Woman of the Week: Evelyn N. Wang

Fall 2023: General Meeting # 1

Professor Evelyn N. Wang (Image from MIT Device Research Lab)

Evelyn N. Wang is a Ford Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she is also the Director of the Device Research Laboratory. Her research focuses on heat and mass transfer for applications in thermal management, energy conservation and storage, and water harvesting. 

Dr. Wang earned her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT in 2000; and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University in 2001 and 2006, respectively. Before returning to MIT in 2007 to serve as a faculty member, she was a postdoctoral researcher at Bell Laboratories, Alcatel-Lucent.

Dr. Wang served as Department Head of MIT’s Mechanical Engineering Department from 2018-2022. As of December 2022, Wang is on leave from MIT to serve as the Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) under the Biden Administration. ARPA-E advances high-potential, high-impact energy technologies that are too early for private-sector investment by supporting such projects with funding, technical assistance, and market readiness. 

Recently, Dr. Wang was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2023. She has received multiple awards and honors, including the ASME Women in Engineering Award in 2016.  

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MIT Faculty Profile —> https://meche.mit.edu/people/faculty/enwang@mit.edu 

Device Research Lab —> https://drl.mit.edu/ 

Device Research Lab PI Profile —> https://drl.mit.edu/people/pi/ 

Wikipedia Page —> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_Wang 

About ARPA-E —> https://arpa-e.energy.gov/about 

ARPA-E Director Profile —> https://arpa-e.energy.gov/about/team-directory/dr-evelyn-n-wang