[Women’s History Month] Meet Omowunmi Sadik, inventor of biosensors that detect bombs

March is the Women’s History Month celebrated globally to highlight the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. The month corresponds with the International Women’s Day which is marked globally on March 8.

As part of Face2Face Africa’s commitment to informing and connecting black people around the world, we have resolved to devote each day of the month of March to celebrate black women inventors and to highlight their inventions.

Meet Omowunmi Sadik, the inventor of microelectrode biosensors that can detect foreign materials and can be used to spot drugs or explosives.

Diagram of biosensors…photo credit: Binghamton University

According to patent number 20060275786A1, the request for the patent was filed on December 7, 2006.  Sadik also has patents for additional distinct biosensors.

Diagram of nano-particle and intra-cross linking…photo credit: Binghamton University

Sadik is a surface chemist, inventor, and college instructor. She was born in Lagos, Nigeria in 1964.  In 1985, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Lagos. She also obtained a Master’s degree in chemistry in 1987.  In 1994, she earned her PhD from Wollongong University in Australia.

Sadik is the recipient of several fellowships to include the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the National Research Council to name a few.

She is also a collaborator with the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, UNESCO in Romania, Turkey, and Japan; and previously a panel member for the National Institution of Health on Instrumentation and Systems Development.

In 2012, Sadik in conjunction with Barbara Karn formed the not-for-profit Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization.

Sadik is currently a professor at Binghamton University in Upstate, New York while formulating technology that will recycle metal ions from waste for industrial and environmental purposes.

We honor her contributions to the world as a Black woman.