Sossina M. Haile facts for kids

Sossina M. Haile (born July 28, 1966) is a brilliant Ethiopian-American chemist. She is famous for creating the very first solid acid fuel cells. These are special devices that turn chemical energy into electricity. Today, she is a professor at Northwestern University in Illinois, USA. She teaches about materials science and engineering, which is all about how different materials work.

Professor Haile has received many important awards for her work. These include the National Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation (1994–1999). She also earned the Humboldt Fellowship (1992–1993) and the Fulbright Fellowship (1991–1992). These fellowships helped her do research in Germany. In 2018, she was chosen as a Fellow of the Materials Research Society. This is a big honor that recognizes her important contributions to science.

Early Life

Sossina Haile was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1966. When she was about 10 years old, her family moved to rural Minnesota in the United States. This happened during a difficult time in Ethiopia. Her father, a historian, faced danger, so her family sought safety. She attended Saint John's Preparatory School and finished in 1983.

Education and Career Journey

Professor Haile studied at some of the best universities. She earned her bachelor's degree and her PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She also received a master's degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Her PhD research focused on how certain materials conduct electricity.

After her studies, she became an assistant professor at the University of Washington in Seattle. In 1996, she joined the faculty at Caltech. She worked there for 18 years. In 2015, she moved to Northwestern University. There, she is a special professor in materials science and engineering, and also in Applied Physics.

Amazing Research

Professor Haile's research helps us understand how materials work at a very small level. She focuses on how tiny charged particles, called ions, move through solid materials. This field is called solid-state ionics.

How Ions Move in Solids

Her main goal is to understand how ions travel through solids. This knowledge helps her create new materials. These materials can be used in advanced devices like batteries, sensors, and especially fuel cells. Fuel cells are a big part of her work.

Her team studies different types of materials that conduct ions. These include proton-conducting solids and oxygen-conducting oxides. They use special tools to measure how well these materials conduct electricity. They also study the crystal structure of these materials. This helps them see how the arrangement of atoms affects how ions move.

For example, her group found that some proton-containing solids change their structure. When this happens, they become much better at conducting electricity. Her work is supported by important organizations like the National Science Foundation and the United States Department of Energy.

Materials for Energy and Devices

Professor Haile also researches materials that can turn heat into electricity. These are called thermoelectric materials. She works with scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory on this. She also studies ferroelectric materials, which can change their shape when an electric field is applied.

Her research also includes creating new devices. She has worked on tiny power generators based on solid oxide fuel cells. These could be very useful for portable electronics. She also works on tiny machines called microactuators and micropumps. These are important for Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology.

In Literature

This novel features a character inspired by Sossina Haile.

Sossina Haile is a character in an Amharic science fiction novel. The book is called ያልተወለደው ሌባ (Yalitweledew leba). It was written by Dr. Behailu Demeke.

The story is about a young man named Minas. He meets an old man named Bisrat who tells him a strange tale. Bisrat claims his grandfather performed a ritual that made him super smart. But he lost this special intelligence later in life.

Minas later goes to NASA in the United States. There, he is chosen for a secret time travel experiment. During this journey, he meets a professor who saves him. This professor is Sosina Haile. The novel explores ideas about time travel and the future of Ethiopia. It also includes parts of Professor Sosina Haile's life story.

See also

• Timeline of women in science
• List of Ethiopian scientists