The Grainger College of Engineering
Civil & Environmental Engineering

Deborah L Thurston

Deborah L Thurston
Deborah L Thurston
  • Professor
(217) 333-6456
214 Transportation Building

Primary Research Area

  • Environmental Engineering and Science ARCHIVED

Research Areas

Education

  • Ph.D. Civil Engineering Mass. Inst. of Technology 1987
  • S.M. Civil Engineering Mass. Inst. of Technology 1984
  • B.S. Civil Engineering University of Minnesota 1978

Journal Editorships

  • Area Editor, The Engineering Economist, 1993 – 2001.
  • Associate Technical Editor, Design Theory and Methodology, ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, 1993-1998.

Primary Research Area

  • Environmental Engineering and Science ARCHIVED

Research Areas

Chapters in Books

  • Thurston, D. and S. Behdad. Sustainability and Lifecycle Product Design. Invited Chapter in Women in Industrial and Systems Engineering: Key Advances and Perspectives on Emerging Topics, Springer, 2019.
  • Thurston, D., "Multi-attribute Utility Analysis of Conflicting Preferences," Invited chapter in Decision Making in Engineering Design, ASME Press, Three Park Avenue, New York, NY, 2006.
  • Thurston, D., "Utility Function Fundamentals," Invited chapter in Decision Making in Engineering Design, ASME Press, Three Park Avenue, New York, NY, 2006.
  • Nicolaou, P., D. Mangun and D.L. Thurston. Modeling and Control for Environmentally Conscious Design and Manufacturing. Invited chapter in Mechanical Life Cycle Handbook: Good Environmental Design and Manufacturing, M. Hundal, ed., Mercel Dekker, 2001.
  • Thurston, D. L. Group Decision Making in Design. Chapter 8, Mechanical Design: Theory and Methodology (Manjula B. Waldron and Kenneth J. Waldron, eds.; Springer-Verlag) (1996).
  • Thurston, D. L. and A. Locascio. Multiattribute Design Optimization and Concurrent Engineering. Concurrent Engineering: Contemporary Issues and Modern Design Tools (Hamid Parsaei and William Sullivan, eds.; Chapman and Hall) (1993).
  • Thurston, D. L. and J. V. Carnahan. Intelligent Evaluation of Design for Manufacturing Cost. Concurrent Engineering Automation, Tools, and Techniques (A. Kusiak, ed.; John Wiley) (1993).
  • Marks, D. H. and D. L. Thurston. Evolution of Technology Strategies in Environmental Policy Formulation. Environmental Technology: Assessment and Policy, (Eds. R. Jain and A. Clark, Ellis Horwood Ltd.) (1989).

Monographs

  • Thurston, D. L. Multiattribute Utility Analysis of Materials Selection Decisions. Ph.D. thesis (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, June 1987).
  • Thurston, D. L. The Environmental Impacts of Solar Ponds. M.S. Thesis (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, February, 1984).

