At age 11, after struggling to use broken crayons, Cassidy Goldstein invented a device to hold the crayons and make it easier for her to draw.

She saw a problem…Crayons break easily and become hard to manage in small pieces. Kids throw away their used crayons when they get too small to hold. Kids end up needing a whole new box of crayons for one color.

She had an idea…To create a device that would hold the crayon and give the user something bigger to hang onto, enabling them to use their broken crayons rather than throwing them away.

She developed it…Inspired by the plastic tubes used to keep roses fresh while being transported, Cassidy created a holder that would grab the small pieces of crayon. She experimented with various materials to make it work. Ultimately she designed a device that would grab the crayon securely regardless of its size.

Her idea was a hit and a winner…She became a Student Board Member of the National Gallery for America’s Young Inventors, she got a 3-year License agreement to manufacture and sell her product, and she has been featured in various newspapers, magazines and television programs discussing her product. Her Crayon Holder is now available in Wal-Mart!

Engineer Marian Croak has worked on advancing Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technologies, converting voice data into digital signals that can be easily transmitted over the internet rather than using traditional phone lines. Her work has furthered the capabilities of audio and video conferencing, making it a practical reality in today’s world.

In 1982, Croak began her career at Bell Labs (later AT&T) with a position in the Human Factors research division, looking at how technology could be used to positively impact people’s lives. She subsequently went on to work on network engineering, where she contemplated the potential of digital telecommunications. Rather than use a traditional phone line for voice communication along with a digital method for internet data, she and her team thought both could be done digitally with the internet. Consequently, they focused on enabling voice traffic that could be both reliable and of high quality. Today, the widespread use of VoIP technology is vital for remote work and conferencing, as well as personal communications.

During her career, Croak and her team created a text-to-donate system for charitable organizations that first saw widespread use after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, which raised $130,000. After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the technology raised $43 million in donations. Croak joined Google in 2014, where she now is vice president of engineering and leads the Research Center for Responsible AI and Human Centered Technology. She also has led a team bringing broadband to developing countries in Asia and Africa.

Croak attended Princeton University for her undergraduate studies and the University of Southern California for her doctorate, focusing on statistical analysis and social psychology. With more than 200 patents to her name, Croak also works on racial justice efforts at Google and continues her goal of encouraging women and young girls in engineering.

Kayla Barron was selected by NASA to join the 2017 Astronaut Candidate Class. She reported for duty in August 2017. The Washington native graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with a bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering. A Gates Cambridge Scholar, Barron earned a master’s degree in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Cambridge. As a Submarine Warfare Officer, Barron was a member of the first class of women commissioned into the submarine community. She is currently serving as mission specialist of the NASA SpaceX Crew-3 mission to the ISS, which launched on November 10, 2021. 

In April 2021, the Mayflower Autonomous Ship, one of the world's first full-sized self-navigating ships, will set sail from the United Kingdom's Plymouth Harbor and traverse the Atlantic Ocean to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It will retrace the voyage made by the original Mayflower in 1620 that brought Pilgrims to New England, but instead of looking back at 400 years of history, it represents what the next wave of nautical advances will look like.

The Mayflower Autonomous Ship is a collaboration between the marine research organization ProMare and IBM, which developed the ship's artificial intelligence systems that will allow it to navigate unassisted across the ocean. The Mayflower team is hoping to revolutionize ocean research by creating an affordable option for scientists to study the ocean without necessarily being on board a ship. Without needing to worry about the logistics for housing people on board, like sleeping, eating and sanitation, the ship can accommodate more technology, like cameras and sensors, and stay out at sea longer.

"If it works as designed, then it will substantially drive down the cost of collecting data at sea," says Phaneuf, a co-founder and co-director of the Mayflower Autonomous Ship project. "This will lead to [a] better understanding of our oceans and climate."

The 15-year-old from Frisco, TX, made headlines when she won the 2020 3M Young Scientist Challenge for discovering a molecule which could be instrumental in COVID-19 treatment and a search for the cure. Her findings, which won $25,000, is a potential treatment for the virus and can further the efforts of researchers and medical professionals. Anika Chebrolu advocates for other young women to push the boundaries of curiosity and seize opportunities to make change. Anika wants to join the scientists investigating the virus to hopefully turn her experiment into a COVID-19 cure. She hopes to one day be a full-time medical researcher.

Dr. Victoria Herrmann is currently the President and Managing Director of The Arctic Institute. Her research and writing focus on climate change, displacement of coastal communities, human development, community adaptation, and migration efforts.

