Picturing Women Inventors

Grace Hopper

Computer Programmer

Marilyn Hamilton

Co-Founder of Motion Designs

TAra Astigarraga

Software Engineer

PAtricia Bath

Eye Surgeon

cynthia breazeal

Social Robotics and Human-Robot Interaction Pioneer

Marion O'Brien DonoVan

Inventor

AyahBdeir

Founder of littleBits

Theresa Dankovich

Co-Founder of Folia Water

Lisa Lindahl, HinDa Miller, & Polly Palmer Smith

Inventors

Michelle Khine

Biomedical Engineer

STephanie Kwolek

Chemist

Marjorie Stewart Joyner

Inventor

Amy Prieto

Founder of Prieto Battery

Ellen Ochoa

Electrical Engineer & Astronaut

Madison Maxey

Founder of Loomia

Alexis Lewis

Inventor

Picturing Women Inventors

Click each image for additional information and resources about each woman inventor featured in the Smithsonian exhibit, Picturing Women Inventors.

Kavita Shukla

Founder of The FRESHGLOW Co.

Sharon Rogone

NICU Nurse & Founder of Small Beginnings

Mária Telkes

Biophysicist

Picturing Women Inventors is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, in collaboration with the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation and the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and is sponsored by Lyda Hill Philanthropies IF/THEN Initiative and Ericsson.

Lisa Lindahl, Hinda Miller, and Polly Palmer Smith

Lisa Lindahl, Hinda Miller, and Polly Palmer Smith worked together to create the first supportive sports bra for women. They deconstructed two men's athletic supporters and sewed them together to create the prototype for the "Jogbra."

Learn more about these inventors:

• A Cultural History of the Sports Bra by Jamie Schultz

• Lemelson Center: Lisa Lindahl, Hinda Miller, and Polly Palmer Smith

• Smithsonian Magazine: The First Jogbra Was Made by Sewing Together Two Men’s Athletic Supporters

Pictured(from left to right): Polly Palmer Smith, Hinda Miller, and Linda Lindahl

Grace Hopper

Grace Hopper was a pioneer computer programmer as one of the first programmers for the Harvard Mark I used during World War II. She is also credited with co-writing the first computer manual, A Manual of Operation for the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator.

Learn more about Grace Hopper:

• Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age by Kurt Beyer

• IEEE Potentials: Beyond Marie Curie: Grace Hopper and the ENIAC Six

• Lemelson Center: Grace Hopper

Cynthia Breazeal

Cynthia Breazeal is the MIT Dean for Digital Learning and a pioneer in social robotics and human-robot interation. Her work focuses on the intersection of AI, user design, and psychology to design personified AI technologies.

Learn more about Cynthia Breazeal:

• Lemelson Center: Cyntia Breazeal

• MIT Media Lab: Cyntia Breazeal

Selected Publications:

• Robots that Imitate Humans

• Older Adults Living With Social Robots: Promoting Social Connectedness in Long-Term Communities

Madison Maxey

At age 23, Madison Maxey became the first fashion designer to be awarded the $100,000 Thiel Fellowship to investigate making patterns for clothing using 3D modeling. She then founded Loomia which creates e-textiles or flexible fabric with circuitry that has a variety of applications.

Learn more about Madison Maxey:

• Lemelson Center: Innovative Lives: Theresa Dankovich and Madison Maxey

• Lemelson Center: Madison Maxey

• Madison Maxey Website

Patricia Bath

Patricia Bath was an eye surgeon and the inventor of the Laserphaco Probe for the treatment of cataracts.

Learn more about Patricia Bath:

• Lemelson Center: Patricia Bath

• National Institutes of Health: Dr. Patricia E. Bath

Selected Publications:

• Cataract Surgery Training of Residents in an Urban and Virtual Environment

• Combination Ultrasound and Laser Method and Apparatus for Removing Cataract Lenses

Sharon Rogone

Sharon Rogone served as a neonatal intensive care nurse for 25 years and developed many products for use in treating premature babies. She started the company Small Beginnings in 1995 to create and market products that she and other nurses invented for treating premature babies.

Learn more about Sharon Rogone:

• Lemelson Center: Sharon Rogone

• Lemelson Center: Podcast: Sharon Rogone Invents for Preemies

• Lemelson-MIT: Sharon Rogone

Ayah Bdeir

Ayah Bdier graduated from MIT Media Lab and is the founder and CEO of littleBits, which are STEM kits that easily snap together for learning about electronics and engineering.

Learn more about Ayah Bdeir:

• Ayah Bdeir Website

• Lemelson Center: Ayah Bdeir

Selected Publications:

• The Internet as Material

• Make: Getting Started with littleBits:Prototyping and Inventing with Modular Electronics

Tara Astigarraga

Tara Astigarraga is a software engineer and IBM Master Inventor that has filed over 80 patents.

Learn more about Tara Astigarraga:

• Lemelson Center: Tara Astigarraga

• United States Patent and Trademark Office: Conquering Imposter Syndrome

Selected Publications:

• IBM Cloud Pak for Data with IBM Spectrum Scale Container Native

• Auto-Generation of Domain-Specific Systems: Cloud-Hosted DevOps for Business Users

Marilyn Hamilton

After a hang-gliding accident in 1978, Marilyn was determined to create a light-weight wheelchair that would allow her to maintain an athletic lifestyle. Along with two friends she invented an athletic wheelchair called the "Quickie" and co-founded the company, Motion Designs.

