Every year MIT Technology Review celebrates accomplished young scientists, entrepreneurs, and inventors from around the world in our Innovators Under 35 list. We’ve just published the 2025 edition. This year, though, the context is different: The US scientific community is under attack.
Since Donald Trump took office in January, his administration has fired top government scientists, targeted universities and academia, and made substantial funding cuts to the country’s science and technology infrastructure.
We asked our six most recent cohorts about both positive and negative impacts of the administration’s new policies. Their responses provide a glimpse into the complexities of building labs, companies, and careers in today’s political climate. Read the full story.
—Eileen Guo & Amy Nordrum
This story is part of MIT Technology Review’s "America Undone” series, examining how the foundations of US success in science and innovation are currently under threat. You can read the rest here.
This Ethiopian entrepreneur is reinventing ammonia production
In the small town in Ethiopia where he grew up, Iwnetim Abate’s family had electricity, but it was unreliable. So, for several days each week when they were without power, Abate would finish his homework by candlelight.
Growing up without the access to electricity that many people take for granted shaped the way Abate thinks about energy issues. Today, the 32-year old is an assistant professor at MIT in the department of materials science and engineering.
Part of his research focuses on sodium-ion batteries, which could be cheaper than the lithium-based ones that typically power electric vehicles and grid installations. He’s also pursuing a new research path, examining how to harness the heat and pressure under the Earth’s surface to make ammonia, a chemical used in fertilizer and as a green fuel. Read the full story.