Gyuna ("Jenny") Kwak

Gyuna (“Jenny”) Kwak is a PhD student in Sustainability Engineering and Environmental Engineering at Purdue University, advised by Professor Heather Liddell. She completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering at Ewha Womans University in South Korea. Her current research focuses on assessing the potential fleet-level environmental and material demand implications of vehicle electrification and lightweighting, using techniques of life cycle assessment, material flow analysis, and statistics. She is a Purdue Ross Fellow and part of the NSF Next-Gen Environmental Experts Training (NEXT) traineeship program at Purdue. Outside of research, she enjoys discovering new TV shows, watching baseball games, and spending time with friends. Recently, she’s been thinking about trying baking as a new hobby.

Education:

• M.S., Mechanical & Biomedical Engineering, Ewha Womans University, South Korea, 2025
• B.S., Mechanical & Biomedical Engineering, Ewha Womans University, South Korea, 2023

Selected Publications and Presentations:

• Kwak, G., et al. (2025). "Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of hydrogen imported by maritime transportation: A South Korean case study." Energy Conversion and Management: X 26: 100887. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecmx.2025.100887