Selected Articles in Journals

  • Crossley, W.A., Luan, S., Allison, J.T., and D. Thurston. Optimization Problem Framework with Application to Engineering Systems. Systems Engineering, 20:6 (2017), pp. 512–528.
  • Berg, L., S. Behdad, J. Vance and D. Thurston, “Disassembly Sequence Evaluation: A User Study Leveraging Immersive Computing Technologies,” ASME Journal of Computing and Information Science in Engineering. 15:1 (2015) DOI: 10.1115/1.4028857
  • Behdad, S., Berg, L., Thurston, D. and J. Vance. Leveraging Virtual Reality Experiences with Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programming Visualization of Disassembly Sequence Planning under Uncertainty. Transaction of ASME: Journal of Mechanical Design, 136:4 (2014).
  • Behdad, S., Berg, L., Vance, J. and D. Thurston. Immersive Computing Technology to Investigate Tradeoffs under Uncertainty in Disassembly Sequence Planning. Transaction of ASME: Journal of Mechanical Design, 136:7(2014):071001-071001-9.
  • Zhao, Y. and D. Thurston. Maximizing Profits From End-of-Life and Initial Sales With Heterogeneous Consumer Demand. Transactions of ASME: Journal of Mechanical Design, 135:4 (2013), 041001-10.
  • Behdad, S., Sefic Williams, A., and D. Thurston. End of Life Decision Making with Uncertain Product Return Quantity. Transactions of ASME: Journal of Mechanical Design, 134:10,(2012), 100902-1-6.
  • Behdad, S. and D. Thurston. Disassembly and Reassembly Sequence Planning Tradeoffs Under Uncertainty for Product Maintenance. Transactions of ASME: Journal of Mechanical Design, 134:4 (2012), 141011-1-9.
  • Kwak, M., Kim, H. M. and D. Thurston. Formulating Second-Hand Market Value as a Function of Product Specifications, Age, and Condition. Transactions of ASME: Journal of Mechanical Design, 134:3 (2012).
  • Kwak, M., Behdad, S., Zhao, Y., Kim, H. M. and D. Thurston. E-waste Stream Analysis and Design Implications. Transactions of ASME: Journal of Mechanical Design, 133:10 (2011).
  • Ramani, K., Ramanujan, D., Bernstein, W., Zhao, F., Sutherland, J., Handwerker, C., Choi, J., Kim, H. and Thurston, D., "Integrated Sustainable Life Cycle Design: A Review," Transactions of ASME: Journal of Mechanical Design, Vol. 132, No. 9, pp. 091004, 2010.
  • Zhao, Y., V. Pandey, H. Kim and D. Thurston. Varying Lifecycle Lengths within a Product Take-Back Portfolio. ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, Vol. 132, No. 9, September 2010, pp. 091012.
  • Pandey, V. and D. Thurston, Variability and Component Criticality in Component Reuse and Remanufacturing Systems, ASME Journal of Computing and Information Science in Engineering, Vol. 10, December 2010.
  • Behdad, S., M. Kwak, H. Kim and D. Thurston. Simultaneous Selective Disassembly and End-of-Life Decision Making for Multiple Products that Share Disassembly Operations. ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, 132:4 (2010), 141002-1-9.
  • Pandey, V. and D. Thurston. Effective Age of Remanufactured Products: An Entropy Approach. ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, 131, March 2009, 03-1008-1-9.
  • Harper, S. and D. Thurston. Electric Power Network Decision Effects. Invited paper in special issue of The Engineering Economist, Vol. 54: 22-49, 2009.
  • Harper, S. and D. Thurston. Incorporating Environmental Impacts in Strategic Redesign of an Engineered System. 130(3), 2008, ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, 031101-1-9.
  • Hashisho,, Z., H. Emamipour, M. Rood, K.J Hay, B. Kim and D. Thurston, Concomitant Adsorption and Desorption of Organic Vapor in Dry and Humid Air Streams using Microwave and Direct Electrothermal Swing Adsorption, Environmental Science and Technology, 42(24), 2008, pp. 9317-9322.
  • Emamipour, H., Z. Hashisho, D. Cevallos, M. Rood, D. Thurston, K. J. Hay, B. Kim and P. Sullivan. Steady-State and Dynamic Desorption of Organic Vapor from Activated Carbon with Electrothermal Swing Adsorption. Environmental Science and Technology, 41(14), 2007, pp. 5063-5069.
  • Thurston, D. and J. de la Torre, “Leasing and Extended Producer Responsibility for Personal Computer Component Reuse”, invited paper in special issue of International Journal of Environment and Pollution, Vol. 29, No. 1/2/3, 2007, pp. 104-126.
  • Harper, S., D. Thurston and P. Krein. The Effects of Dynamic Residential Load Participation: Penetration Levels for Operational Impact on Reliability. Invited paper in special issue of International Journal of Critical Infrastructures, Vol. 3, No. 1/2, 2007, pp.221-234.
  • Luo L. , D. Ramirez, M. Rood, G. Grevillot, K. James Hay, and D. L. Thurston. Adsorption and Electrothermal Desorption of Organic Vapors using Activated Carbon Adsorbents with Novel Morphologies. Carbon, 44(2006), pp. 2715-2723.
  • Kaldate, A., D. Thurston, H. Emamipour and M. Rood. Engineering Parameter Selection for Design Optimization During Preliminary Design. Journal of Engineering Design, 17:4 (2006), pp. 291-310.
  • Krill, M. and D. Thurston. Remanufacturing: Impacts of Sacrificial Cylinder Liners. ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering. 127:3 (2005), pp.687-697.
  • Ghisellini, A. and D. Thurston. Decision Traps in ISO 14001 Implementation Process: Case Study Results from Illinois Certified Companies. Journal of Cleaner Production. 13: 8 (2005), pp. 763-777.
