Nivedita Arora 

Allen K. and Johnnie Cordell Breed Junior Professor of Design
Assistant Professor, ECE & CS department
Northwestern University

Nivedita is Breed Assistant Professor in the ECE & CS departments at Northwestern University. Her research aims to transform sustainable everyday materials and things (paper, wood, soil, plants, textiles) to have computational properties and support applications in climate change, agriculture, smart infrastructure, wildlife monitoring, and education. She calls this new area of research — ‘Sustainable Computational Materials.’

She directs the VAK Sustainable Computing Lab. VAK is short for Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, an ancient Sanskrit phrase that means ‘one world, one family, one future.’ In a world driven by performance and functionality-first technology, inspired by her values of responsible indigenous living, VAK lab re-envisions the computing stack from a sustainability-first approach for its entire life-cycle: (1) Production: eco-friendly biodegradable materials and manufacturing, (2) Use: battery-free system design and operation, (3) Disposal: responsible end-of-the-lifecycle or reuse. To create such disruptive technology, the core value of the lab is set in transdisciplinary innovation. VAK Lab is a group of fearless and purpose-driven scientists, engineers, and designers cutting across disciplines. Nivedita herself is trained in electrical engineering, computer sc, and design and traversed into materials and biology. The lab often also engages with community partners to deploy and test prototypes in real-world scenarios. 



She built the first realized example of sustainable computational material —  interactive stickers during her Ph.D. in Computer Science at Georgia Institute of Technology, advised by Gregory Abowd and Thad Starner. This work has appeared in ACM IMWUT, ACM UIST, ACM MobiSys, and NPJ Flexible Electronics. It has won two best papers (ACM IMWUT, ACM SenSys-ENSsys), two best poster awards (MobiSys, UIST), an outstanding design award (Fast Company), and research highlights in Communications of the ACM and SIGMOBILE GetMobile Magazine. It was also recognized as the best dissertation at Georgia Tech’s College of Computing. She has also worked closely with Josiah Hester as a post-doctoral researcher. 

For her research and service work, Nivedita has been named the winner of the Gaetano Borriello Outstanding Ubicomp Student award in the ACM Ubicomp and ISWC community, Foley scholar in Georgia Tech’s GVU Center, Outstanding GRA in Georgia Tech’s College of Computing, GT’s Top 10 Faces of Inclusive Excellence and MIT Rising Stars in EECS. 

Ongoing Projects 
🌵 Biodegradable sensor platform for remote sustainable sensing
🧶 Low/No power smart robotic textiles for rehabilitation and space junk removal 
🗒️ Carbon-aware interactive smart home sticky notes
⚛️ Sustainable carbon-aware quantum computing 

I am always looking for motivated students and skilled postdoctoral scholars to join the VAK lab. Please email me your resume and a paragraph explaining why you would like to join the lab.

Awards

Global
• ACM Dissertation Award | 2023
• Fast Company Design Innovation Competition in Experimental Category Finalist | 2022
• ACM Gaetano Borriello Outstanding Ubiquitous Computing Student Award | 2021
• EECS Rising Stars, Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 2021
University
• Breed Junior Chaired Professor | 2023
• Outstanding Dissertation, Georgia Tech College of Computing | 2023
• Outstanding Graduate Research Assistant Award in Georgia Tech’s College of Computing | 2022
• GVU Foley Scholar, Georgia Institute of Technology | 2021

Paper
• Best position paper, International Workshop on Sensys- EnSys | 2022
• Distinguished Paper, ACM Ubicomp conference | 2019
• Best poster, ACM MobiSys conference | 2019
• Best poster, ACM UIST conference | 2018

Diversity
• Scholarship recipient, Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference | 2021
• Faces of Inclusive Excellence, Georgia Tech, 2015

Others
• Fast Company Design Innovation Competition in Experimental Category Honoree for work
on self-powered stickers | 2021
• Young researchers, Heidelberg Laureate Forum | 2020
• Final round, Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship | 2018
• 2nd position in powering Internet of Things poster presentation, NextFlex Workshop | 2017

Publications

full publication list will be updated on the VAK Sustainable Computing lab website from 2024

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2016

Patents

• Systems And Methods For Multi-Channel Ambiently-Powered Real-Time Sensing. Filed: April, 2021. Patent Application: 63/231,930, GT provisional: 8734
• Self-powered Wireless Identification Barcode based on Triboelectric Nanogenerator and Backscatter Communication. Filed: Dec, 2020, GT provisional: 8653
• A Thin and Flexible Self-Powered Microphone Designed on the Principle of Triboelectric Nanogenerator. Granted: US Patent 10,932,063.

Talks

Teaching

Instructor
ELEC_ENG/COMP_ENG 495: Ph.D. Life Skills Building (Fall 2023)
course schedule | Website
The ph.D. journey is about creating a research identity as much as it is about your personal life growth.  With this in mind, this class aims to teach foundational concepts and skills through interactive discussions, panels, and anecdotes to help you sail through this ~5 years of research with higher ease and resilience. Below are some of the topics we will cover in this class, ranging from useful and fun to even outrageous. We have 4 main class goals: 
Goal 1 – Professional Development
Goal 2 – Research communication
Goal 3 – Empathetically connecting with your cohort, lab mates, and collaborators
Goal 4 – Building resilience and self-care habits

COMP_ENG 395, 495: Computing and Sustainability (Spring 2024)
website

A seminar and project-based course that closely looks at :

• Computing applied for sustainability oriented applications:  Including IoT/sensing, quantum computing, computational economics, materials discovery, and optimization.
• Rethinking computing systems for lower energy and carbon footprint: New ways to minimize energy. Novel materials and manufacturing. Creating User experience for responsible disposal. 

