Who is Evelyn N Wang? The MIT professor whose research could help turn air into drinking water

Water scarcity is one of the major global challenges of the twenty first century. The United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimate that more than 2.2 billion people still lack reliable access to safe drinking water at home. In many regions, especially dry or remote areas, access to clean water depends on infrastructure such as pipelines, treatment plants, or groundwater systems. When those systems are absent or weak, communities often struggle to secure safe supplies.

This challenge has pushed scientists to explore alternative ways to produce drinking water. One idea gaining attention is atmospheric water harvesting, a method that collects water vapour from the air and converts it into liquid water. Among the researchers working on this field is Evelyn N. Wang, a mechanical engineer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology whose work focuses on technologies that could help produce drinking water directly from the air.

Who is Evelyn N. Wang

Evelyn Ning Yi Wang is an American mechanical engineer and academic researcher. She currently serves as the Ford Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the MIT. In April 2025, she was also appointed Vice President for Energy and Climate at MIT.

Her research covers areas such as heat transfer, energy systems, and materials engineering. A major part of her work in recent years has focused on atmospheric water harvesting. This field studies ways to capture moisture present in air and convert it into liquid water that can be stored and used.

Professor Wang leads research teams that work on developing devices capable of extracting water from air using solar heat and specialised materials. The goal of this work is to create systems that could operate without electricity and provide water in places where conventional infrastructure is limited.

Evelyn N. Wang's education

Wang completed her higher education in mechanical engineering at leading universities in the United States.

She earned her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology between 1996 and 2000. After completing her undergraduate degree, she moved to Stanford University to continue her studies.

At Stanford University, she completed a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 2001. She later earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering from the same university in 2006.

Her doctoral research focused on heat transfer and thermal systems, subjects that later became central to her academic work.

Academic and research career

After completing her doctorate, Wang worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Bell Laboratories between 2006 and 2007. This research experience helped establish her early work in thermal engineering and energy systems.

In 2007, she joined the MIT as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Over the next decade, she progressed through several academic roles.

She served as Associate Professor from 2011 to 2017 and later became a Full Professor in 2017. Between 2017 and 2018, she also worked as Associate Department Head for Operations in the Mechanical Engineering Department.

From 2018 to 2022, Wang served as the Department Head of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, overseeing research programmes and academic initiatives within the department.

In 2023, she was appointed Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, a US government agency that supports energy technology research. She held this role until January 2025.

She returned to MIT leadership roles in 2025 and now serves as both Ford Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Vice President for Energy and Climate.

Research on turning air into drinking water

One area where Wang’s work has attracted attention is atmospheric water harvesting. Her research group studies how materials can absorb water vapour from air and release it as liquid water when heated.

In prototype systems developed by her team, porous materials capture moisture from the air during cooler periods. Heat from sunlight then releases the water vapour, which condenses into liquid water that can be collected.

These systems are designed to operate using solar heat rather than electricity. Researchers believe that future versions of such devices could help households or communities produce small quantities of drinking water locally, especially in regions where water infrastructure is limited.

Wang’s work is part of a broader scientific effort to explore new solutions to global water shortages. While atmospheric water harvesting technologies are still being developed, researchers continue to test materials and designs that could make the systems more efficient and practical for everyday use.
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