Erica Fuchs
Kavčić-Moura Professor, Engineering and Public Policy
Director, Critical Technology Initiative
Erica R.H. Fuchs is a Kavčić-Moura Professor in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University, and by courtesy in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy. She is director of the Critical Technology Initiative at Carnegie Mellon, which brings together interdisciplinary expertise across five schools to pioneer how data and analytics can better inform how technology investment and policy can advance the economy, security, and societal well-being. She is also a research associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research. Fuchs’ research focuses on the development, commercialization and global manufacturing of emerging technologies, and national policy in that context.
Fuchs is passionate about building nationally the intellectual foundations, data, and analytic tools to inform investment and policy in critical and emerging technologies across government missions. Toward realizing this vision, Fuchs catalyzed and was director of the one-year $4M pilot National Network for Critical Technology Assessment funded by NSF’s Technology, Innovation and Partnerships Office, and involving academic thought-leaders from more than 13 Tier I research universities across the country, which culminated in the report Securing America’s Future: A framework for Critical Technology Assessment. Fuchs was previously founding faculty director of Carnegie Mellon University’s Manufacturing Futures Initiative, an initiative across six schools aimed to revolutionize the commercialization and local production of advanced manufactured products, which today is an endowed institute.
Over the past two decades, Fuchs has played a growing role in national and international dialogues on technology policy, particularly as it relates to advanced manufactured products, trade, innovation, and labor outcomes. Fuchs serves on the Board of Trustees of Natcast, the non-profit that oversees the National Semiconductor Technology Center. She has also served on a variety of academic visiting committees and advisory boards, including currently serving on M.I.T. Corporation’s Visiting Committee for M.I.T.’s Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, of which M.I.T.’s Technology Policy Program is a part; and on the Advisory Editorial Board for Research Policy. Fuchs’ work has been published, among other places, in Science, the Nature journals, Research Policy, Industrial and Corporate Change, and Management Science. She has testified in Congressional hearings in both the House and Senate and had her work covered by National Public Radio, Bloomberg, and the New York Times.
Fuchs completed her Ph.D. in engineering systems (2006), her master’s in technology policy (2003), and her bachelor’s in materials science and engineering (1999), all from M.I.T. She spent 1999-2000 as a fellow at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization in Beijing, China. Fuchs grew up and attended K-12 in the Reading Public School District in Reading, PA.
Publications
Global Manufacturing and the Technical Frontier
- Cheng, A., Fuchs, E., Karplus, V., Michalek, J. Electric vehicle battery chemistry affects supply chain disruption vulnerabilities. 2024. Accepted. Nature Communications.
- Cotterman, T., Combemale, C., Whitefoot, K, Fuchs, E. The transition to electrified vehicles: Evaluating the labor demand of manufacturing conventional versus battery electric vehicle powertrains. 2024. Accepted. Energy Policy. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/
papers.cfm?abstract_id=4128130 - Reolfi, R., Fuchs, E., and Karplus, V.. Anticipating the impacts of light-duty vehicle electrification on the U.S. automotive service workforce. Environmental Research Letters. Volume 18. Number 3. DOI 10.1088/1748-9326/
acbb93 - Combemale, C., Whitefoot, K., Fuchs, E. 2021. Not all Technologies are Equal: How the Separability of Tasks Mediates the Effect of Technological Change on Skill Demand. Industrial and Corporate Change. Accepted. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3291686. Industry Studies Best Paper Award. Freeman & Nelson Award.
- Fuchs, E., Combemale, C., Orr, A., Whitefoot, K. 2019. The Weighty Manufacturing Sector: Challenges Transforming from Raw Materials to Physical Products in the Innovation Economy. Beyond 140 Characters: The Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Economic Growth. Edited Volume. Eds Scott Stern, Aaron Chatterji, and Josh Lerner. National Bureau of Economic Research. https://www.nber.org/chapters/c14373
- Yang, C., Nugent, R., and Fuchs, E. 2016. Gains from Other’s Losses: Technology Trajectories and the Global Division of Firms. Research Policy. 54(3): 724-745. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2015.12.005
- Fuchs, E. 2014. Global Manufacturing and the Future of Technology. Science. 345(6196): 519-520.
