Showing 1 - 25 of 57 results
Harriet W. R. Strong
Water Storage and Flood Control
In 1887, Harriet Strong patented her invention of a system of dams and reservoirs for water storage and flood control. Her system was a series of…
Mary-Dell Chilton
Transgenic Plant
Mary-Dell Chilton is one of the founders of modern plant biotechnology. She led the research team that produced the first transgenic, or genetically…
Mary Engle Pennington
Food Preservation and Storage
Mary Engle Pennington was a pioneer in the safe preservation, handling, storage, and transportation of perishable foods. A bacteriological chemist,…
Yvonne Brill
Electrothermal Hydrazine Resistojet
Yvonne Brill is known for her innovations in rocket propulsion. Her most important contributions are advancements in rocket propulsion systems for…
Martha Coston
Signal Flares used by Ships
Following rough sketches left by her late husband, a naval scientist, Martha Coston developed a system of pyrotechnic flares that she sold to the…
Radia Perlman
Robust Network Routing and Bridging
Radia Perlman has played a major role in driving the growth and development of the internet. Her best-known contribution is the Spanning Tree…
Edith Clarke
Graphical Calculator
Pioneering electrical engineer Edith Clarke invented a graphical calculator that greatly simplified the calculations necessary to determine the…
Erna Schneider Hoover
Computerized Telephone Switching
Erna Schneider Hoover invented a computerized telephone switching system, changing how calls are connected. A key contribution to the system…
Barbara Liskov
Programming Languages and System Design
Barbara Liskov is a pioneer in the design of computer programming languages, helping to make computer programs more reliable, secure, and easy to use…
Hedy Lamarr
Frequency Hopping Communication System
Actress Hedy Lamarr was best known for her work in Hollywood during its Golden Age, starring in films such as "Ziegfeld Girl" and "Samson and Delilah…
Ruth Benerito
Wrinkle-Free Cotton
Chemist Ruth Rogan Benerito was widely recognized for the development of wrinkle-free cotton.
Born in New Orleans, Benerito studied at Sophie…
Margaret E. Knight
Machine for Making Flat-Bottom Paper Bags
Margaret Knight invented a machine that could automatically cut, fold and glue flat-bottomed paper bags. Her revolutionary invention enabled the mass…
Josephine Garis Cochran
Dishwasher
Josephine Cochran invented the first practical dishwasher and formed the Garis-Cochran Dish-Washing Co. to manufacture and market it.Cochran was born…
Beulah Louise Henry
Various Inventions for Daily Use
Beulah Henry became known as "Lady Edison" for the number and variety of devices she invented that made daily life easier. The first of her…
Patsy O. Sherman
Scotchgard™ Textile Protector
Chemist Patsy Sherman and colleague Sam Smith were working at 3M Company when they created Scotchgard™. Scotchgard went on to become one of the most…
Helen Blanchard
Zig-Zag Sewing Machine
Helen Blanchard's improvements to the sewing machine allowed for the industrial growth of sewing machines. Twenty-two of Blanchard's twenty-eight…
Maria Telkes
Solar Thermal Storage Systems
Maria Telkes was a highly respected innovator in solar energy. Throughout her career, she published widely on the topics of solar heating,…
Jacqueline Quinn
EZVI (Emulsified Zero-Valent Iron)
An environmentally safe clean-up technology called emulsified zero-valent iron, or EZVI, was co-invented by NASA environmental engineer Jacqueline…
Beatrice Hicks
Device for Sensing Gas Density
Beatrice Hicks invented a gas density sensor for use in devices that relied on gas-phase materials as insulators or fuels. Her sensor activated a…
Kristina M. Johnson
Polarization-Control Technology
Kristina Johnson is widely recognized as a pioneer in optoelectronic processing systems, 3D imaging, and color management systems. At the University…
Frances Ligler
Portable Optical Biosensors
Frances Ligler invented portable optical biosensors, benefiting fields from health care to food production to military operations.
Ligler’s lifelong…
Mary Dixon Kies
Process for Weaving Straw with Silk or Thread
Mary Dixon Kies was the first woman to apply for and receive a U.S. patent in her own name. Her patent, issued May 5, 1809, was for a process for…
Edith Flanigen
Molecular Sieves
Edith Flanigen invented molecular sieves, or zeolites, manufacturing compounds that have made a critical impact in the petroleum and petrochemical…
Stephanie Louise Kwolek
Kevlar® Fiber
Thousands of police can attest to the value of Stephanie Kwolek's breakthrough research in para-aramid fibers. The fruits of her inventiveness can be…
Mildred Dresselhaus
Superlattice Structures for Thermoelectric Devices
Mildred Dresselhaus, often called the "Queen of Carbon Science," started researching carbon when few researchers had any interest in this important…