Victoria previously worked as a Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the National Academies of Sciences’ Polar Research Board and as a Junior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Energy and Climate Program. In cooperation with the Lowlander Center in Louisiana, Victoria is leading the creation of a dialogue framework between climate-displaced coastal-bayou communities and inland-high ground receiving communities. Victoria has published in many peer-review journals, including the Polar Law Yearbook, Polar Record, and Polar Geography and her expert opinion has appeared on CNN, BBC, and NPR among others.

Victoria currently teaches sustainability management at American University, science communication at the University Centre of the Westfjords (Iceland), and public speaking at the National Geographic Sciencetelling Bootcamp. She received her PhD in Geography at the Institute at Cambridge University in 2018 and holds a Masters degree from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University.

Growing up, Cassidy Williams loved math and engineering. She first discovered coding in middle school when a neighbor showed her how to build a website. Williams went on to study computer programming at Iowa State University, where she won several hackathons with her software products.

“I’ve had some run-ins with some unkind folks who unfortunately have some old stereotypes about what a developer ‘should’ look like,” explained Williams, who still participates in hackathons around the country, offering much-needed representation for women.

Now, Williams is the head of Developer Voice Programs at Amazon, where she works on programs such as Alexa. She hopes to inspire the next generation of female coders through her work.  

“My advice to young girls getting into STEM: Keep experimenting and learning until you find something that you love. Don’t compare yourself to others because everyone’s experience is different.”

Lexie Komisar is a founding member of IBM's Digital Innovation Lab, which most recently released tools to help developers use Watson, IBM's advanced artificial intelligence platform. Prior to IBM, the Northwestern grad and former Fulbright Fellow worked on digital health and innovation for the Clinton Foundation. Komisar also runs the Lady Boss Collective networking resource for women in business.

Renewable power is booming, electric cars are coming on strong, so why, asks Kathy Hannun, are we still heating our homes with oil and gas furnaces? As a product manager at Google X, she noticed geothermal power was ripe for innovation at the household level, and founded Dandelion.

Geothermal power works by taking advantage of the temperature differential between the surface of the earth and some slightly warmer point (approximately 50 degrees F), hundreds of feet below. A pipe filled with non-freezing liquid absorbs heat from the earth and is pumped up to the house, where it uses a heat pump to transfer that heat to an air circulation system or a water heater, and then, cooled, returns back to the earth in a continual loop. But until now, the technology has been limited to luxury homes due to the high cost of installation.

“We’ve been able to create the technology that’s allowed us to price those systems so that they’re actually a lot less expensive for the homeowner than a normal fuel-oil system,” says Hannun.  “Not only does the homeowner get to upgrade to a better, cleaner, quieter, more luxurious system, but it saves them money.”

Dandelion has done this, says Hannun, by simplifying the system, building a single-unit heat pump that can be installed in any home, and implementing a software system that uses data science to precisely design specific systems. Their next step: start using a drilling system that requires less earth moving and doesn’t tear up anybody’s yard. Since Dandelion began installing systems in June, 2018, it has contracted with well drilling companies to install the underground loop, but well drillers take out far more dirt than necessary, and have to open up big parts of the yard to do so. Dandelion’s proprietary drilling system, which the company is scaling up in March uses a 4-inch diameter borer instead of a 6-inch or 8-inch version.

“[The drill] will be a big deal for customers and the company,” says Hannun. “I think it’ll make it so there’s a much lower barrier for adoption for [geothermal] technology.”

Already, Dandelion has installed around 150 systems, each offsetting approximately 200 tons of carbon dioxide over its lifetime, for a total impact equivalent to taking 300 average American cars off the road each year.

Cavé’s journey of invention began with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which unfolded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. It led to the largest maritime slick in human history, consisting of 4.9 million barrels (210 million gallons, or 780,000 cubic metres) of oil in one of the most ecologically important bodies of water on the planet.

In the immediate aftermath, baby dolphins began dying at six times the usual rate, while fishermen and scientists reported “disturbing numbers” of deformed sea creatures including shrimp with missing eyes and eye sockets, and fish with oozing sores and lesions.

Watching the news reports on TV, Cavé instantly felt that there must be some hidden environmental damage. She decided to focus her attention on discovering what was really going on.

At 15, the teenager began studying what happens to oil when it’s left on the ocean’s surface and discovered that when it’s hit by UV rays from the Sun, it reacts to form chemicals that are carcinogenic.

Today she’s turned her work into two scientific papers and two patents, for chemical methods of detecting the carcinogens. She’s also launched a startup, Mare, which is working towards a way to disperse them so that they aren’t as damaging. Oh, and her research has just received $1.2m (£860,000) in funding.

