Asegun Henry facts for kids

Asegun Sekou Famake Henry is a smart professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He teaches mechanical engineering. His work focuses on how to store energy, how heat moves, and tiny vibrations called phonons.

His Early Life and School

Asegun Henry was born in Tallahassee, Florida. His parents were both professors. They taught him about West African and African-American culture from a young age. When he was ten, he started playing the djembe, a type of drum.

Henry was also very good at school. He joined a special program for gifted children. After high school, he went to Florida A&M University (FAMU). He earned his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering there.

Later, he went to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He studied under Professor Gang Chen. Henry earned both his master's and doctorate degrees in mechanical engineering from MIT in 2009.

What He Does Now: Research!

After finishing his studies at MIT, Henry worked as a postdoc. This means he did research after getting his doctorate. He worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Northwestern University. He studied how heat moves and the properties of different materials. He also received special research help from groups like the Lemelson Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

In 2011, Henry was a fellow at ARPA-E. This agency helps develop new energy technologies. In 2012, he became a professor at Georgia Institute of Technology. He joined the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering.

Making Heat Move: Phonons

In 2016, Henry won a special award called the Career Award. This award gave him money to study how heat moves through tiny vibrations. These vibrations are called phonons.

His research team wants to create an educational app. This app would turn the unique vibrations of different elements into sounds. Imagine hearing the sound of gold or iron! This helps scientists understand how these vibrations work together.

Pumping Super Hot Liquids

On January 23, 2017, Henry's team at Georgia Tech set a world record! They built a liquid pump that could work at extremely high temperatures. The pump reached 1,200 °C (1,470 K) (that's 2,192 degrees Fahrenheit!). It worked non-stop for 72 hours.

This amazing achievement was recognized by the Guinness World Records. The pump is made completely of ceramic materials. It was able to pump molten tin, which is tin that has been heated until it melts into a liquid.

Storing Energy: The "Sun in a Box"

Henry also works on ways to store renewable energy cheaply. Renewable energy comes from sources like the sun and wind. Sometimes, there's more energy than we need right away. So, we need to store it for later.

In 2018, his team published a paper about a new storage system. They called it TEGS-MPV. Media sources gave it a cool nickname: "Sun in a box."

This system uses molten silicon like a giant battery. Silicon is heated until it melts. It stores energy as heat. When electricity is needed, this stored heat can be turned back into power for the electrical grid. This system is expected to be much cheaper than other ways to store electricity.