UTFacultiesTNWNewsRebecca Saive Global Innovator under 35

Rebecca Saive Global Innovator under 35

Dr Rebecca Saive, assistant professor at the Inorganic Materials Science Group, has been awarded the title Global Innovator under 35 in the category inventors. With the award, MIT Technology Review honours ‘outstanding young innovators whose work superb technical work promises to shape the coming decades’. 

Rebecca was nominated for her work on contacts for solar cells that are effectively transparent and for winning the regional list last year. MIT says about Rebecca: ‘She found a way to make solar panels cheaper and more efficient.’ Conventional contacts reflect light away from the solar panel, whereas Rebecca’s contacts – due to their triangular shape – reflect the light towards the absorbing body of the cell. Making her solar cells 5% more efficient than traditional ones.

Global Innovator under 35

The Global Innovator under 35 is an annual award published by the magazine MIT Technology Review as a list. They’ve been presenting their list for the past 20 years and many famous innovators preceded Rebecca, including Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. The full list and summaries of Rebecca’s work can be found on the website of Technology Review. An interview with Rebecca can be found on the website of U-Today.