Thato Kgatlhanye created a company that recycles plastic shopping bags into solar powered schoolbags!  The schoolbags charge up during the day and transform into a light source at night.  She launched her company when she was 18. As she was about to start her undergraduate degree, she came up with an idea to help underprivileged pupils who face challenges with their education. Rethaka – literally meaning “we are fellows” – encourages children to attend school and learn effectively.

Disadvantaged children encounter barriers to learn due to a lack of basic school supplies such as schoolbags. Numerous children in South Africa walk to school for sometimes more than 30 minutes carrying their books. School children leave home early in the morning and walk on roads that are not designed for pedestrian usage – a journey which can often prove risky. Road safety has become a significant issue in the country as children are exposed to the danger of being hit by cars due to limited visibility.  You can read more about Thato and her company here.

When he was an infant, Anurudh Ganesan's grandparents carried him ten miles to get a vaccine. But when they arrived at the remote village in southern India, the immunizations were unusable because of improper refrigeration. Ganesan knows how fortunate he was to have survived that experience. But many kids aren't as lucky. Worldwide, 1.5 million children die every year from diseases that could have been prevented. That inspired Ganesan to create the Vaxxwagon, a refrigerated transportation unit for vaccines powered by its own wheels.

While trucks and airplanes with reliable refrigeration carry vaccines from manufacturers to distributors to clinics, transportation to remote villages often happens on foot or bicycle while using ice packs. That poses a lot of problems. "In order to make ice you basically need water and electricity, both of which are precious resources in these developing countries," Ganesan says. "Over a billion people don't have access to electricity, much less to make ice."

The Vaxxwagon is a cart with a modified water cooler attached to it. When the cart's wheels turn, their mechanical action generates power for a refrigeration system similar to the one inside your typical fridge. The prototype Vaxxwagon stays cold for four hours after six hours of pulling the cart at eight to ten miles per hour, and Ganesan is working on an efficiency upgrade to get twenty-two hours of refrigeration from only two hours of work. At a cost of less than a hundred dollars, the cart is affordable, and it can be pulled by almost anything, creating flexibility for users in different locations.

Dr. Wanda M. Austin is an American businesswoman who is internationally recognized for her work in aeronautics and systems engineering. She is co-founder of MakingSpace, Inc, a systems engineering and leadership development consultant and motivational speaker. She is the former president and CEO of The Aerospace Corporation, an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to the application of science and technology toward critical issues affecting the nation's space program. 

Allie Weber, 14, lives in South Dakota. Allie was a MythBuster on the Discovery Science Channel show, MythBusters Jr. hosted by Adam Savage. Allie was cast on the show because she is known as a maker, inventor, and builder. Allie produces and hosts her own YouTube channel “Tech-nic-Allie Speaking” where she builds amazing things, shows her inventions, and gives reviews of tech-toys. Her YouTube show seeks to entertain, help kids get into STEAM, and to show how to build your own dreams.

Through her work Allie seeks to inspire other kids in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math. Because of this, in 2017 Allie was listed in the “21 under 21” girls who are changing the world by Teen Vogue Magazine.  You can learn more about Allie here.

Source: DOGOnews

Source: Wikipedia

Source: gothamartists.com

Source: NASA.GOV

Source: NASA.GOV

Source: NASA.GOV

Source: NASA.GOV

I am a Technical Content Developer for Digi-Key Electronics. My job is centered around education in various ways. First, I create content for our website including blogs, articles, and videos. The content covers a range of topics such as "What is an Opamp?" and "What is the Hall Effect?" all the way to "How to solder". Another part of my job is to reach out to local schools and invite them into Digi-Key for a hands-on electronic project that they can take home with them, live demonstrations, and a tour. The best part of that by far is seeing their eyes light up when something they just created functions. That's the STEM spark in them officially lighting. 

Meredith Westafer is a senior industrial engineer at Tesla who manages the design and layout of the company's Gigafactory, which will be the world's largest factory by footprint.

The factory — located in Reno, Nevada — produces the integral lithium-ion batteries that run Tesla vehicles.

Westafer developed the models that determined how much space the factory needed and how materials flow within the factory. She designed an automated material delivery system that uses a fleet of autonomous mobile robots to deliver goods to and from the production line.

"Sometimes when I drive into work and see this huge building, I’m a little blown away by how big the challenge is, but it’s so fun," she said.

