Biography:Yvonne Brill

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Yvonne Brill
Born
Yvonne Madalaine Claeys

(1924-12-30)December 30, 1924
Winnipeg, Manitoba
DiedMarch 27, 2013(2013-03-27) (aged 88)
Princeton, New Jersey
Alma materUniversity of Manitoba, University of Southern California
OccupationAerospace Engineer Rocket Scientist
AwardsAIAA Wyld Propulsion Award (2002)
John Fritz Medal (2009)
Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame (2010)
National Medal of Technology (2010)

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.[1] During her career she was involved in a broad range of national space programs in the United States, including NASA and the International Maritime Satellite Organization.[2][3]

Early life

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to Belgium immigrant parents, Yvonne Brill, was a first-generation Canadian.[4] She was inspired to go to school by Amelia Earhart, the first woman pilot to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.[5] Despite her desire to attend school, she faced several hurdles, her father encouraged her to open a shop in their hometown instead of pursuing additional education, and her high school physics teacher told her that "a woman would never get anywhere".[6] She applied to the University of Manitoba's 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.[1] Despite this, Yvonne was the first in her family to go to college, graduating from the University of Manitoba in 1945 at the top of her class with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics.[7] She went on to study at the University of Southern California, where she took night classes and graduated in 1951 with a Master of Science in Physical Chemistry.[1] 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.[1]

Career

Following her graduation from the University of Manitoba, Brill began working at Douglas Aircraft in the United States in 1945. She mentions the shortage of technical graduates due to the United States conscription as a reason she was offered multiple positions despite her lack of an engineering degree.[6] Her main interest was in engineering, but she started as a mathematician in the Research Department and later transferred to Douglas’ Aerodynamics Department. There were very few women with which Brill worked. This was where she decided to pursue her Master's in Chemistry through late-night classes as she felt there was "no future" for her as a mathematician.[6]

She was then assigned to start working on the Project RAND contract as a mathematician and as part of the chemistry group. Project RAND focused on a new field of rockets, including the first American satellite.[8][9] Project RAND switched from satellites to focus on missiles and ramjet propellants around 1948 due to the Cold War; this prompted Brill to apply for other jobs. She started work at Marquardt where she was the only woman engineer.[6] She then met her husband, and continued working, as a consultant, while raising their three children.

After raising their 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.[10] Her innovation resulted in higher engine performance and increased propulsion system reliability.[3] 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.[11] Large aeronautics and aviation companies including, but not limited to, RCA, GE, Lockheed Martin, and Orbital Sciences have used the EHT in their communication satellites.[9]

Brill contributed to the propulsion systems of TIROS, 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, which in 1992 almost entered a Mars orbit before losing communication with Earth.[12]

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, overseeing the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Program and on the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel.[1]

Awards and honors

Brill was the recipient of many prestigious awards. She founded scholarships and a lectureship.

  • The NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal (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.[8]
  • 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.[13][14]
  • The American Association of Engineering Societies John Fritz Medal (2009). This medal is described as the Nobel prize of engineering, or the highest award within the profession.[15]
  • The Harper's Bazaar and the DeBeers Corporation Diamond Superwoman Award (1980). Given to her for returning to a successful career after starting a family.
  • In 2010, President Barack Obama bestowed her with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.[2] The medal is given to America’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.[16]
  • The National Inventors Hall of Fame (2010)
For 2013, see 4.

The Yvonne C. Brill Lectureship of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics is named in her honor and presented annually.[17] She spent the last twenty years of her life promoting women in science and engineering.[18]

Personal life

While completing her Master's degree, she met her husband, William Brill, a post doctoral fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles. The two were married within a year, and they soon moved East for William’s job at FMC Corporation.[7][8] The couple would move wherever work took him, and Yvonne later began working part-time and consulting jobs so that she could care for their two sons, Matthew and Joseph, and a daughter, Naomi.[19][7]

At age 88, Yvonne Brill died of complications of breast cancer in Princeton, New Jersey.

