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Twelve Women Whose Inventions Have Shaped Our Past and Present
To celebrate Women’s History Month, we are showcasing inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs whose inventions play a crucial role in society.
From across geographies and various industries, women from diverse backgrounds have identified problems in their communities and developed revolutionary solutions. They have changed the way we see the world, leaving it a better place for all.
With this inventive spirit in mind, we invite you to read about 12 women — both past and present — whose innovations have made a positive impact.
Contemporary Inventors
Dr. Monica Mburu
Educator and entrepreneur Dr. Monica Mburu is the founder of Afyalishe Wellness, a startup developing functional food products that improve wellbeing. Their philosophy is that food can serve as medicine, and their products are made with natural, healthy ingredients that are sourced in Kenya.
Debbie Sterling
As a Stanford University engineering student, Debbie Sterling often wondered why more women weren’t pursuing careers in STEM. In 2012, she launched GoldieBlox to develop fun toys and shows to introduce young women to the fundamentals of STEM and empower them to embrace their curiosity, creativity, and learning.
Hahnbee Lee
Hahnbee Lee co-founded Mintlify, a digital platform built with engineers and developers in mind to make documentation a smoother process using AI. The platform launched in 2022, and it has since been adopted by more than 10,000 companies.
Yasmeen Alfaraj
Yasmeen Alfaraj founded NextSet Materials to solve the issue of plastic waste in the manufacturing industry. She created an additive that makes unrecyclable materials recyclable, a sustainable solution that companies can integrate easily without fully changing their existing operations.
Nicole Mao
Nicole Mao is the co-founder and CEO of Tiger New Energy, a Bangladesh-based cleantech startup producing battery swapping solutions for electric three-wheelers. The company’s mission is to make clean mobility accessible in all emerging countries.
Historical Inventors
Harriet Tracy
In the 19th century, Harriet Tracy had a successful career as an inventor with over 27 patents that improved sewing machines, elevators, and crib attachments. One of her most famous inventions is the “Tracy Gravity Safety Elevator,” which featured an automatic platform that saved people from falling down the elevator shaft.
Mary Walton
Mary Walton’s boarding house sat next to the New York City elevated railway during the Industrial Revolution. Disturbed by the constant noise and pollution from trains, she developed two inventions. The first was a device that filtered emissions using water tanks in chimneys. The second was a system that used a box-like framework to dampen sound on elevated railways.
Margaret Knight
Margaret Knight was an American inventor and entrepreneur whose first invention was a safety device for workers in cotton mills. She is best known for creating and patenting a paper-folding machine that quickly produced paper bags with the flat-bottom still in use today.
Josephine Cochrane
Josephine Cochrane invented an early version of one of the most common — and beloved — appliances in American homes: the dishwasher. While her machine did not see immediate consumer use, it was lauded for its durability and design, and was used by large businesses. Technological advancements in the 1950s increased the appeal of the machine until its more ubiquitous use in modern day.
Gladys West
Motivated by a drive for education and a passion for math, Gladys West was a key figure in the creation of GPS technology. As a U.S. Naval Proving Ground employee responsible for calculating the distortions of the shape of the Earth, her work was invaluable in getting location services to where they are today.
Katharine Burr Blodgett
Katharine Burr Blodgett’s monomolecular coating work in the 20th century was instrumental in creating “invisible glass,” which has since been used in a variety of applications from military technology to eyeglass lens improvements. Her patent for the coating cemented her role as an important figure in American science history.
Judith Love Cohen
Judith Love Cohen was an American engineer, author, and entrepreneur known for her role in designing the Apollo Lunar Module’s Abort Guidance System (AGS), a failsafe that was instrumental in protecting the lives of the Apollo 13 crew on their dangerous descent back to Earth. She also co-founded a publishing company to distribute her children’s book collection that introduced girls to STEM and creative careers.
Invention Notebook
Read the stories of inventors who are improving lives through invention.
