Katie Whitefoot
Associate Professor | Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA, UNITED STATES
Katie Whitefoot’s research advances the theoretical foundations and computational modeling of engineering design and technology change.
Biography
Whitefoot’s research advances the theoretical foundations and computational modeling of engineering design and technology change in the context of market and regulatory systems to inform product development, manufacturing, and policymaking. Her research bridges methods in engineering design and economics to examine a variety of topics, including product variety and product-line design, transportation energy, environmental policies, consumer choice, and automation and parts consolidation in manufacturing.
Areas of Expertise (8)
Product Design
Technical Innovation
Environmental Engineering
Additive Manufacturing
Consumer Behavior
Optimization
Advanced Vehicle Systems
Generative Manufacturing
Media Appearances (5)
Gen Z and Millennials Favor EVs, Survey Shows — What Does That Mean for the Future of Gas-Powered Vehicles?
Yahoo! Finance online
2023-08-09
“There are many policy incentives available that lower the cost of purchasing an EV,” said Kate Whitefoot, associate professor of mechanical engineering, engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon’s College of Engineering. “Not everyone is aware that many of these are available for used EVs as well, which may be attractive to Gen Z and millennials. The federal government offers a tax credit and many states offer additional rebates for purchasing used EVs as well as new EVs. “
This Carnegie Mellon Researcher Says Tesla Started a Revolution by Advancing EV Performance Specs
Nautilius Magzine online
2023-07-06
I caught up with Kate Whitefoot to find out. Whitefoot is both a mechanical engineer and a policy wonk at Carnegie Mellon University. She works at an impressive and ever-more-relevant intersection of ideas.
Opinion | A Drive to Understand National Capabilities in Critical Technologies
The New York Times online
2023-01-18
The team members Elsa Olivetti of M.I.T. and Kate Whitefoot of Carnegie Mellon are searching for strategies that would help both the environment and American jobs, such as domestic development of alternative battery chemistries and new techniques for recycling critical minerals.
California’s gas car ban will change how everyone drives
Vox online
2022-08-25
The open question now is whether the state can meet the targets set out by the new rule. “It is expected that EVs will dominate the new vehicle market nationwide in the future,” said Kate Whitefoot, an associate professor of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, in an email. “The uncertainty is exactly when this will occur. This regulation by California would serve to accelerate that timeline.”
The simple, impactful way to make cars cleaner
Vox online
2022-06-02
“Efficiency regulations are still really important even as automakers are making pledges to electrify their fleets,” said Kate Whitefoot, an associate professor of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University.
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Industry Expertise (3)
Energy
Consumer Goods
Manufacturing
Education (3)
University of Michigan: Ph.D., Design Science (mechanical engineering & economics) 2011
University of Michigan: M.S., Mechanical Engineering 2008
University of Michigan:: B.S., Mechanical Engineering 2006
Links (4)
Articles (5)
Concurrent build direction, part segmentation, and topology optimization for additive manufacturing using neural networks
Journal of Mechanical Design2023 Without an explicit formulation to minimize support structures, topology optimization may create complex shapes that require an intensive use of support material when additively manufactured. We propose a neural network-based approach to topology optimization that aims to reduce the use of support structures in additive manufacturing.
Global Product Design Platforming: A Comparison of Two Equilibrium Solution Methods
Journal of Mechanical Design2023 Global product platforms can reduce production costs through economies of scale and learning but may decrease revenues by restricting the ability to customize for each market. We model the global platforming problem as a Nash equilibrium among oligopolistic competing firms, each maximizing its profit across markets with respect to its pricing, design, and platforming decisions.
Is Additive Manufacturing an Environmentally and Economically Preferred Alternative for Mass Production?
Environmental Science & Technology2023 The manufacturing sector accounts for a large percentage of global energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, and there is growing interest in the potential of additive manufacturing (AM) to reduce the sector’s environmental impacts. Across multiple industries, AM has been used to reduce material use in final parts by 35–80%, and recent publications have predicted that AM will enable the fabrication of customized products locally and on-demand, reducing shipping and material waste.
Externalities of Policy-Induced Scrappage: The Case of Automotive Regulations
National Bureau of Economic Research2022 Many transportation policies indirectly affect vehicle travel and resulting externalities by inducing changes in vehicle scrappage rates. We leverage the staggered removal of state-level safety inspection programs across the United States within an instrumental variables (IV) framework to produce the first estimates of the fleet-size elasticities of fleet travel distance and gasoline consumption. Our first-stage estimates indicate that the removal of safety inspections caused a 3-4% increase in fleet size on average.
Expert elicitation on paths to advance fuel cell electric vehicles
Energy Policy2022 While fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) fueled by hydrogen produced using low-carbon processes could considerably reduce carbon emissions from transportation, FCEVs are produced at low volume, are expensive to manufacture, and lack widespread refueling infrastructure.
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