Yvonne Madelaine Brill ( née Claeys; December 30, 1924 – March 27, 2013) was a Canadian American rocket and jet propulsion engineer. She is responsible for inventing the Electrothermal Hydrazine Thruster (EHT/Resistojet), a fuel-efficient rocket thruster that keeps today’s satellites in orbit, and holds a patent for its invention. During her career she was involved in a broad range of national space programs in the United States, including
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
The Toronto Sun
The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Postmedia Place in ...
'', March 27, 2013.
Early life
Born in
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
, Yvonne Brill, is a first-generation Canadian, as her parents were immigrants from
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
. She was inspired to attend school by Amelia Earhart, the first woman pilot to fly across the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
. When she was young, her father encouraged her to open a shop in their hometown, while her high school science teacher told her that a woman wouldn't get anywhere in science. She ignored both. Yvonne was the first in her family to go to college, graduating from the
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba. She had originally applied to their engineering program at 18, but was denied by the school, as they claimed that their mandatory summer camp did not have the necessary facilities to host female students. Her denial to Manitoba’s school of engineering forever inspired her to encourage women in the sciences, and in her, forged an unwavering confidence against gender-based discrimination. She went on to study at the
University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8.1 ...
, where she took night classes and graduated in 1951 with a master's degree in chemistry.
Personal life
After completing her master's degree at the
University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8.1 ...
, Yvonne met William Brill, a research chemist, at RAND. The two were married within a year, and they soon moved East for William’s job at
FMC Corporation
FMC Corporation is an American chemical manufacturing company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which originated as an insecticide producer in 1883 and later diversified into other industries. In 1941 at the beginning of US involvemen ...
.
The couple would move wherever work took him, and Yvonne later began working part-time jobs so that she could care for their two sons, Matthew and Joseph, and a daughter, Naomi.
Career
Following her graduation from USC, Brill began working at
Douglas Aircraft
The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer based in Southern California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas; it then operated as ...
in 1945 after being recruited despite her lack of an engineering degree. Her main interest was in engineering, but she transferred to Douglas’ chemistry department to work with rocket propellants, rocket engines, and ramjets. She then began working on the
Project RAND
The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is financed ...
contract at Douglas where they focused on a new field of rockets, including the first American satellite. It is believed that Brill was the only female rocket scientist in the 1940s, which was partly what attracted her to this line of work.
After raising her children and returning to full-time work, she took a position at RCA’s rocket subsidiary, Astro Electronics. Here, she developed the concept for a new rocket engine, inventing the Electrothermal Hydrazine Thruster (EHT/Resistojet) for which she holds US Patent No. 3,807,657. Her innovation resulted in not only higher engine performance, but also increased the reliability of the propulsion system. She also proposed the use of a single propellant because of the value and simplicity that it would provide. The reduction in propellant weight requirements enabled either increased payload capability or extended mission life. The Resistojet proved to be more suitable for controlling satellites’ orbit and their communication.
Her invention became a standard in the industry and has translated into millions of dollars of increased revenue for commercial communications satellite owners.United States Patent and Trademark Office "Yvonne C. Brill, RCA Astro Electronics"
United States Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alex ...
, Accessed March 30, 2013. Large aeronautics and aviation companies including, but not limited to,
RCA
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
Orbital Sciences
Orbital Sciences Corporation (commonly referred to as Orbital) was an American company specializing in the design, manufacture, and launch of small- and medium- class space and launch vehicle systems for commercial, military and other governmen ...
have used the EHT in their communication satellites.
Brill contributed to the propulsion systems of
TIROS
TIROS, or Television InfraRed Observation Satellite, is a series of early weather satellites launched by the United States, beginning with TIROS-1 in 1960. TIROS was the first satellite that was capable of remote sensing of the Earth, enabli ...
, the first weather satellite; Nova, a series of rocket designs that were used in American Moon missions; Explorer 32, the first upper-atmosphere satellite; and the
Mars Observer
The ''Mars Observer'' spacecraft, also known as the ''Mars Geoscience/Climatology Orbiter'', was a robotic space probe launched by NASA on September 25, 1992, to study the Martian surface, atmosphere, climate and magnetic field. During the int ...
