Nicole Bakker is a design engineer and researcher at the intersection of industrial ecology, digital fabrication and data-driven systems design. In her work, she drives solutions for the circular economy, addressing both biological and technical product cycles.

Her graduate thesis research (2024) at MIT is at the intersection of renewable energy and materials circularity—with a specific focus on solar energy. Through a Material Flow Analysis, future waste flows from discarded solar photovoltaic (PV) panels are predicted up until the year 2100. This study combines quantitative modeling with materials characterization and retrospective analysis of solar cells, covering almost a century of technology. Recommendations are made for recycling solar panels today.

With a Fulbright scholarship, Nicole graduated from the Master in Design Engineering at Harvard University in 2018, where she was awarded the Peter Rice Prize for Excellence in Structural Design. She holds an undergraduate degree in structural engineering (with honors). In 2013, Nicole published her first book, titled Photovoltaics in Historical Built Environments—Interactive Design Manual. 

Outside of academic work, she is an active member of SundAI Club (Boston’s premier AI hacking club by the Harvard and MIT community), served as a mentor at the MIT MakerWorkshop, co-organized the first two editions of the Global Community Bio Summit, made Clippy, a 12-foot tall AI-themed artwork, and helped build the Living Knitwork pavilion displayed at Burning Man. She is also founder of Circular Engine and co-founder of Circular Statistics, a non-profit initiative.

Publications

View publications on my Google Scholar profile.

Academic Papers

Read, J.R., Seppala, J.E., Tourlomousis, F., Warren, J.A., Bakker, N., Gershenfeld, N. Online Measurement for Parameter Discovery in Fused Filament Fabrication. Integr Mater Manuf Innov 13, 541–554 (2024).

Bittner, N., Bakker, N. Circular economy and the hospitality industry: A comparison of the Netherlands and Indonesia. Journal of Cleaner Production. Volume 444, 10 March 2024, 141253 (2024)

Kong, D.S. and Bakker, N. Community driven design of living technologies. In Proceedings of the 15th Participatory Design Conference (PDC ’18). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 47, 1–3. (2018)

Books

Bakker, N. Photovoltaics in Historical Built Environments – Interactive Design Manual, NHL University of Applied Sciences, Leeuwarden (2013). ISBN: 978-94-91790-03-4

Technical contributions

2015 “Het Zodenhuis van Firdgum. Middeleeuwse boerderijbouw in het Friese kustgebied tussen 400 en 1300” – Daniël Postma. Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Groninger Instituut voor Archeologie. ISBN: 978-90-367-8280-7

Teaching

Teaching Assistant How to Grow (Almost) Anything, MIT (2018)

Teaching Fellow EPS25: Energy and Climate – Vision for the Future, Harvard College Gen Ed, Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences (2017)

Teaching Fellow Minor Going Green – WTTV: upcycling waste / helophyte water treatment system, NHL University of Applied Sciences (2016)

Teaching Assistant Eco-Acupuncture Project Leeuwarden (2015) and Rotterdam (2014), University of Melbourne & Delft University (2015)

Teaching Assistant Structural Engineering; Steel Structures (BSc, junior’s class), NHL University of Applied Sciences (2014-2015)

Teaching Assistant Mathematics (BSc, freshmen’s class), NHL University of Applied Sciences (2012)