Service and Outreach

TPC and Paper Review

• Program Committee
  ACM CHI – Building Devices Subcommittee 2024
  IEEE International Green and Sustainable Computing Conference 2023
  ACM SenSys- EnSys Workshop 2023
  Work-in-Progress ACM Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI) 2021
  CHI Late-Breaking-Work 2022
  ACM MobiSys Workshop Digibiom 2022
• Paper Reviewer
  UbiComp (2016-2021), Mobile HCI (2018), ISWC (2017), CHI(2018, 2019, 2020-23), IUI(2021, 2024), TEI(2021)

Conference Organization

• Organising Committee
  Workshop Chair, IEEE BSN 2024
  Publicity & Social Media Chairs, ACM Ubicomp 2023
• Conference Session Chair
  ACM UIST On-Body Interaction 2021
• Workshop Co-Organiser,
  ACM CHI Virtual, Self-SustainableCHI: Sustainable Self-Powered Interfaces and Interactions, 2020
  ACM Ubicomp Conference in Singapore, Broadening Participation Workshop 2018
• Student Volunteer
  ACM Ubicomp Conference, Virtual Event 2020
  ACM Ubiquitous Computing Conference in Osaka, Japan 2015

Outreach and DEI Efforts

• Diversity Committee, ECE, Northwestern University, 2023
• Panelist for Georgia Tech MS HCI Seminar, Getting a Ph.D, 2019
• Founding Member, Science for a Billion (SFAB): Initiative to promote RnD initiatives in India
• Georgia Tech Grad Group leader, Founding member, 2018
• Instructor, Girls Who Code Georgia Tech Chapter 2017
• Group Meeting Coordinator, Computational Materials Group, Georgia Tech 2017-2020
• Group meeting coordinator, Ubiquitous Computing Lab, Georgia Tech, 2016-2018
• Founder, Mobile Development Group, Delhi University, 2011-2012

Mentoring

Before 2023 (as a graduate student)

• Material Science
  • Harsh Kumar Verma (MS): Ph.D. student at Georgia Tech | Aug 2022-Present
  • Philothei Sahinidis (UG): Ph.D. Student at Berkeley | Aug 2022- Aug 2023
  
• Electrical Engineering
  • Injoo Moon (UG): Research Engineer at MIT Langer Lab | Jan 2021-May 2022
  
• Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  • Bill Yen (UG): Ph.D. Student at Stanford | Oct 2022- Sept 2023
  • Mohit Gupta (Ph.D.): Research Scientist at Apple | Aug 2018-Aug2019
  
• Computer Science and Engineering
  • Zhihan Zhang (UG): Graduate student at UW | Oct 2021-May 2022
  • Ali Mirzazadeh (BS/MS): Graduate student at MIT | Sept 2019-May 2022
  • Yunzhi Li (MS): Graduate student at CMU | Jan 2021-May 2021
  • Qiuyue Xue (MS): Graduate student at UW | Feb 2018-May 2019
  • Peter McAugen(MS): Software Engineer at Microsoft | Sept 2018-May 2019
  • Dhruv Bansal (UG): Graduate student at Stanford | Sept 2018- May 2019
  
• Design and HCI
  • Daniela C. Rodriguez (UG): UX Designer Adobe | Jan 2021-July 2021
  • Jin Yu (MS): Graduate student at Gatech | Aug 2019-Feb 2020
  • Michelle Ma (MS): UX designer at Amazon | Sept 2018-May 2019
  • Diego Osorio (MS): UX Engineer at SimSpace | Sept 2017 – May 2019

Grants and Fellowships

2023 – present (as PI)

• NU Alumni for Sustainable Quantum Computing | 2023
• Breed Junior Chaired Professor Endowment | 2023
  

Before 2023 (as a graduate student)

• $1000 GT CoC Outstanding Dissertation Award
• $500 for being Invited Speaker for Facebook HCI Group
• $550 travel grant by GT’s GVU and SGA for attending ACM MobiSys Conference| 2022
• $30,000, graduate research assistant position sponsored by HEERF Covid funds, GeorgiaTech, 2022
• $180,000 research grant by Cisco for my Ph.D. dissertation | 2021
• $1000 Travel Scholarship by College of Computing, Georgia Tech | 2019
• $50,000 NSF I-Corps Commercialization grant for Self-sustainable Building Water LeakDetection project | 2019
• $2000 provost travel grant, Career Research and Innovation Development Conference(CRIDC), Georgia Tech | 2019
• $1500 Travel grant by Career, Research, and Innovation Development Conference (CRIDC),Georgia Tech | 2018
• $35,000 by Intel Research to build an adaptive control algorithm for a wearable for neuromuscular atrophied individuals
• $80,000 by Google to develop ear-based brain computer interfaces | 2016
• $18,0000 international research fellowship, American Association of University Women
  (AAUW)| 2016