Rate My Professor Ursula Eicker

Prof. Ursula Eicker is the Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Cities and Communities at Concordia University. She is a Professor in the Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering within the Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science. A German physicist, she received her PhD in Solid State Physics from Heriot-Watt University and her Habilitation in Renewable Energy Systems from Technische Universität Berlin, along with a Diploma in Physics from the same institution. Prior to joining Concordia in June 2019, Prof. Eicker held leadership positions at the Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences and its Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies, where she coordinated numerous international research projects focused on building energy efficiency, renewable energy systems, and urban-scale simulation.

Since arriving at Concordia, she has led an ambitious research program on transformation strategies toward zero-carbon cities, supervising approximately 50 graduate students working on pathways in the built environment, renewable energy systems, sustainable transport, and the circular economy. In November 2020, she founded Concordia’s Next Generation Cities Institute, which brings together 14 university research centers and 200 researchers. Her research specializations include urban energy systems, 3D city modeling, urban data and simulation platforms, renewable energies, zero-carbon cities, demand response, district heating and cooling networks, and sustainable transport. Key outputs include the edited book Urban Energy Systems for Low-Carbon Cities (2019) and extensive project leadership, such as the development of the INSEL4Cities urban simulation platform and the Eco-Quartier Lachine-Est initiative. She has received honors including the German-African Innovation Incentive Award and substantial funding for her CERC chair and related grants totaling millions in Canadian dollars. Her work emphasizes practical strategies for sustainable urban development through modeling, data integration, and interdisciplinary collaboration.