Source: businessinsider.com

Countless lives have been saved thanks to Vivien Thomas’s research. After graduating from high school with honors, Thomas’s dreams to attend college were cut short when he lost his tuition money following stock market crash in 1929. Instead, he began working as a lab tech at Vanderbilt’s medical school under Alfred Blalock. There he became an invaluable worker, with his research changing the way people thought about traumatic shock.

In 1941, Blalock became the chief surgeon at Johns Hopkins University and he brought Thomas along with him. Together, they developed an operation to that helped babies with Tetralogy of Fallot or blue baby syndrome by increasing the amount of oxygen in the blood and reducing constriction.

Thomas contributed greatly to the operation techniques, and in conjunction with Blalock and cardiologist Helen Taussig, his work helped create the Blalock-Taussig shunt. In fact, without the techniques of this heart surgery pioneer, babies with this condition might still face high mortality rates. HBO made a film inspired by Thomas's story in 2004 featuring actors Alan Rickman and Mos Def.

Source: idtech.com

Due to cost, Philip Emeagwali was forced to drop out of school at age 14. But this didn’t stop him from becoming one of the greatest computer pioneers of our time. In fact, he’s often called “The Bill Gates of Africa.”

As an adult, Emeagwali began studying nature, specifically bees. The construction of the honeycomb inspired him to rethink computer processing. In 1989, he put this idea to work, using 65,000 processes to invent the world’s first super computer — able to perform 3.1 billion calculations per second.

Source: ThinkGrowth.org

Mae Carol Jemison (born October 17, 1956) is an American engineer, physician, and former NASA astronaut. She became the first black woman to travel into space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Jemison joined NASA's astronaut corps in 1987 and was selected to serve for the STS-47 mission, during which she orbited the Earth for nearly eight days on September 12–20, 1992.

Born in Alabama and raised in Chicago, Jemison graduated from Stanford University with degrees in chemical engineering as well as African and African-American studies. She then earned her medical degree from Cornell University. Jemison was a doctor for the Peace Corps in Liberia and Sierra Leone from 1983 until 1985 and worked as a general practitioner. In pursuit of becoming an astronaut, she applied to NASA.

Jemison left NASA in 1993 and founded a technology research company. She later formed a non-profit educational foundation and through the foundation is the principal of the 100 Year Starship project funded by DARPA. Jemison also wrote several books for children and appeared on television several times, including in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. She holds several honorary doctorates and has been inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame and the International Space Hall of Fame.

Source: Wikipedia

Lisa Gelobter served as Chief Digital Service Officer for the United States Department of Education during the Presidency of Barack Obama. In the position, she helped to improve HealthCare.gov, reducing the number of individual pages and overall application time. She led the team that built the United States Department of Education College Scorecard, which helped college students make sensible choices about college investments. She joined the advisory board of Bridge Foundry. Prior to public service, Gelobter was the Chief Digital Officer for BET Networks and was a member of the senior management team for the launch of Hulu.

In 2016, Gelobter founded tEquitable, an independent, confidential platform to address issues of bias, discrimination and harassment in the workplace. She raised more than $2 million for the platform.

Source: Wikipedia

Lonnie G. Johnson is an American inventor, aerospace engineer, and entrepreneur, whose work history includes a U.S. Air Force term of service and a twelve-year stint at NASA, including the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He invented the Super Soaker water gun in 1990, which has been among the world's best selling toys ever since.

Source: Wikipedia

Ed Smith got his start in Brooklyn working on traffic control signal for Marbelite. From there he went on to co-design an early cartridge-based video game system, the APF MP-1000 (1978) for New York-based APF Electronics. He also worked on its computer attachment, the Imagination Machine, which competed with products from Apple and Atari in the late 1970s. After his time at APF, he became a successful electronics salesman, a career he continues to this day. For more on Smith's fascinating career, you can read an interview here.

Claudia Joan Alexander (May 30, 1959 – July 11, 2015) was a Canadian-born American research scientist specializing in geophysics and planetary science. She worked for the United States Geological Survey and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She was the last project manager of NASA's Galileo mission to Jupiter and until the time of her death had served as project manager and scientist of NASA's role in the European-led Rosetta mission to study Comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko.

Source: Wikipedia

Granville Tailer Woods (April 23, 1856 – January 30, 1910) was an inventor who held more than 60 patents in the U.S.  He was the first American of African ancestry to be a mechanical and electrical engineer after the Civil War. Self-taught, he concentrated most of his work on trains and streetcars. One of his notable inventions was a device he called the Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph, a variation of induction telegraph which relied on ambient static electricity from existing telegraph lines to send messages between train stations and moving trains. His work assured a safer and better public transportation system for the cities of the United States.