Martonosi's research interests are in computer architecture and the hardware-software interface, with particular focus on power-efficient systems and mobile computing. Her work has included the development of the Wattch power modeling tool, the first architecture level power modeling infrastructure for superscalar processors. In the field of mobile computing and sensor networks, Martonosi led the Princeton ZebraNet project, which included two real-world deployments of tracking collars on zebras in Central Kenya. Her current research focuses on power-performance tradeoffs in parallel systems ranging from chip multiprocessors to large-scale data centers.

Martonosi is a Fellow of both IEEE and ACM. In 2010, she received Princeton University's Graduate Mentoring Award. In addition to many archival publications, Martonosi is an inventor on six granted US patents, and has co-authored a technical reference book on power-aware computer architecture. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Computing Research Association (CRA), CRA-W, and ACM SIGARCH. Martonosi completed her Ph.D. at Stanford University, and also holds a Master's degree from Stanford and a bachelor's degree from Cornell University, all in Electrical Engineering.