  • Gutowski, T., C,. Murphy, A. Allen, D. Bauer, B. Bras, T. Piwonka, P. Sheng, J. Sutherland, D. Thurston and E. Wolff. Environmentally Benign Manufacturing: Observations from Japan, Europe and the United States. Journal of Cleaner Production, 13:1, pp. 1-17 (2005).
  • Sutherland, J., K. Gunter, D. Allen, D. Bauer, B. Bras, T. Gutowski, C. Murphy, T. Piwonka, P. Sheng, D. Thurston, E. Wolff. A Global Perspective on the Environmental Challenges Facing the Automotive Industry: State-of-the-Art and Directions for the Future. International Journal of Vehicle Design, 35: 1/2 (2004) pp. 86-110.
  • Thurston, D. and S. Srinivasan. Constrained Optimization for Green Engineering Decision Making. Invited paper in special issue of Environmental Science & Technology, 37:23 (2003) pp 5389 – 5397.
  • Allen, D., D. Bauer, B. Bras, T. Gutowski, C. Murphy, T. Piwonka, P. Sheng, J. Sutherland, D. Thurston and E. Wolff. Environmentally Benign Manufacturing: Trends in Europe, Japan and the USA. ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science, 124:4 (2002).
  • Mangun, D. and D. L. Thurston. Incorporating Component Reuse, Remanufacture, and Recycle into Product Portfolio Design. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 49:4 (2002).
  • Nicolaou, P., D. Thurston and J. Carnahan. Machining Quality and Cost: Estimation and Tradeoffs. ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, 124:4 (2002).
  • Thurston, D.L. Real and Perceived Limitations to Decision Based Design with Utility Analysis. ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, 123:2 (2001).
  • Thurston, D. L. and A. Nogal. Meta-Level Strategies for Evaluation Function Reformulation during Iterative Design. Journal of Engineering Design, 12:2 (2001).
  • Thurston, D. L., J. Alvarado, D. Mangun and W. Hoffman. Cost, Quality and Environmental Tradeoffs for Printed Circuit Board Assembly. The Engineering Economist, 45:3 (2000).
  • Thurston, D. L., J.V. Carnahan, and J. Kaufmann. Pollution Prevention at Armstrong World Industries. Environmentally Conscious Design and Manufacturing, 8:4 (1999).
  • Thurston, D. L. Engineering Economic Decision Issues in Environmentally Conscious Design. The Engineering Economist, 44:1 (1999).
  • Locascio, A. and D. L. Thurston. Transforming the House of Quality to a Multiobjective Optimization Formulation. Structural Optimization, 16:2 (1998).
  • Carnahan, J.V. and D. L. Thurston. Tradeoff Modeling for Product and Manufacturing Process Design for the Environment. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 2:1 (1998).
  • Van Dam, T. J. and D. L. Thurston. Selection of the Preferred Pavement Design Alternative Using Multiattribute Utility Analysis. Transportation Research Board Records (1994).
  • Thurston, D. L., S. Lloyd, and J. Wallace. Considering Customer Preferences for Environmental Protection in Material Selection. Materials and Design, 15:4 (1994).
  • Thurston, D. L. Environmental Design Trade-Offs. Journal of Engineering Design, 5:1 (1994).
  • Thurston, D. L. and R. Sun. Machine Learning for Structural Optimization. Invited contribution to Special Issue, Microcomputers in Civil Engineering, 9, 185-197 (1994).
  • Thurston, D. L. and A. Locascio. Decision Theory for Design Economics. Invited contribution to Special Issue, The Engineering Economist, 40:1 (1994).
  • Thurston, D. L., J. V. Carnahan, and T. Liu. Optimization of Design Utility. ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, 116:3, 801-808 (September 1994).
  • Carnahan, J. V., D. L. Thurston, and T. Liu. Fuzzy Ratings for Multiattribute Design Decision-Making. ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, 116:2, 511-521 (June 1994).
  • Thurston, D. L. and C. A. Crawford. A Method for Integrating End-User Preferences for Design Evaluation in Rule Based Systems. ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, 116:2, 522-530 (June 1994).
  • Tian, Y. Q., D. L. Thurston, and J. V. Carnahan. Incorporating End-Users' Attitudes Towards Uncertainty into an Expert System. ASME J. of Mechanical Design, 116:2, 493-500 (June 1994).
  • Locascio, A. and D. L. Thurston. Concurrent Optimal Design with Application to Structural Dynamics. Journal of Engineering Design, 4:4, 353-369 (December 1993).
  • Thurston, D. L. and R. Sun. Structural Optimization of Multiple Attributes. Structural Optimization, 5:4 (1993).
  • Safoutin, M. and D. L. Thurston. A Cognitive Design Model and FMEA Technique for Analysis of Design Teams. IEEE Trans. on Engineering Management, 40:4 (1993).
  • Thurston, D. L. and S. Essington. A Tool for Optimal Design Decision-Making for Manufacturing. Manufacturing Review, 6:1 (March 1993).
  • Thurston, D. L. Concurrent Engineering in an Expert System. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 40:2 (1993).
  • Thurston, D. L. and Y. Q. Tian. Integration of the Analytic Hierarchy Process with Integer Linear Programming for Long Range Product Planning. Mathematical and Computer Modeling, 17:4/5 (1993).
  • Thurston, D. L. and J. V. Carnahan. Fuzzy Ratings and Utility Analysis in Preliminary Design Evaluation of Multiple Attributes. ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, 114:4 (1992).
  • Thurston, D. L. A Formal Method for Subjective Design Evaluation with Multiple Attributes. Research in Engineering Design, 3:2 (1991), 105-122.
  • Thurston, D. L. and T. Liu. Design Evaluation of Multiple Attribute Under Uncertainty. Systems Automation: Research and Applications, 1:2 (1991).

