1978 National Inventor of the Year (US) Barbara Askins waited until her children were in school to finish her chemistry Bachelors and Masters degrees, then went on to work for NASA, developing a new way to process film using radioactive materials. The astronomical and geological images she worked on held much more detail, making them significantly more valuable to scientists, and her process was also applied to x-rays and restoration of old photos.
Martha Coston worked for 10 years to perfect and then patent her late husband’s idea for a pyrotechnic flare.
Rocket scientist Yvonne Brill did brilliant work in rocket propulsion and invented the electrothermal hydrazine thruster (used in controlling satellites), improving both engine performance and propulsion reliability.
Bertha Benz was her husband’s main investor, as well as an inventor. Her 1888 road trip—the first time an automobile with an internal combustion engine was driven over a long distance—was a strategic marketing tactic and practical test.
The first patent for a hair straightener was filed on November 3, 1893 by Ada Harris
The only female engineer among 900 rocket scientists at North American Aviation in the early 1950s, she invented hydyne, the rocket fuel that successfully boosted America’s first satellite into orbit in 1958.
Co-inventor of the rice cooker
Poppaea Sabina (30-65 CE) was the wife of Praetorian prefect Rufrius Crispinius and then Marcus Salvius Otho (r. 69 CE) before she became the second wife of Roman emperor Nero (r. 54-68 CE).
Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler is best-known as the creator of the Barbie doll
Beautyblender founder