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', March 31, 2013. Accessed March 31, 2013.
Between the years of 1981 and 1983, Brill also contributed to development of the rocket engines of NASA’s space shuttles. She finished her career at
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
, overseeing the
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program ...
Solid Rocket Program and on the
Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding th ...
.
Awards and honors
In light of her brilliance in the field of rocket science and subsequent contributions, Brill was the recipient of many prestigious awards and founded scholarships and a lectureship.
* The
NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal
The NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal is an award similar to the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, but awarded to non-government personnel. This is the highest honor NASA awards to anyone who was not a government employee when the service ...
(2001). This is the highest honor that NASA awards to non-government employees who demonstrate a level of excellence that has made a profound impact to NASA mission success.
* The AIAA Wyld Propulsion Award (2002) This award is given annually to honor outstanding achievements in the development or application or rocket propulsion systems. She was presented the award considering her innovations in electric on-orbit propulsion systems.
* The
American Association of Engineering Societies
The American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) is an umbrella organization of engineering societies in the US, founded by a group of 43 societies in 1979. After several disputes, and a change in focus in the mid-1980s from speaking for t ...
John Fritz Medal
The John Fritz Medal has been awarded annually since 1902 by the American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) for "outstanding scientific or industrial achievements". The medal was created for the 80th birthday of John Fritz, who lived betw ...
(2009). This medal is described as Nobel prize of engineering, or the highest award within the profession.
* The '' Harper's Bazaar'' and the
DeBeers
De Beers Group is an international corporation that specializes in diamond mining, diamond exploitation, diamond retail, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. The company is active in open-pit, large-scale alluvial and ...
Corporation Diamond Superwoman Award (1980). Given to her for returning to a successful career after starting a family.
* In 2010, President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
bestowed her with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation./sup> is given to American’s leading innovators who have made outstanding contributions to the development of new and important technology that support America’s economic, environmental, and social well-being.
* The
National Inventors Hall of Fame
The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) is an American not-for-profit organization, founded in 1973, which recognizes individual engineers and inventors who hold a U.S. patent of significant technology. Besides the Hall of Fame, it also oper ...
(2010)
Brill was elected to the
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...
(1987). She was also named fellow of The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) in 1985 and received its highest honor, the Achievement Award, the following year.
The Yvonne C. Brill Lectureship of the
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA is the U.S. representative on the International Astronautical Federation and the International Council of ...
(AIAA) is named in her honor and presented annually. She spent the last twenty years of her life promoting women in science and engineering and nominated them for awards and prizes she thought they deserved.
Death and legacy
At age 88, Yvonne Brill died of complications of
breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...
in Princeton, New Jersey.
An obituary of Brill published in the March 30, 2013, issue of the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' drew much news coverage not necessarily because of her remarkable accomplishments in the field of rocket science, but due to apparent sexism. It originally began: "She made a mean beef stroganoff, followed her husband from job to job and took eight years off from work to raise three children". Only several paragraphs later would you be able to find out that she was actually working part-time while raising her children, and then returning to full-time employment that lead to her fame for her research and innovations. The obituary was heavily criticized for leading with and overemphasizing Brill's gender and family life, rather than her remarkable scientific and career achievements and was cited as an example of an article that failed the
Finkbeiner test
The Finkbeiner test, named for the science journalist Ann Finkbeiner, is a checklist to help science journalists avoid gender bias in articles about women in science. It asks writers to avoid describing women scientists in terms of stereotypicall ...
. The ''Times'' later dropped the reference to her cooking and changed the lead of the article.
Brill’s legacy has forever impacted the present and future of rocket science, as her research and contributions to rocket propulsion systems, as well as her invention of the electrothermal hydrazine thruster have and will continue to help us to learn and understand more about the final frontier.
See also
*
Timeline of women in science
This is a timeline of women in science, spanning from ancient history up to the 21st century. While the timeline primarily focuses on women involved with natural sciences such as astronomy, biology, chemistry and physics, it also includes women f ...