Articles in Conference Proceedings

  • Thurston, D. REMADE - A New Funding Opportunity for Design Researchers, ASME 2017 International Design and Engineering Technical Conferences & Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, IDETC/ 2017, August 6-9, 2017, Cleveland, Ohio.
  • Arora, M., Luan, S., Allison, J., Thurston, D., Hybrid Procedure-Based Design Strategies Augmented with Optimization, Proc. ASME 2017 International Design and Engineering Technical Conferences & Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, IDETC/ 2017, August 6-9, 2017, Cleveland, Ohio.
  • Luan, S., Arora, M., Thurston, D., Allison, J., Design Optimization Formulation Strategies and their Tradeoffs, Proc. ASME 2017 International Design and Engineering Technical Conferences & Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, IDETC/ 2017, August 6-9, 2017, Cleveland, Ohio.
  • Deshmukh, A., Allison, J., Thurston, D. Heuristics for Formulating System Design Optimization Models: Their Uses and Pitfalls. CESUN 2016 - 5th International Engineering Systems Symposium, June, Washington, D.C.
  • Devnani, P., Thurston, D. Cloud Based Method for Improving Residual Value Estimation for End-of-Life Product Recovery. 2016 Industrial and Systems Engineering Research Conference, May 2016, Anaheim, CA.
  • Joseph, A., Schreiner, J., Thurston, D. Impact of Visual Models on Risk Attitude and Decision Tradeoffs in Aircraft Component Repair. 2015 Industrial and Systems Engineering Research Conference, Nashville, TN.
  • Joseph, A., Schreiner, J., Thurston, D. Design Decision Tradeoffs for Environmental Impact and End of Life Recovery of Cellphones. Proc. ASME 2015 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences & Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, August, 2015, Boston, MA.

