Mike Kaminski looks upon the troubles of the world and gets busy. This 33-year-old materials engineer of Mexican descent is hard at work on nuclear reactors that recycle used fuel, and a gel that cleans
radioactivity from buildings. So far, the young go-getter has no fewer that 15 inventions to his name.
As a child, Edgar Lara-Curzio dreamed of traveling in space. The Mexican-born materials scientist recently took part in a NASA project to investigate the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. The experience
was painful but important for the success of future missions. “My mind is trained to find explanations,” he says. “I focus in on a problem and come up with a solution.”
Challenge yourself: Hear Edgar Lara-Curzio talk about his work in Spanish (MP3 podcasts).
In a small village in Honduras, villagers recently poured out from their homes in their pajamas to celebrate a miracle that most of us take for granted: electricity. A team led by Debora Ley of Sandia National
Laboratories had installed a small hydroelectric system in Los Suncuyos and, for the first time, people found out what it was like to have light at night.
Try
your own skills at mechanical engineering... Build
and test a spaghetti bridge.
Eva Nogales Biophysicist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Eva Nogales comes from humble origins in Spain, but that hasn’t kept her from doing great things. She is a physicist, biologist and a leader in the search for a cure for cancer. Her message to other women: “You can be a
female, have a Latin accent, come from the working class and be successful.”
Want to try an experiment
with cells at home? Click
here to learn whether yeast
breathes.
Challenge yourself: Hear Eva Nogales talk about her work in Spanish (MP3 podcasts).
