Katherine Johnson
Brought to life by Taraji P. Henson in the Oscar-nominated film Hidden Figures, Katherine Johnson was a physicist, space scientist and mathematician. The techniques she invented eventually helped NASA land on the moon and she’s also attributed for work on the space shuttle program, countless manned-space flights, moon landings and early plans for the mission to Mars. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 by former US President Barack Obama.
Stephanie Kwolek
Best known for inventing the first family of tough, stiff, synthetic fibres, Stephanie Kwolek is the woman responsible for creating what we call Kevlar today. Used in more than 200 different ways – everything from bullet-proof vests to boats – her discovery generated billions of dollars in revenue. She also became one of the few women inducted into the National Inventors Hall Of Fame.
Maria Beasley
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Best known for inventing the first family of tough, stiff, synthetic fibres, Stephanie Kwolek is the woman responsible for creating what we call Kevlar today. Used in more than 200 different ways – everything from bullet-proof vests to boats – her discovery generated billions of dollars in revenue. She also became one of the few women inducted into the National Inventors Hall Of Fame.
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US inventor Maria Beasley is responsible for saving countless lives at sea thanks to her invention of the life raft in the early 1880s. Prior to her patented design in 1882, life rafts were little more than planks of wood which were found to be ineffective at both a) staying afloat for prolonged periods of time and b) saving lives. Her design made new life rafts easy to use and easy to store, but at the same time more advance than predecessors. While most women during the period made little more than $3 a day, Beasley was able to generate an annual income of more than $20,000 thanks to her inventions, which also included an anti-derailment device for trains, foot warmers and a barrel-maker.
Grace Murray Hopper
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A US Navy rear admiral, inventor and computer scientist, Grace Murray Hopper was not a woman who did things in halves. Earning a PhD in mathematics from Yale in 1934, she joined the Navy shortly thereafter once World War II broke out. She invented the first compiler for computer programming language and was one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer. President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in 2016.
Ann Tsukamoto
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The co-patenter of a process to isolate the human stem cell, Ann Tsukamoto’s work over the past 25 years has led to advances in cancer research and mapping the path to one day finding a cure. Her inventions have led to some of the first human trials when it comes to targeting brain, spin and eye disorders.
Shirley Jackson
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The first black woman ever awarded a PhD from MIT in the early seventies, Jackson has become one of the most recognisable names in telecommunication. For two decades she was the leading researcher on subatomic particle studies that led to the invention of touch-tone telephones, fibre optics, portable fax machines, caller ID, call waiting technology and solar cells.
Hedy Lamarr
Best known as a Hollywood screen siren, the famous actress was also an acclaimed inventor and became instrumental in developing wireless communications in the US. Along with her co-inventor George Anthiel, she pioneered a way to manipulate radio frequencies that allowed Allies the ability to communicate secret message to each during World War II and essentially combat the Nazis.
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Best known as a Hollywood screen siren, the famous actress was also an acclaimed inventor and became instrumental in developing wireless communications in the US. Along with her co-inventor George Anthiel, she pioneered a way to manipulate radio frequencies that allowed Allies the ability to communicate secret message to each during World War II and essentially combat the Nazis.
Source: Supplied
