Marwa Atwa’s older sibling sometimes teases her about a habit she had growing up in Egypt; whenever a lightbulb in the family home required changing, she collected the burnt-out bulb to look at the filaments and try to figure out how electricity was generated. She delighted in being sent to the store for replacements, fascinated by the variety. Why did some give off brighter light, and why did some last longer than others, she wondered.
Fast forward a few decades, and Atwa is a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, where she focuses on developing and characterizing durable electrodes in energy devices (e.g., hydrogen fuel cells, and water and carbon dioxide electrolyzers). Her ultimate goal is to advance climate technology and decarbonization, particularly by discovering innovative methods for carbon capture and conversion. This process typically involves capturing CO₂ from industrial activities such as steel and cement production and converting it into green fuels and chemicals.
Before arriving at Stanford, Atwa earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees in chemistry from Suez Canal University, where she focused on developing nanoengineered coatings that could prevent steel from corroding, and she completed her doctoral studies at the University of Calgary, working with Professor Viola Birss on the development of new catalysts for fuel cell applications. During those years, she also became interested in understanding what factors lead to the degradation of fuel cell performance. “Understanding that well is a major step to figuring out ways to slow or halt the degradation,” she says.
Atwa was faced with a special challenge when she embarked upon her Ph.D. studies; she was already the mother of a young child. (She now has two.) “Balancing family life with ambitious scientific goals was demanding,” she recalls, “but it also became a powerful source of motivation.”
Recalling how much she loved science as a youngster and the wonderful teachers who nurtured her interest, she is determined to do the same not just for her own children but for generations of future scientists and engineers. She participates in outreach whenever she’s offered the opportunity, at elementary schools, science fairs, and even malls.
“My passion for teaching has fueled my drive as a lifelong learner,” she says. I’m eager to expand my expertise into new fields like AI and Synchrotron research — so that one day, I can teach them all!”