Caymanian Scientist Inducted Into Hall Of Fame
(RCN) A Cayman Brac scientist has been inducted into the “Nasa Inventors Hall of Fame.” Dr. Martha Kay Williams (Bodden) served as a Nasa Scientist for 29 years retiring in 2018, Loop Cayman reported.
Dr. Williams attended the Cayman Brac High School. She then went to the United States and got a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from William Carey College, a master’s in chemistry from Northwestern State University and a Ph.D. in polymer chemistry from the Florida Institute of Technology, Loop Cayman reported.
Her multiple interdisciplinary research activities included hydrogen sensing technologies, receiving a 2014 R&D100 Top Technology award, a NASA Commercial Invention of the Year award in 2016, and an Excellence in Technology Transfer Award in 2017. Williams also led research efforts on low-temperature aerogel composites and switchable, adaptive thermal materials for structures and cryogenic storage and transfer. Her twenty published patents also include technologies focused on damage detection and repair technologies, self-healing systems, multiple smart wiring technologies, and fire and polymers.
Dr. Williams has won several awards for her innovative practices, including the NASA Turning Goals into Reality Award, NASA Silver Achievement Medal award, the 2014 R&D 100 Top Technology Award, a NASA Commercial Invention of the Year award in 2016, and Excellence in Technology Transfer Award in 2017 for hydrogen-sensing technology.
A well-published author, Williams is an inventor on multiple and very diverse patents/patent applications in hydrogen sensing materials, aerogel composite thermal insulation materials, and thermal management systems.
From the multiple inventions, her work has resulted in seven active licenses for NASA Kennedy Space Center Technology office, supporting NASA’s important technology transfer mission. Her visionary thinking and creative technical expertise is continued as a founding team member in a start-up GenH2, a liquid hydrogen infrastructure solutions company.
Dr. Williams still has family in the Cayman Islands. She is the sister of Naul Bodden.