- Fuchs, E., Field, F., Roth, R., and Kirchain, R. 2011. Plastic Cars in China? The Signifiance of Production Location over Markets for Technology Competitiveness in the United States versus the People’s Republic of China. International Journal of Production Economics. 132(2011): 79-92.
- Fuchs, E., and Kirchain, R. 2010. Design for Location?: The Impact of Manufacturing Off-Shore on Technology Competitiveness in the Optoelectronics Industry. Management Science, 56(12): 2323-2349.
- Veloso, Francisco and Fuchs, E. 2002. The Future of the Asian Auto Industry: Regional Integration, Alternative Designs, and Chinese Leadership. International Journal of Vehicle Design. 35(1): 111-136.
Manufacturing Variety
(See also papers on additive manufacturing in Role of Government and Accelerating Commercialization)
- Laureijs, R., Fuchs, E. Whitefoot, K. 2019. Is More Less: Benefits and Costs of High Variety Production in Non-Assembled Production Environments. ASME Journal of Mechanical Design. doi:10.111.5/1.4041943
- Engelman, C., Epple, D., Argote, L., and Fuchs, E. 2016. Learning by Doing in a Multi-Product Manufacturing Environment: Product Variety, Customizations, and Overlapping Product Generations. NBER Working paper No 19674. http://www.nber.org/papers/w19674 Management Science. 63(2):405-423. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2015.2352
Role of Government at the Technical Frontier
- Hoffman, E. Karplus, V., and Fuchs, E. 2024. Complete and Accurate? The Role of Profit Orientation in the Production of Public Health Data. Accepted. Business & Society.
- Kalathil, N., Morgan, G., Fuchs, E. 2023. Short-term economic dynamism as a policy tool to address supply shortages during crises. Industrial and Corporate Change. https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/dtad028
- Amaral, A., Mendoca, J., Morgan, G., Fuchs, E. 2023. National core competencies and dynamic capabilities in times of crisis: Regulation of ventilators and new market entrants in Portugal and Spain, Research Policy. Vol. 53 No. 104715.
- Bonnin-Roca, J., Vaishnav, P., Mendoca, J., Morgan, G., Fuchs, E. 2020. Technology Forgiveness: Why emerging Technologies differ in their resilience to institutional stability. Technology Forecasting and Social Change. Accepted. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3077276#
- Helveston, J., Karplus, V., Wang, Y., and Fuchs, E. 2019. Institutional Complementarities: The (Unlikely) Origins of Experimentation in China’s Plus-In Electric Vehicle Industry. Research Policy. Vol 48. Issue 1. February 2019, 206-222 Industry Studies Association Best Paper Award. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2817052
- Azoulay, P, Goldstein, A., Kearney, M., Fuchs, E. 2018. Funding Breakthrough Research: Promises and Challenges of the “ARPA Model.” National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Innovation Policy and the Economy Series. Editors Scott Stern and Josh Lerner. MIT Press. Volume 19.
- Khan, H., Hounshell, D. and Fuchs, E. 2018. Science Policy for the End of Moore’s Law. Nature Electronics. Vol. 1. January 2018, 14-21. (Accepted Nov 15, 2017)
- Bonnin-Roca, J., Vaishnav, P., Mendoca, J., Morgan, G., Fuchs, E. 2017. When Risks Cannot be Seen: Fostering the (safe) introduction of Metal Additive Manufacturing in Commercial Aviation. Research Policy. vol. 46, issue 7, 1215-1233 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2017.05.010
- Ventura, S., Nugent, R., and Fuchs, E. 2015. Seeing the Non-Stars: (Some) Sources of Bias in Past Disambiguation Approaches and a New Public Tools Leveraging Labeled Records. Research Policy. Special Issue on Data. 44(9): 1672-1701. (Disambiguation challenges in the United States Patent and Trademark Office Database) http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2014.12.010
- Helveston, J., Liu, Y., Feit, E., Fuchs, E., Klampfl, E., and Michalek, J. 2015. Will subsidies drive electric vehicle adoption in China and the U.S.? Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice. 73: March 2015 pp. 96-112.
