Just imagine! To develop something amazing needs people. I do not think they have to be extraordinary, but they have to be good at something. A hardware talent can develop a physical product. An engineer with software skills can program the tool. Let us not forget the convincing power which would attract the first customers and supporters. Consider the three inspirational female leaders.
Ms. Simone Giertz is a Swedish inventor and YouTuber. After dropping out of university and inspired by one of Disney's cartoons she started inventing seemingly useless robots, that often have humorous features. She calls herself "the queen of shitty robots". Her stamina and persistence led her out of a dangerous disease and did not prevent her from creating further inventions. With her online content, she managed to gain significant media attention. Can you imagine what kind of cool product she could create?
A mathematician Katherine Johnson was calculating trajectories and other orbital mechanics at NASA. As a part of major projects like Apollo 11, she contributed greatly to their successes and safety. Her talents were discovered early by her parents, who took care that she attended schools, even though there was no public schooling for African-American students in her age. At 18, she graduated summa cum laude from the West Virginia State College, where she was mentored by great experts in science.
Ms. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is an American politician. With her motivation and convincing power, she managed to defeat a sure opponent in the democratic prelection for the New York district in 2018. That is how she gained national attention. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez describes climate change as the single biggest threat to the modern industrialized society. As she was 18 she came second in an international science and engineering competition and as a result, a small asteroid was called after her.
If those three personalities met, they could come up with a great idea. Inspired by their abilities I suppose they could create a freight transport vehicle. Let me give it a working name YouRocket®. Imagine YouRocket® would address some of the world's biggest logistic and environmental problems. By providing a capsule without an engine and an operator it would save fuel, energy, and labor and be faster than some traditional transport means. Moreover, it would create less pollution in the atmosphere.
How could they achieve this? Ms.Giertz would develop a prototype. The launching station can rotate to point the capsule in the right direction. A stationary engine powered by solar cells sets the vehicle into motion. Materials used for the outer part of the capsule should be strong enough to avoid burning in the high atmosphere. The landing procedure is difficult since neither an engine nor a pilot is involved, but this could be challenged.
To calculate the launch angle and energy Ms. Johnson would need to compensate for friction, air movements, and gravity. The routes of the planes must be taken into the consideration as well. When the capsule reaches its highest point, only momentum and gravity keep it moving, so no additional energy is needed from this point on. So the capsule smartly utilize gravity as its driving force.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez would convince the environmental organizations for support, cause the vehicle causes less pollution than planes, cars, and ships. The transportation sector actually generates the largest share of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the U.S.A., which is nearly 30% of all emissions. The European Parliament requires to reduce the CO2 emissions by at least 40% by 2030. And the U.S.A. has just rejoined the Paris Agreement, which obliges countries to reduce their GHG emissions.
Have you ever considered what are you good at? How could you contribute to YouRocket®? Whom would you like to see in the project? Write this in a comment! Get inspired by female inventors and inventions in the new series of the FTL Educational Team!
Further inspirations:
“Hidden Figures” an American biographical movie about Johnson from 2016.
Author:
Marta Krawczyk