Learn more about Marilyn Hamilton:

• The Exceptional Parent: An Interview with Marilyn Hamilton

• Lemelson Center: Marilyn Hamilton

• Paraplegia News: Marilyn Hamilton

Kavita Shukla

While in high school, Kavita Shukla invented FRESHPAPER, which is a paper with a proprietary blend of spices that keeps fruits and vegetables fresh for longer. She also holds four patents and founded The FRESHGLOW Co.

Learn more about Kavita Shukla:

• Bloomberg News: 'Spiced Paper' Aims to Delay Food Rot

• Kavita Shukla Website

• Lemelson Center: Kavita Shukla

• Lemelson-MIT: Kavita Shukla

Amy Prieto

Amy Prieto is a chemist and founded the company, Prieto Battery, which works to create fast-charging and long-lasting rechargable batterials without toxic and flammable liquid components found in traditional batteries. She is also a professor at Colorado State University (CSU).

Learn more about Amy Prieto

• Business Wire: Prieto Introduces World’s Fastest-Charging Battery That Charges in 3 Minutes

• Lemelson Center: Amy Prieto

Selected Publication:

• X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy as a Probe for Understanding the Potential-Dependent Impact of Fluoroethylene Carbonate on the Solid Electrolyte Interface Formation in Na/Cu2Sb Batteries

Ellen Ochoa

Ellen Ochoa is an electrical engineer, former astronaut, and former director of NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC). She also studied optical systems for performing information processing and patented an optical system to detect defects in repeating patterns. She is also co-inventor on three other optical patents.

Learn more about Ellen Ochoa:

• Lemelson Center: Ellen Ochoa

• NASA: Ellen Ochoa

• NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project: Ellen Ochoa

• Women in Space : 23 stories of First Flights, Scientific Missions, and Gravity-Breaking Adventures by Karen Bush Gibson.

Mária Telkes

Mária Telkes was a Hungarian-American biophysicist that worked on solar energy technologies. She invented a solar stove and solar-powered distiller to desalinate sea water. In the 1940s, she also helped design a house with a solar heating system.

Learn more about Mária Telkes:

• American Experience: The Sun Queen by Amanda Pollak, GeneTempest, Andia Winslow, Andia, Insignia Films, & Public Broadcasting Company (PBS)

• Lemelson Center: Mária Telkes

• Lemelson-MIT: Mária Telkes

• PBS: The Marvelously Inventive Life of Mária Telkes

Theresa Dankovich

Theresa Dankovich is the co-founder of Folia Water, which produces filters made of thick paper and silver nanoparticles that filter out microbes from water.

Learn more about Theresa Dankovich:

• Lemelson Center: Theresa Dankovich

Selected Publications:

• Bactericidal Paper Impregnated with Silver Nanoparticles for Point-of-Use Water Treatment

• Incorporation of Copper Nanoparticles into Paper for Point-Of-Use Water Purification

Marjorie Stewart Joyner

Marjorie Stewart Joyner was the first African American woman to graduate from Chicago's A. B. Molar Beauty School and became the national supervisor of Madame C. J. Walker beauty schools. She also invented the Permanent Wave Machine and the Satin Tress for styling hair.

Learn more about Marjorie Stewart Joyner:

• African American Women Scientists and Inventors

• Lemelson Center: Marjorie Stewart Joyner

• National Archives: Marjorie S. Joyner: More than an Inventor

• Smithsonian: Making Waves: Beauty Salons and the Black Freedom Struggle

Alexis Lewis

At age 12, Alexis Lewis invented the Bamboo Travios which is designed to provide basic transport in impoverished areas of the world. She later invented an emergency mask pod that can be used to help prevent smoke inhalation in the event of a fire.

Learn more about Alexis Lewis:

• Alexis Lewis Website

• Lemelson Center: Alexis Lewis

• Smithsonian Magazine: Teenage Inventor Alexis Lewis Thinks That Kids Have the Solutions to the World’s Problems

Stephanie Kwolek

While working for Dupont and researching extra strong and stable polymers, Stephanie Kwolek invented Kevlar. Kevlar has a high-tensile to strength ration making it useful in a variety of applications including bullet-proof vests, racing tires, and military helmets.

Learn more about Stephanie Kwolek:

• American Chemical Society: Stephanie Kwolek

• Lemelson Center: Stephanie Kwolek

• Science History Institute: Stephanie L. Kwolek

• Women in Chemistry: Lessons from Life and the Laboratory

Michelle Khine

Michelle Khine is a biomedical engineer that used the toy, Shrinky Dinks, to create microfluidic chips without a cleanroom. These chips make diagnosing diseases more affordable and accessible. Her current work focuses on wearable blood pressure and respiratory sensors.

Learn more about Michelle Khine:

• Lemelson Center: Michelle Kline

Selected Publications and Websites:

• Soft Iontronic Capacitive Sensor for Beat‐to‐Beat Blood Pressure Measurements

• The Khine Lab

• Unconventional Low-Cost Fabrication and Patterning Techniques for Point of Care Diagnostics

Marion O'Brien Donovan

In 1946 Marion O'Brien Donovan invented a a reusable nylon diaper cover that prevented leaks. In addition to inventing the precursor to the disposable diaper, she also invented clothes organizers and other products to ease everyday tasks around the home.

Learn more about Marion O'Brien Donovan:

• Lemelson Center: Marion O'Brien Donovan

• Smithsonian Magazine: Meet Marion Donovan, the Mother Who Invented a Precursor to the Disposable Diaper