Dr. Emily Liu is a Professor of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering and Industrial and Systems Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), where she also serves as Head of the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department and holds a joint appointment at the Lally School of Management. With a Ph.D. in Nuclear Science and Engineering from MIT and undergraduate training in Technical Physics from Peking University, she has built a career at the intersection of experimental and computational physics, bringing nearly two decades of faculty experience to bear on some of the most complex challenges in nuclear energy, materials science, and systems engineering. Her research integrates neutron scattering experiments with multiphysics simulations to illuminate fundamental questions in condensed matter physics, and her work spans topics from thermal scattering laws and small modular reactors to nuclear fuel economics and consent-based siting processes.
Beyond her technical research, Dr. Liu is a recognized leader in engineering education and community engagement. She has been honored with RPI’s Class of 1951 Outstanding Teaching Award and School of Engineering Education Innovation Award, and was selected as an ELATES Fellow — a prestigious program for executive leadership in academic science and engineering — at Drexel University, where she now serves as an advisor to the program. She directs RPI’s STEAMM Inventor’s Studio summer program, serves on multiple national advisory councils including the Partnership for Nuclear Energy Advisory Council and the Penn State Neutron Science Advisory Council, and has delivered invited talks at over 58 conferences and institutions worldwide. Her interdisciplinary approach — collaborating with economists, psychologists, and social scientists on educational research — reflects a commitment to broadening participation in STEM and advancing both the science and the culture of engineering.