Ainissa Ramirez

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Ainissa Ramirez
Born
New York, New York, U.S.
Alma mater
Scientific career
Fields
  • Materials science
  • Science communication
Institutions
ThesisMechanisms and effects of wear on amorphous carbon thin films
Doctoral advisorRobert Sinclair
Websitewww.ainissaramirez.com

Ainissa Ramirez is an American materials scientist and science communicator.[1]

Early life and education[edit]

Ramirez credits watching the PBS television show 3-2-1 Contact growing up for inspiring her to pursue science, where she saw a young black girl solving problems and enjoying science.[2] Ramirez attended an all-girls Catholic high school in Jersey City, New Jersey.[3] To prepare to pursue a science degree in college, she took classes in calculus and electrical engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturdays.[4]

Ramirez earned a Sc.B. in Materials Science from Brown University in 1990.[2]

She earned her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University in 1998. Her dissertation is titled Mechanisms and effects of wear on amorphous carbon thin films with Robert Sinclair serving as her dissertation adviser.[5] As a graduate student, she was a science correspondent for Time magazine’s Washington, D.C. bureau, which inspired her on a pathway for communicating science.[6]

Career[edit]

From 2003 to 2011, Ramirez was an Assistant, then Associate Professor, in the Mechanical and Materials Science Department at Yale University,[7][8] where she taught an undergraduate course entitled "Introduction to Materials Science".[9] Prior to being on the faculty at Yale, for four years she was a member of technical staff at Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies. She co-developed[10] a "universal solder" that can bond metal to glass, ceramics, diamond, and semiconductor oxide substrates.[11] Ramirez has been a visiting professor at MIT.

In 2004, she founded Science Saturdays, a program of entertaining science lectures for middle school children.[12]

In 2012, Ramirez gave a TED talk on the main stage in Los Angeles on the importance of STEM education.[13]

After 10 years at Yale, Ramirez made a career change from academia and became a self-declared "science evangelist".[14] She hosts two short science video series called Science Xplained and Material Marvels. She also produces a podcast series called Science Underground.[15]

In 2013, Ramirez published the TED book Save Our Science: How to Inspire a New Generation of Scientists.[16][17] The book asks for a recommitment to improve STEM education for schools and throughout society.[16] In the same year, Ramirez co-authored a book with Allen St. John titled Newton's Football: The Science Behind America's Game, which discusses the science behind American football.[18][19]

In 2020, Ramirez published the book The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another, which explores eight significant inventions and the little-known inventors behind them, particularly people of color and women.[20][21] Ramirez states that the clock and artificial lighting helped end pre-industrial habits of nightly biphasic sleep. The book documents Carl Sagan's process of including global music on the Voyager Golden Record.[22] Other inventions include copper communication cables, hard disks, photographic film, scientific glassware, silicon chips, and steel rails.[23] Smithsonian listed the book in their Ten Best Science Books of 2020.[24]

Awards and honors[edit]

Select recognitions for her research, outreach, and book publications include:

  • 2003 – named MIT Technology Review Innovator Under 35 for formulating an advanced universal solder for electronics and optics.[11]
  • 2015 winner of the Andrew Gemant award, for doing "a brave thing" and not only producing research, but encouraging everyone to think about science. The award is sponsored by the American Institute of Physics, where Ramirez received $3,000 to further public communication of physics to her designated institution of choice, and she selected the Marion Branch Library of Jersey City, New Jersey.[15]
  • 2021 winner of the Young Adult Science Book Award by the 2021 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books[25] for The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another.
  • 2021 Finalist of The LA Times Book Prize in Science and Technology[26] for The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another.
  • 2021 Fellow of the American Physical Society.[27]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Buford, Katherine (August 2012). "From Yawn to Dawn of New Scientific Frontiers in Tech: Q&A with TED Lecturer Ainissa Ramirez". Silicon Angle. Archived from the original on 2013-06-26. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  2. ^ a b Ryan, Cate (2020-10-27). "Ainissa Ramirez '90 pens 'The Alchemy of Us'". Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
  3. ^ "Author and Scientist Ainissa Ramirez: an Interview". American Institute of Physics. Ex Libris Universum of the Niels Bohr Library & Archives. American Institute of Physics (AIP). 2020-04-06. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
  4. ^ "Black History Month Speaker Dr. Ainissa Ramirez Reflects on Mentors, Her Career, and More". Bryn Mawr College News and Headlines. 2020-03-20. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
  5. ^ Ramirez, Ainissa Gweneth (1998). Mechanisms and effects of wear on amorphous carbon thin films (Thesis). Stanford University.
  6. ^ MIT. "Ainissa G. Ramirez". MLK Visiting Professors and Scholars Program. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
  7. ^ Manaster, Joanne (January 31, 2012). "Material Marvels in Video". Scientific American. Archived from the original on 2012-03-06. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  8. ^ "Yale Innovators". 2012-03-03. Archived from the original on 2012-03-03. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  9. ^ http://www.eng.yale.edu/Framirezlab/Framirez_cv_2010.pdf[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ "Article comprising oxide-bondable solder".
  11. ^ a b "Innovators Under 35: Ainissa G. Ramirez". MIT Technology Review. 2003. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  12. ^ Paquelet, Grace (November 16, 2011). "Spreading a Passion for Science". Yale Scientific Magazine. Archived from the original on 2013-10-30. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
  13. ^ "A Sputnik moment for STEM education: Ainissa Ramirez at TED2012 | TED Blog". Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  14. ^ Ramirez, Ainissa (2015-05-08). "The making of a science evangelist". Science. 348 (6235): 726. Bibcode:2015Sci...348..726R. doi:10.1126/science.348.6235.726. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 25954013.
  15. ^ a b Squires, Acacia (September 3, 2015). "This Teacher Wants To Excite Your Inner Scientist". All Things Considered. National Public Radio. Archived from the original on 2016-09-12. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  16. ^ a b Daly, Jim (2013-01-31). "New TED Book: Save Our Science | TED Blog". TED Blog. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
  17. ^ "New TED Book: Save Our Science | TED Blog". Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  18. ^ Penguin Random House. "Newton's Football: The Science Behind America's Game". Penguin Random House Books. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
  19. ^ "Newton's Football by Allen St. John, Ainissa G. Ramirez, PH.D.: 9780345545145". Penguin Random House. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  20. ^ The Alchemy of Us. MIT Press. 7 April 2020. ISBN 9780262043809. Retrieved 2021-02-02.
  21. ^ Ramirez, Ainissa (2020-04-07). The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another. Cambridge, MA, USA: MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-04380-9.
  22. ^ "THE ALCHEMY OF US". Kirkus Reviews. 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  23. ^ Newton, Jennifer (2020). "The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another". Chemistry World. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  24. ^ "The Ten Best Science Books of 2020". Smithsonian Magazine. 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  25. ^ "2021 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize Winners Announced". AAAS/Subaru Prize for Excellence in Science Books. Retrieved 2021-02-02.
  26. ^ "2021 LA Times Book Prize Finalist". Los Angeles Times. 2 March 2021.
  27. ^ "APS Fellow Archive". www.aps.org. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
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