Erica Fuchs
Professor, Engineering and Public Policy
Director, National Network for Critical Technology Assessment
Erica R.H. Fuchs is a professor in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University, and a research associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research. Her research focuses on the development, commercialization, and global manufacturing of emerging technologies, and national policy in that context. She was the founding faculty director of Carnegie Mellon University’s Manufacturing Futures Institute–an Institute across six schools aimed to revolutionize the commercialization and local production of advanced manufactured products.
Over the past decade, Fuchs has played a growing role in national and international meetings on technology policy, including being one of 23 participants in the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology workshop that led to the creation of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, and serving on the expert group that supported the White House in the 2016 Innovation Dialogue between the U.S. and China. In 2012 she was selected a World Economic Forum “Young Scientist” (top 40 under 40 globally). She currently serves as co-chair for the National Academies Committee on U.S. Science and Innovation Leadership for the 21st Century, on the M.I.T. Corporation’s Visiting Committee for M.I.T.’s Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, of which M.I.T.’s Technology Policy Program is a part; and on the Advisory Editorial Board for Research Policy.
Before coming to CMU, Fuchs completed her Ph.D. in Engineering Systems at M.I.T. in June 2006. She received her Masters and her Bachelors degrees also from M.I.T. in Technology Policy (2003) and Materials Science and Engineering (1999), respectively. Fuchs spent 1999-2000 as a fellow at the United Nations in Beijing, China. She grew up and attended K-12 in the Reading Public School District in Reading, PA. Her work has been published among other places in Science, the Nature journals, Research Policy, and Management Science; and has been covered on National Public Radio, by Bloomberg, and in the New York Times.
Technology Development: Government and Location
Education
2006 Ph.D., Engineering Systems, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2003 M.Sc., Technology Policy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1999 BS, Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Research Interests
Media mentions
Science|Business
Fuchs discusses new national body that will help government assess new technologies
EPP’s Erica Fuchs discusses new national body that will help government assess new technologies in Science|Business. “Does government today have in its hands the data and analytic capacity to form its national technology strategy? The answer is no, it does not,” Fuchs says. “In the end, it’s going to be a question for Congress, and what they appropriate. I would argue that we have no time to waste.”
Federal News Network
Fuchs interviewed on National Network for Critical Technology Assessment
EPP’s Erica Fuchs was interviewed by the Federal News Network on the National Network for Critical Technology Assessment. Fuchs is part of a team of experts pushing for the government to change the way technology is assessed and what challenges face the U.S.
CMU Engineering
Moonshot grant launches faculty to new heights
The National Network for Critical Technology Assessment (NNCTA), directed by Erica Fuchs, shares their findings in their report, Securing America’s Future: A Framework for Critical Technology Assessment.
CNN Business
Fuchs talks about autoworkers’ roles in the electric car industry
EPP’s Erica Fuchs talks to CNN Business about the autoworkers’ roles in the electric car industry. “Making the powertrain of electric vehicles—the batteries, electric motors and power management systems—requires more total labor, not less, than that involved in making engines and transmissions,” she says.
Axios
CMU’s take on autoworkers in the electric car industry in Axios
As the auto industry begins making the switch over to electric vehicles (EVs), a popular contention is that it takes fewer workers to manufacture EVs. However, researchers at CMU have found that it actually takes more labor hours as battery cell production is a complex and time-consuming process.
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Fuchs elected to the Board of the National Semiconductor Technology Center
EPP’s Erica Fuchs was elected to the board of trustees that will oversee a nonprofit entity that is expected to run the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC).
The New York Times
Fuchs talks plans to assess America’s critical technologies
EPP’s Erica Fuchs speaks with The New York Times about the grant she was awarded to complete a one-year pilot project: the National Network for Critical Technology Assessment.
Brookings Institution
Fuchs speaks on industrial policy at a Hamilton Project event
EPP’s Erica Fuchs spoke at a Hamilton Project event at the Brookings Institution. As a panelist, she discussed the importance of a modern industrial policy that ideally focuses on the service and tech sectors.
CMU Engineering
Engineering faculty featured in events at GCEAF
Many faculty from across the College of Engineering will be featured at events during this year’s Global Clean Energy Action Forum.
US Senate
Fuchs to testify before Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee
EPP’s Erica Fuchs will testify Tuesday, April 22 at 10 a.m. ET before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in a hearing titled “Building a Resilient Economy: Shoring Up Supply.”
Telegraph
Fuchs quoted on Moore’s Law
EPP’s Erica Fuchs was quoted in Telegraph on Moore’s Law and how the technological innovation crisis threatens global economy.
CMU Engineering
Team builds tools, innovations to support federal investment
With major investments in infrastructure and innovation pending, a multi-disciplinary initiative lead by EPP’s Erica Fuchs is building the tools and innovations to inform government decisions.