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Evelyn Wang ’00 is well-versed in engineering solutions for challenging issues. After all, she developed a method to extract water from air.
Currently, Wang is channeling her problem-solving skills — along with a persistent sense of hope — into the pressing matter of climate change, aiming to bolster the American energy sector and guarantee resilience for everyone.
Wang, a mechanical engineering educator by profession, commenced her role this spring as MIT’s inaugural vice president for energy and climate, supervising the Institute’s growing initiatives concerning climate change. This entails expanding the Institute’s extensive research portfolio, enhancing current innovations, pursuing fresh breakthroughs, and gathering input from the campus community to propel efforts forward.
“MIT possesses the capability to achieve so much, especially when we recognize that climate, energy, and resilience are critical to the events unfolding around us daily,” remarks Wang, who also holds the title of Ford Professor of Engineering at MIT. “There’s no finer place than MIT to devise the transformative solutions that can influence our world.”
This also involves forming alliances with corporate partners, startups, government bodies, communities, and various organizations. Addressing climate change, Wang states, “necessitates numerous collaborations. It’s not solely an MIT endeavor. We must work together with other institutions and consider how industry can assist us in implementing and scaling solutions for greater impact.”
She further adds: “The more collaborations we establish, the better our understanding will be of the most effective routes to make advancements in challenging areas.”
From MIT to ARPA-E
An MIT faculty member since 2007, Wang heads the Device Research Lab. Along with her collaborators, she discovers new materials and optimizations based on heat and mass transfer processes that facilitate the development of cutting-edge innovations. Her creation of a device that extracts water from arid air earned her recognition as Foreign Policy Magazine’s 2017 Global ReThinker, and she received the 2018 Eighth Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water.
Wang’s research also encompasses various fields like energy and desalination studies. In 2016, Wang and a group of colleagues presented a device utilizing nanophotonic crystals that has the potential to double the energy output from a specific area of solar panels, leading one of her graduate researchers on the project to co-found the startup Antora Energy. More recently, Wang and her team devised an aerogel that enhances window insulation, now being commercialized through her former graduate students in a startup called AeroShield.
Wang also spent two years as the director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), which funds early-stage R&D in energy generation, storage, and consumption. Upon returning to MIT, she initiated her role as vice president for energy and climate in April, engaging with researchers, conducting community workshops, and planning to forge partnerships.
“I’ve been invigorated to return to the Institute, especially with such talented students, faculty, and staff. It’s refreshing to be back in this community,” Wang states. “People are enthusiastic, inspired, and mission-focused, and that’s the energy we need to make a significant impact in the world.”
Wang is also striving to align the many existing climate initiatives at the Institute. This includes the Climate Project at MIT, a university-wide presidential initiative introduced in 2024, aimed at accelerating and scaling climate solutions while generating new tools and policy recommendations. Altogether, approximately 300 MIT faculty engage in research related to climate issues in various capacities.
“The sheer number of faculty addressing climate is remarkable,” Wang notes. “Everyone is conducting exciting research, but how can we leverage our distinctive strengths to create an impact greater than the sum of its parts? That’s my goal. We’ve developed so many technologies. How do we amplify that? How do we expedite that process so that the world feels the contribution?”
A profound connection to campus — and a strong sense of hope
Wang’s deep understanding of MIT is one of her advantages, having spent over 20 years at the Institute.
Wang received her undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from MIT and completed her MS and PhD in mechanical engineering at Stanford University. She has held various prestigious faculty positions at MIT. In 2008, Wang was appointed the Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Assistant Professor; in 2015, she became the Gail E. Kendall Professor; and in 2021, she ascended to the position of Ford Professor of Engineering. Wang led the Department of Mechanical Engineering from 2018 to 2022.
Interestingly, Wang’s parents, Kang and Edith, met as graduate students at the Institute. Her father, an electrical engineer, became a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. Wang also met her spouse at MIT, and both of her brothers graduated from the Institute.
In addition to her extensive institutional knowledge, administrative experience, and proven track record as an innovator, Wang is bringing several additional attributes to her new role as vice president for climate: a sense of urgency concerning the issue, alongside a constant sense of optimism that innovators can respond to society’s requirements.
“I believe optimism can create a significant impact and is invaluable amid collective challenges,” Wang asserts. “We are a mission-driven university, and individuals come here to tackle real-world issues.”
This hopeful perspective is why Wang characterizes the work not merely as a challenge but also as a generational opportunity. “We have the chance to create the world we envision,” she states, “a world that is cleaner, more sustainable, and more resilient. This future is ours to design and construct collectively.”
Wang believes MIT contains numerous instances of transformative progress. She highlights MIT’s recent announcement regarding the establishment of the Schmidt Laboratory for Materials in Nuclear Technologies at the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center, which will conduct research on next-generation materials to facilitate the building of fusion power plants. Another example Wang notes is MIT’s research this year on producing clean ammonia, aiming to develop the most widely produced chemical with significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
“These solutions could signify breakthroughs,” Wang remarks. “These are the types of endeavors that instill hope in us. There is still abundant research to pursue, but it reveals the possibilities of what our world can become.”
Hope: There’s that term again.
“Hope is the only way forward,” Wang expresses. “Indeed, the world is facing challenges. But this is where MIT’s strengths — in research, innovation, and education — can bring optimism into the equation.”
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