OSU’s Engineers Without Borders chapter and has developed an interdisciplinary faculty-led study abroad course entitled “Household Energy in Guatemala”. Prior to joining the OSU faculty in 2015, she spent nearly 10 years as an international consultant for Aprovecho Research Center building capacity at projects and universities in developing countries for the design and testing of renewable household energy systems. She was also a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow.