Meet Evelyn Wang: The scientist who wants to make every home produce its own water | –

Water touches every part of human life. We drink it, cook with it, wash ourselves with it, and depend on it for health and hygiene. However, according to global estimates, more than 2.2 billion people worldwide do not have access to safe drinking water in their homes.

It is especially difficult to provide clean water to dry places that do not have pipes or have old infrastructure. For a long time, scientists have been looking for new ways to get clean drinking water that doesn’t just come from wells, rivers or treatment plants. One idea scientists are investigating is taking water directly from the air. The air always contains some moisture, even in dry places. It could help millions of people who don’t have enough water if that moisture could be captured and turned into clean water quickly.

This research is led by Evelyn N. Wang, a mechanical engineer and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her work focuses on creating technology that could one day allow homes to make their own drinking water from the air around them.

Who is Evelyn Wang and what is her research?

Evelyn Ning Yi Wang is an American mechanical engineer. She serves as the Ford Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT and, as of 2025, also serves as the university’s vice chancellor for energy and climate.

Her research covers heat transfer, solar energy and materials engineering. The focus of her work is largely on atmospheric water harvesting, a process of capturing moisture from the air and turning it into liquid water.Professor Wang and her team study energy systems, heat flow, and water in her laboratory at MIT, the Instrumentation Research Laboratory. Their goal is to find solutions to real environmental problems. One of their projects is to make devices that can pull water from the air, even when it’s dry, using solar heat and new materials.

What is atmospheric water harvesting?

Atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) is the process of collecting water vapor already in the air and converting it into liquid water that can be stored and used. The air contains a large amount of water in the form of vapor, and this source is found all over the world. You can use AWH technologies to access this resource.There are multiple scientific methods for extracting water from the air:

The absorption-based method has gained interest because it can work even in low-humidity conditions where the relative humidity may reach 20%, such as in deserts and arid regions.

How does the Wang device work?

Professor Wang’s group has built devices that combine special absorbent materials with solar heat to extract water from the air. In an early proof-of-concept system, which the team tested in collaboration with researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, water vapor is absorbed at night and converted into a porous material. During the day, heat from sunlight releases water vapor, which then condenses in a collection tank.

This setup does not require electrical power input; It works on the heat of the sun.The porous materials used in these devices are sometimes chosen for their ability to retain many water molecules on their surfaces. These materials can be designed to attract water vapor even when the air is dry. They release water when it becomes very hot, after which it can be collected and cleaned.In both the laboratory and the field, prototypes made by Professor Wang and her team have shown that this method can obtain measurable amounts of water even in extremely dry desert conditions.

At one test site in Arizona, the device was operated with no moving mechanical parts and was powered only by sunlight.Because the materials and design of the device do not require electricity to operate, the researchers believe that future versions could be low-cost and scalable. The goal is to create systems that can operate on ambient heat sources such as sunlight, allowing deployment in homes, rural communities and areas with limited infrastructure.

Why is this research important?

The World Health Organization and the United Nations say water scarcity is a major problem around the world, especially in dry areas and places where cities are growing rapidly. When people have to travel long distances or rely on unsafe sources of drinking water, water shortages can lead to health problems, economic problems, and social stress.Traditional methods of producing clean water, such as desalination or building large new treatment facilities, can be expensive and energy-intensive.

In contrast, aerial water harvesting technology provides a decentralized water source that can operate without a power grid. This makes them particularly important for homes in rural or remote areas where infrastructure is limited or unreliable.If technology continues to improve, it will eventually be possible to manufacture smaller home appliances and install them much like solar panels are installed on rooftops.

Over time, these systems can help communities and families supplement their water supplies without relying on large, centralized systems.

What the future could hold

Researchers around the world are still working on capturing atmospheric water to make it more efficient, less expensive, and to make systems work better in different climates. In recent years, new prototypes using alternative materials and technologies have demonstrated improved performance and faster production.

For example, an experimental method that uses ultrasound to release water droplets trapped in absorbent materials is much better than passive methods that use heat to do the same thing.

This is a new trend for future home appliances.Professor Wang’s research and similar projects are part of a larger scientific effort to find new ways to solve global water problems. People don’t use this technology at home much yet, but the progress made so far suggests that it may be possible to produce water from air at home in the future, especially in places where water is hard to find.