She has previously held positions at MIT, Sandia National Labs. She is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautics Society (2011), and has received the Royal Society Wolfson Merit Award (2003) and the Society of Automotive Engineers Ralph R. Teetor Award (1996). She holds a BSc from the University of São Paulo, and a PhD from Princeton University

Professor Hochgreb's research investigates problems in energy conversion and reacting flows, with the aim of maximising efficiency and minimising harmful pollutant emissions. The main theme is to understand the physics of reacting flows in energy conversion devices, and the tradeoffs in stability, efficiency and emissions.