Meet The Ethiopian Entrepreneur Who Made The MIT Innovators Under 35 List For 2025
Iwnetim Abatek, an Ethiopian entrepreneur and assistant professor at MIT in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, has been named to the MIT 35 Innovators Under 35 list. The annual list, published by MIT Technology Review, celebrates the world’s most promising young creators in science and technology.
Abatek’s research focuses on sodium-ion batteries, a potentially cheaper alternative to lithium-based power for electric vehicles and grids. He’s also exploring ways to use underground heat and pressure to produce ammonia, a key fertilizer ingredient and potential green fuel, according to MIT Technology Review.
Abatek’s upbringing in Ethiopia
Abatek grew up in a small town in Ethiopia, where electricity was available but unreliable, and he had to use candles to help him finish his homework. This shapes the way Abate thinks about energy issues, he said.
Abate achieved academic success, scoring the highest of any student in Ethiopia on the national exam the year he took it. He knew that he wanted to go to the US to study, but getting there would not be easy. He applied to US colleges for three years before being accepted to Concordia College, Moorhead, a small liberal arts college, with a partial scholarship.
As his college wasn’t a research institute, Abate quickly set out to get into a laboratory. He reached out to Sossina Haile, then at the California Institute of Technology, to ask about a summer research position.
She offered him a spot, and he spent the summer working on materials for use in solid oxide fuel cells.
Read: MIT Innovators Under 35 2024: Meet Some Of The Black And Brown Researchers Shaping The Future
Abatek joining MIT
When Abatek joined the MIT faculty in 2023, he sought to build a research group of his own. He currently has two primary focuses for his lab. The first is sodium-ion batteries, a popular alternative to the lithium-based cells used in EVs and grid storage installations.
Abate’s team is developing materials that could extend the longevity of sodium-ion batteries while avoiding the need for nickel, which is considered an essential mineral in the US.
Abate also cofounded a company called Addis Energy to commercialize the research, alongside MIT serial entrepreneur Yet-Ming Chiang and a pair of oil industry experts. Outside of research, Abate runs programs for African students. He cofounded an organization called Scifro in 2017. The organization runs summer school programs in Ethiopia and intends to expand to other countries, including Rwanda.
Image: MIT Technology Review