- Woolley, A. and Fuchs, E. 2011. Collective Intelligence in the Organization of Science, Invited Paper. Special Issue on New Directions in Organization Science. Organization Science. 22(5): 1359-1367.
- Fuchs, E. 2010. Rethinking the Role of the State in Technology Development: DARPA and the Case for Embedded Network Governance, Lead article. Research Policy, 39(2010): 1133-1147.
Accelerating Commercialization at the Technical Frontier
(see also Design for Location and Plastic Cars in China under Global Manufacturing)
- Funk, P., Vaishnav, P., White, B., Davis, A., Fuchs, E. 2020. Individual inconsistency and aggregate rationality: Overcoming inconsistencies in expert judgment at the technical frontier. Technology Forecasting and Social Change. 155: 119984
- Bonnin-Roca, J., Vaishnav, P., Mendoca, J., Fuchs, E. 2019. Technology cost drivers for a potential transition to decentralized manufacturing. Additive Manufacturing.
- Sakti, A., Azevedo, I., Fuchs, E., Michalek, J., Gallagher, K., and Whitacre, J. 2017. Consistency and robustness of forecasting for emerging technologies: The case of Li-ion batteries for electric vehicles. Energy Policy. Vol 106, July 2017, p. 415-426. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.03.063
- Laureijs, R., Bonnin-Roca, J., Prabha Narra, S., Montgomery, C., Beuth, J., Fuchs, E. 2017. Metal Additive Manufacturing: Cost Competitive Beyond Low Volumes. ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering. 139(8), 081010 (May 10, 2017) (9 pages) doi: 10.1115/1.4035420
- Sakti, A., Michalek, J., Fuchs, E., and Whitacre, J. 2014. A techno-economic analysis and optimization of Li-ion batteries for personal vehicle electrification. Journal of Power Sources. 273: January 2015 pp. 966-980. 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2016.09.072
- Fuchs, E., Kirchain, R., and Liu, S. 2011. The Future of Silicon Photonics – Not So Fast?: Insights from 100G Ethernet LAN Transceivers. Journal of Lightwave Technology. 29(15): 2319-2326.
- Fuchs, E., Field, F., Roth, R., and Kirchain, R. 2008. Strategic Materials Selection in the Automotive Body: Economic Opportunities for Polymer Composite Design. Composite Science and Technology. 68(9): 1989-2002.
- Fuchs, E., Bruce, E., Ram, R., and Kirchain, R. 2006. Process-Based Cost Modeling of Photonics Manufacture: The Cost-Competitiveness of Monolithic Integration of a 1550nm DFB Laser and an Electro-Absorptive Modulator on an InP Platform. Journal of Lightwave Technology. 24(8): 3175-3186.
Other
- Fuchs, E. and Johnsson, P. 2000. Inclusion Characteristics in Bearing Steel and During Ingot Casting. High Temperature Materials and Processes. 19(5): 333-344
Working papers
Global Manufacturing and the Technical Frontier
- L., Combemale, C., Fuchs, E., Whitefoot, K. 2021. How It’s Made: A General Theory of the Labor Implications of Technological Change https://tinyurl.com/2ym46rrc
Manufacturing Variety
- Laureijs, R., Syversen, C., Fuchs, E., and Whitefoot, K. Mix and Match: Exploring Person-Product Match Effects in High Variety Manufacturing.
- Treado, C. and Fuchs, E. Manufacturing Variety: Scale Economies in a Low-Volume High Mix Environment. http://ssrn.com/abstract=2619490
Role of Government in the Technical Frontier
- Cheng, A., Fuchs, E., Michalek, J. Power Play: Evaluating the Effect of Inflation Reduction Act Subsidies on Electric Vehicle Battery Technology Choices and Supply Chain Vulnerabilities. Submitted to Nature Energy.