Teaching Honors

  • Engineering Council Outstanding Advisor Award, 2016
  • Second Place, Best Student Poster presentation at 96th Annual Conference & Exhibition of the AWMA, Amit Kaldate, 2003.
  • First Place, Best Student Paper competition of Lake Michigan States section of the AWMA, Amit Kaldate, 2003.
  • Lincoln Arc Welding Merit Award for Senior Design Project “Analysis and Design of Baby Changing Table”, Peek, J, P. P. Quaid, and C. Simpson, sponsored by Stevens Industries, D.L. Thurston, advisor, 2003.
  • Best Presentation Award in Spring Symposium in Environmental Engineering and Science Program, University of Illinois, Donna Mangun, 2001.
  • Lincoln Arc Welding Merit Award for Senior Design Project “Zero Wastewater Discharge Operation”, Arslanalp, D., T. Ebersole, and E. Geary, sponsored by International Paper, D.L. Thurston, advisor, 2001.
  • Chittenden Award for MS student Edward Spellman, 1994
  • Chittenden Award for MS student Yun Qi Tian, 1992
  • Andersen Consulting Award for Excellence in Advising, 1990, 1993, and 1994

Research Honors

  • Best Paper Award for 2016 Institute of Industrial Engineers Annual Conference, IIE Sustainable Development Division. "Cloud Based Method for Improving Residual Value Estimation for End-of-Life Product Recovery".
  • Best Paper Award for 2015 ISERC, Manufacturing and Design Track. "Impact of Visual Models on Risk Attitude and Decision Tradeoffs".
  • 2014 Kos Ishii-Toshiba Award for Sustained and Meritorious Contributions as a Researcher, Educator and Mentor, presented at ASME Design for Manufacturing and Life-Cycle Conference.
  • American Academy of Environmental Engineering 2011 Honors University Research Award for Electrothermal Swing Adsorption and VaPRRS and Steady-State Tracking wit Mark Rood et. al.
  • Best Paper Award for 2010 ASME Design for Manufacturing and the Lifecycle Conference. "Integrating End-of-Life and Initial Profit Considerations in Product Life Cycle Design".
  • Best Paper Award for 2009 ASME Design for Manufacturing and Lifecycle Conference. "Varying Lifecycle Length within a Product Portfolio for Product Takeback".
  • Best Paper Award for 2007 ASME Design for Manufacturing and Lifecycle Conference. "Variability and Component Criticality in Component Reuse and Remanufacturing Systems".
  • Runner up for Best paper of the year award in IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. Mangun, D. and D. L. Thurston. “Incorporating Component Reuse, Remanufacture, and Recycle into Product Portfolio Design.,” 49:4 (2002).
  • 1996 Eugene L. Grant Award for Best paper of the year in The Engineering Economist. “Decision Theory for Design Economists,” D. L. Thurston and A. Locascio, Vol. 40, No. 1, 1994.
  • Senior Xerox Award for Faculty Research, 1995.
  • Junior Xerox Award for Faculty Research, 1992.
  • Semi-Finalist for 1992 Edelman Award for Management Science Achievement for "Product Strategy and Cycle Planning at Chrysler Motors Corporation."
  • Receipt of Research Initiation Grant for "Integration of Utility Analysis and Rule Based Computer Aids to Design," National Science Foundation, August 1988 - August 1990.
  • Presidential Young Investigator Award, National Science Foundation, 1989-1995.

Other Honors

  • Design Theory and Methodology Award - ASME (2019)
  • Fellow, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2010)