Elsa Olivetti

Co-Director, MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium; Jerry McAfee (1940) Professor of Engineering, Department of Materials Science and Engineering; Associate Dean, School of Engineering

Elsa Olivetti is co-director of the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium, the Jerry McAfee (1940) Professor of Engineering in MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE), and the associate dean in the School of Engineering at MIT. Her research centers on improving the environmental and economic sustainability of materials in the context of growing global demand. Her interests span three levels of materials production: operational-level, industrial network-level and market-level strategies. She is focused on two areas with the potential for significant environmental benefits:  improving the sustainability of materials through increased use of recycled and renewable materials, recycling-friendly material design, and intelligent waste disposition; and understanding the implications of substitution, dematerialization, and waste mining on materials markets. Olivetti earned a BS in engineering science from the University of Virginia, and a PhD in materials science and engineering from MIT.

Selected Publications

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