- Khan, H., Hounshell, D. and Fuchs, E. 2017. Scaling Moore’s Wall: A Public Private Partnership in Search of a Technological Revolution. http://ssrn.com/abstract=2497218 Revise and Resubmit. Research Policy.
Accelerating Commercialization at the Technical Frontier
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Testimonies
- Fuchs, Erica R.H., Testimony. Hearing on Building a Resilient Economy: Shoring up Supply. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. March 22, 2022. Written Testimony | Oral Remarks | Video
- Fuchs, Erica R.H., Testimony. Hearing on Building Regional Innovation Economies. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Subcommittee on Research and Technology. June 9, 2021. Written Testimony | Oral Remarks
- Fuchs, Erica R.H., Testimony. Hearing on Trade, Manufacturing, and Critical Supply Chains: Lessons from COVID-19. House Ways & Means Committee. Subcommittee on trade. July 23, 2020. Written Testimony | Oral Remarks | Video Recording of Full Hearing
- Fuchs, E., Karplus, V., Kalathil, N., Morgan, G. 2020. Inadequate Data on Manufacturers of Critical Medical Supplies Weakens U.S. Capabilities for Pandemic Response. Testimony. U.S. International Trade Commission. Investigation No. 332-580. COVID-19 Related Goods: The U.S. Industry, Market, Trade, and Supply Chain Challenges. September 23, 2020. Prehearing Brief | Oral Remarks | Technical Report
Policy briefs
- Berger, A., Khan, H., Schrank, A., Fuchs, E. A new policy toolbox for semiconductor supply chains. Issues in Science and Technology. Policy Brief.
- Fuchs, E. Building the Analytic Capacity to Support Critical Technology Strategy. Policy Proposal. The Hamilton Project. Brookings Institute. September 2022. Policy Proposal | Event Video
- Blanton, S.; Fuchs, E. (Corresponding); Hovy, E.; Mai, K. (Corresponding); Pileggi, L.; Zhang, P. October 21, 2021. Innovation and Chip Redesign to Address Semiconductor Shortages in the Automotive Industry. Carnegie Mellon University Policy Brief created for the White House National Economic Council. Policy Brief
- Fuchs, E. and Karplus, V. 2021. A New Approach to Coordinate U.S. Critical Supply Chains in Crisis. Policy Brief. Insights derived from: “Lessons from COVID medical supply chains for critical technologies: Real-time situational data infrastructure and adaptive manufacturing ecosystems.” Chatham House Rule Workshop. Carnegie Mellon University. September 10, 2021. Policy Brief
- Fuchs, E.R.H. What is a National Technology Strategy and Why the U.S. Needs One. Issues in Science and Technology. Next 75 Years of Science Policy Series. September 9, 2021. Policy Brief
- Fuchs, E.R.H. While missions are important, even more important are new institutions that will cut a path across them. Forum. Industrial Policy’s Comeback. Boston Review | MIT Press. September 15, 2021. Shorter Version
- Fuchs, E., Karplus, V., Kalathil, N., Morgan, G. 2020. To respond to the pandemic, the government needs better data on domestic companies that make critical medical supplies. Issues in Science and Technology. December 18, 2020. https://issues.org/pandemic-response-government-needs-better-data-critical-medical-supplies/
- Fuchs, P., Xue, L., Zheng, P., Gallagher, K., Cowhey, P., Fuchs, E. 2017. Why China Needs Data Sharing to Address It’s Air Quality Challenge. National Science Review. nwx059, https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwx059
- Bonnin-Roca, J., Vaishnav, P., Fuchs, E., and Morgan, G. 2016. Additive Manufacturing: Policy Needed. Nature Materials. 15, 815–818. doi:10.1038/nmat4658
- Fuchs, E. 2009. Cloning DARPA Successfully. Issues in Science and Technology. Volume XXVI. Number 1. Fall 2009.
