Mahmooda Sultana facts for kids

Mahmooda Sultana is an amazing scientist from Bangladesh and America. She works for NASA at the Goddard Space Flight Center. She helps create new technologies for space. In 2019, her team won a big award for making special detectors. These detectors use tiny materials called nanomaterials. Dr. Sultana became a NASA research engineer in 2010. She studied chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She also earned degrees from the University of Southern California. Since joining NASA, she has worked on graphene-based detectors. Graphene is a super-thin, strong material. Her work helps NASA explore space in new ways.

Early Life and Her Work

Mahmooda Sultana moved to California with her family when she was a teenager. She became very interested in tiny materials. These are called nanomaterials. She learned how to use them to make detectors and devices. These special tools can be used in space. Her research now includes quantum dots. These are tiny crystals that glow. She also explores 3D printing for space tools.

Awards and Achievements

Dr. Sultana has received many important awards for her work. These awards show how much her discoveries help NASA. Some of her awards include:

• The NASA GSFC Innovator of the Year Award.
• The Robert H Goddard Award for her technology work.
• A Group Achievement Award for the James Webb Space Telescope.
• The NASA Early Career Achievement Medal.
• The Internal Research and Development (ISTD) New Achiever Medal.
• She also received special fellowships during her studies. These include the Bell Laboratories Graduate Research Fellowship and the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.