Episode 85: Maria Telkes
Maria was born on December 12th, 1900 in Budapest, Hungary. With a strong interest in science and experimenting, Maria would study physical chemistry at the University of Budapest to earn a Bachelor’s Degree and later a Doctorate. After graduating, Maria would move to the United States. She held several positions working in clinics working on life-saving work before moving the Boston to work at MIT’s Solar Energy Conversion Project. While at MIT and in collaboration with the US Military, Maria would invent a solar desalinator for Soldiers to use in WWII.
After the war, Maria worked on her most notable project, the Dover Solar House. This was one of the first houses to not include a furnace. It hosted its first family on Christmas Day in 1948.
Maria would later invent other projects that included being powered by the sun.
On December 2nd, 1995 - Maria would pass away during a visit to her home town Budapest.
Caryatid: Rachel Xu
Rachel is the CEO and founder of the company Alpha Energy Management which is a commercial solar energy company, based out of San Francisco. Alpha Energy is one of the few companies that is woman-owned and Minority owned. Read the article mentioned in the episode here: https://www.ecowatch.com/women-in-solar.html
References
PBS video mentioned in the episode: https://www.pbs.org/video/the-sun-queen-fyx4ty/
American Experience, PBS. “The Marvelously Inventive Life of Mária Telkes.” American Experience | PBS, 17 Mar. 2023, www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/sun-queen-marvelously-inventive-life-maria-telkes
Ashok, S. “Solar Energy | Definition, Uses, Advantages, and Facts.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Aug. 2023, www.britannica.com/science/solar-energy.
“How Mária Telkes Became ’The Sun Queen’.” National Inventors Hall of Fame®, 2023, www.invent.org/blog/inventors/maria-telkes-the-sun-queen.
Maria Telkes | Lemelson. lemelson.mit.edu/resources/maria-telkes.
NIHF Inductee Maria Telkes Invented Solar Power Storage. 2023, www.invent.org/inductees/maria-telkes.
