Maria Telkes, nicknamed “The Sun Queen”, one of many first pioneers of photo voltaic vitality who believed the facility of the solar might change human lives, is the topic of Monday’s Google Doodle.

Dr Telkes was born on December 12, 1900, in Budapest, Hungary, and studied bodily chemistry at Eotvos Lorand University. She earned her bachelor’s diploma in 1920 and her PhD in 1924. The following yr, she relocated to the US and accepted a place as a biophysicist, changing into a US citizen in 1937.

She went on to work as a member of the Solar Energy Committee on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). During World War II, the US authorities requested her to help within the improvement of a photo voltaic distiller that transformed seawater into contemporary water.

In 1948, she created the Dover Sun House in partnership with architect Eleanor Raymond. They had been featured within the media for the success of the solar-heated dwelling, which popularised the time period ‘photo voltaic vitality’.

She has additionally assisted within the analysis of photo voltaic vitality at prestigious establishments equivalent to New York University, Princeton University, and the University of Delaware. She has over 20 patents and has labored as a advisor for quite a few vitality firms.

Dr Telkes grew to become the primary individual to obtain The Society of Women Engineers Achievement Award on today in 1952. She died on December 2, 1995, within the Hungarian capital.

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