National Academies and other peer-reviewed reports
- NNCTA [National Network For Critical Technology Assessment]. 2023. Securing America’s Future: A Framework for Critical Technology Assessment. A report by the National Network for Critical Technology Assessment. Lead E. Fuchs; Editor-at-large & review moderator A. Jaffe. Senior advisor W. Bonvillian. Editor C. Fletcher.
- (Committee Member.) 2017. An Assessment of ARPA-E. Science Technology and Economic Policy (STEP) Board. National Academy of Sciences.
- (Committee Member.) 2013. Optics and Photonics: Essential Technologies for Our Nation. Board of Manufacturing and Engineering Design, National Materials Advisory Board, National Academy of Sciences.
Technology Development: Government and Location
Education
2006 Ph.D., Engineering Systems, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2003 M.Sc., Technology Policy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1999 BS, Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Research Interests
Media mentions
CMU Engineering
US industrial policy may strengthen EV battery supply chain
The Inflation Reduction Act offers incentives for diversifying the EV battery supply chain and reducing US dependence on China, but the potential impact of loopholes remains to be seen.
CMU Engineering
Anticipating and reducing EV battery supply disruptions
A recent study analyzes the relationship between EV battery chemistry and supply chain vulnerability for four critical minerals across particular countries that are key contributors to production.
Issues in Science and Technology
Fuchs featured in a podcast done by Issues in Science and Technology
EPP’s Erica Fuchs was featured in a podcast by Issues in Science and Technology. She and Lisa Margonelli talk about Fuchs’ pilot project that she has been working on for the past year—the National Network for Critical Technology Assessment.
Science|Business
US draws up plans for new national body to monitor R&D strengths and weaknesses
NNCTA’s Erica Fuchs discusses new national body that will help government assess new technologies in Science|Business. “Does government today have in its hands the data and analytic capacity to form its national technology strategy? The answer is no, it does not,” Fuchs says. “In the end, it’s going to be a question for Congress, and what they appropriate. I would argue that we have no time to waste.”
Federal News Network
A call for disruptive change in how the government assesses technology
NNCTA’s Erica Fuchs was interviewed by the Federal News Network on the National Network for Critical Technology Assessment. Fuchs is part of a team of experts pushing for the government to change the way technology is assessed and what challenges face the U.S.
CMU Engineering
Moonshot grant launches faculty to new heights
The National Network for Critical Technology Assessment (NNCTA), directed by Erica Fuchs, shares their findings in their report, Securing America’s Future: A Framework for Critical Technology Assessment.
CNN Business
Fuchs talks about autoworkers’ roles in the electric car industry
EPP’s Erica Fuchs talks to CNN Business about the autoworkers’ roles in the electric car industry. “Making the powertrain of electric vehicles—the batteries, electric motors and power management systems—requires more total labor, not less, than that involved in making engines and transmissions,” she says.
CMU Engineering
Fuchs Appointed to NSTC Board
Erica R.H. Fuchs, Kavčić-Moura Professor in Engineering and Public Policy, has been appointed to the inaugural board of trustees that will oversee the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC).
Axios
CMU’s take on autoworkers in the electric car industry in Axios
As the auto industry begins making the switch over to electric vehicles (EVs), a popular contention is that it takes fewer workers to manufacture EVs. However, researchers at CMU have found that it actually takes more labor hours as battery cell production is a complex and time-consuming process.
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Fuchs elected to the Board of the National Semiconductor Technology Center
EPP’s Erica Fuchs was elected to the board of trustees that will oversee a nonprofit entity that is expected to run the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC).
Engineering and Public Policy
Professor Erica Fuchs to join president’s advisory committee
Professor Erica Fuchs has been nominated by President Biden to the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.
Engineering and Public Policy
Understanding America’s greatest vulnerabilities
Professor Erica Fuchs was featured in The New York Times in an article that focuses on the one-year pilot project for a proposed National Network for Critical Technology Assessment, which Fuchs leads.