Mária Telkes

In 1881, her father magyarized the family name to Telkes.

In 1883 he converted to the Unitarian faith.

Mária Telkes (December 12, 1900 – December 2, 1995) was a Hungarian-American biophysicist and inventor who worked on solar energy technologies.

Telkes was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1900 to Aladar and Mária Laban de Telkes.

Her grandfather Simon Telkes was from a Jewish family.

In 1907 he was elevated to the Hungarian nobility, with the prefix kelenföldi.

Raised in Budapest, she embarked on a journey in physical chemistry at the University of Budapest, earning her B.A. in 1920.

Her academic pursuits continued as she pursued a Ph.D. in physical chemistry at the University of Geneva in Switzerland, successfully completing her doctoral studies in 1924 [1].

Following her educational achievements, Telkes became an instructor at the University of Geneva in 1924.

However, her life took a turn when, after visiting a relative who served as the Hungarian consul in Cleveland, she decided to immigrate to the United States.

Telkes moved to the United States in 1924, and visited a relative who was the Hungarian consul in Cleveland, Ohio.

There, she was hired to work at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation to investigate the energy produced by living organisms.

Telkes did some research while working at the foundation, and under the leadership of George Washington Crile, they invented a photoelectric mechanism that could record brain waves.

They also worked together to write a book called Phenomenon of Life.

Telkes next worked as a physicist at Westinghouse.

She developed metal alloys for thermocouples to convert heat into electricity.

She moved to the United States in 1925 to work as a biophysicist.

She became an American citizen in 1937 and started work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to create practical uses of solar energy in 1939.

During World War II, she developed a solar distillation device, deployed at the end of the war, which saved the lives of downed airmen and torpedoed sailors.

Her goal was to create a version for villagers in poor and arid regions.

Telkes, often called by colleagues The Sun Queen, is considered one of the founders of solar thermal storage systems.

After the war, she became an associate research professor at MIT.

Becoming an American citizen in 1937 marked a pivotal moment in Telkes's life.

That same year, she transitioned to a research engineer role at Westinghouse Electric, where she initially focused on developing instruments converting heat into electrical energy.

However, her true venture into solar energy research began in 1939.

As part of the Solar Energy Conversion Project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), she delved into the realm of thermoelectric devices powered by sunlight [1].

Telkes's multifaceted journey from Budapest to pioneering solar energy research in the United States reflects her exceptional contributions to science and innovation.

Her most notable innovation was the invention of the solar distiller and the development of the first solar-powered heating system designed for residential use [3].

In addition to these pioneering achievements, Telkes also devised various devices capable of harnessing and utilizing energy stored from sunlight.

Maria Telkes aimed to address the reliance on traditional heating methods, often powered by non-renewable energy sources.

Her work sought to provide sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives, particularly in the context of residential heating.

During the tumultuous era of World War II, Mária Telkes demonstrated her ingenuity by developing a solar distillation device ingeniously incorporated into the emergency medical kits of the U.S. military.

Crafted to serve downed airmen and sailors, this portable apparatus empowered soldiers to extract salt from seawater through the process of vaporization [2].

Upon condensation, the result was a life-saving provision of safe, potable drinking water for the servicemen.

This transformative technology didn't merely conclude its mission on the battlefield.

Telkes's innovative solution underwent a metamorphosis, being upscaled and reengineered to address the water needs of the Virgin Islands [2].

In the 1940s she and architect Eleanor Raymond created one of the first solar-heated houses, Dover Sun House, by storing energy each day.

In 1952, Telkes became the first recipient of the Society of Women Engineers Achievement Award. She was awarded a lifetime achievement award from the National Academy of Sciences Building Research Advisory Board in 1977.

Telkes registered more than 20 patents.

In 1953 they created a solar oven for people at various latitudes that could be used by children.