Faces of Discovery

Mark Mba Wright’s journey at Iowa State University began in 2004, when he arrived from Equitorial Guinea as a junior in college with a passion for energy and a lot of questions.

“I come from a relatively oil-rich country, but I was always wondering—what happens after oil?” he says. “I discovered there were solutions, but they were too expensive. I wanted to know why.”

That question has guided his career ever since.

Now a professor of mechanical engineering and newly appointed associate director of the Bioeconomy Institute, Wright leads research that spans a wide range of technologies—some of which, at first glance, might seem unrelated. His team works on everything from bio-manufactured aviation fuels to synthetic fibers made from environmentally friendly resources to electrochemical systems that use renewable energy to produce fuels and chemicals.

His scope of work might sound disjointed at first, but the throughline is this: he takes ideas that seem imaginative or futuristic and figures out how to make them practical.

That’s where mechanical engineering comes in. “Our discipline is about systems—how energy flows, how materials behave, how processes scale,” he explains. “We apply those principles to technologies that could transform entire industries.”

Wright’s team uses modeling and simulation to evaluate how emerging technologies might perform in the real world. They analyze costs, environmental impacts, and scalability—helping determine what it would take to bring a concept from the lab to life.

“We help scientists understand the broader implications of their work,” he says. “We ask: Can this be scaled? Is it affordable? What’s the environmental tradeoff? And what’s the human impact?”

It’s a role that fits perfectly with Iowa State’s strategic aspiration to create opportunities and forge new frontiers. Mba Wright’s work helps students and collaborators alike see the bigger picture—how their ideas can shape industries, communities, and the planet.

He’s especially proud of the students he has mentored—many of whom have gone on to become researchers, faculty, and national lab leaders around the world. “One of my students pointed out that we’ve graduated students from every continent except Antarctica,” he says with a smile. “We’re still recruiting!”

Mba Wright’s own academic path was shaped by mentorship. He credits Professor Robert Brown with guiding him through his graduate studies and helping him see the broader potential of his work. “I owe my career to him,” Wright says.

Outside the lab, Mba Wright has a surprising claim to fame: he was a high school basketball MVP and played in his country’s First Division league. “I’m only 5’7″, but I’ve always loved the game,” he says. “It’s a small country—but still it’s something I’m proud to have done.”

What drives him now is the opportunity to help others grow. “Some of my students come from very humble beginnings,” he says. “And now they’re working on technologies with national and even global significance. That journey—it’s powerful.”