An obituary of Brill published in the March 30, 2013, issue of the New York Times drew much news coverage not necessarily because of her remarkable accomplishments in the field of rocket science, but due to apparent sexism.[8] 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".[8] 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.[8] The obituary was heavily criticized for leading with and overemphasizing Brill's gender and family life, rather than her remarkable scientific and career achievements[8] and was cited as an example of an article that failed the Finkbeiner test.[8] The Times later dropped the reference to her cooking and changed the lead of the article.[20][21]

See also

  • Timeline of women in science
  • "Chapter 25. Yvonne Brill". Women in the National Inventors Hall of Fame: The First 50 Years. Springer Nature. 2024. ISBN 9783031755255. 

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Yvonne Brill | The Canadian Encyclopedia". https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/yvonne-brill. 
  2. ↑ QMI AGENCY, "Pioneer Canadian rocket scientist dead at age 88", The Toronto Sun, March 27, 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Invent Now, "HALL OF FAME / Inventor Profile" , Invent Now, Accessed March 27, 2013.
  4. ↑ Weil, Martin (March 31, 2013). "Yvonne Brill, pioneer in spacecraft propulsion, dies at 88". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/yvonne-brill-pioneer-in-spacecraft-propulsion-dies-at-88/2013/03/31/f8f77d38-99c7-11e2-b68f-dc5c4b47e519_story.html. 
  5. ↑ "Yvonne Brill" (in en). https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/yvonne-brill. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Oral-History:Yvonne Brill" (in en). 2017-01-09. https://ethw.org/Oral-History:Yvonne_Brill. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Fourtané, Susan (2018-07-30). "51 Female Inventors and Their Inventions That Changed the World and Impacted the History In a Revolutionary Way" (in en-US). https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/female-inventors-and-their-inventions-that-changed-the-world-and-impacted-the-history-in-a-revolutionary-way. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 Center, Smithsonian Lemelson (2013-05-30). "Rocket Scientist and Inventor Yvonne Brill" (in en). https://invention.si.edu/rocket-scientist-and-inventor-yvonne-brill. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Yvonne Madelaine Brill" (in en-US). 2018-02-22. https://shethoughtit.ilcml.com/biography/yvonne-madelaine-brill/. 
  10. ↑ , Y."Dual thrust level monopropellant spacecraft propulsion system" patent US3807657A, issued 1974-04-30
  11. ↑ United States Patent and Trademark Office, "Yvonne C. Brill, RCA Astro Electronics", United States Patent and Trademark Office, Accessed March 30, 2013.
  12. ↑ Martin, Douglas. "Yvonne Brill, a Pioneering Rocket Scientist, Dies at 88", The New York Times, March 31, 2013. Accessed March 31, 2013.
  13. ↑ "Wyld Propulsion Award" (in en). https://www.aiaa.org/get-involved/honors-awards/awards/award-wyld-propulsion-award. 
  14. ↑ "Wyld Propulsion Award Recipients". American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. https://www.aiaa.org/HonorsAndAwardsRecipientsList.aspx?awardId=fafe1346-7cb6-41fe-b5f8-4a3abe413059. 
  15. ↑ "The John Fritz Medal winners". https://www.tbp.org/about/Dist/Fritz.cfm. 
  16. ↑ "National Medal of Technology and Innovation (NMTI)" (in en-US). https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/ip-programs-and-awards/national-medal-technology-and-innovation-nmti. 
  17. ↑ Hyland, Duane (August 11, 2014). "Dr. Adam Steltzner Awarded Inaugural Yvonne C. Brill Lectureship". American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. http://www.aiaa.org/SecondaryTwoColumn.aspx?id=24633. 
  18. ↑ "Know Your Scientist – Yvonne Brill" (in en). 14 April 2013. https://futurism.com/know-your-scientist-yvonne-brill. 
  19. ↑ "Yvonne Brill" (in en-US). https://news.usc.edu/tributes/yvonne-brill/. 
  20. ↑ "NYT Leads Obit For Brilliant Rocket Scientist With A Nod To Her Cooking And Parenting". 31 March 2013. https://www.buzzfeed.com/shani/new-york-times-leads-obit-for-brilliant-rocket-scientist-wit#.fpYn7wvEO. 
  21. ↑ "NY Times' Outrageous Obituary". Huffington Post. March 31, 2013. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/31/ny-times-yvonne-brill-obituary-criticism_n_2988690.html. 



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