Yvonne Brill was a pioneering rocket scientist who never gave up.
That statement about the former resident of Princeton was delivered by her son, Matt Brill.
She passed away in 2013, but not without leaving behind a long list of accomplishments.
“My mother was a real humble person. She never sought out accolades,” said Matt Brill, who resides today in Gloucester County’s Swedesboro “When she was awarded something she would say wow look at the other people that previously received the honors, I cannot believe I am getting this. She was just always honored when she won awards.”
Yvonne Brill is remembered while Women’s History Month is celebrated in March.
She is famed for her development of rocket propulsion systems for communication satellites and her signature system was the electrothermal hydrazine thruster or EHT, according to the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Her EHT system electrically heats the rocket fuel hydrazine, which extends the performance of communication satellites by allowing those satellites to carry less fuel, and stay in orbit for a much longer time frame, according to the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
In 2002, Brill was awarded the American Institute of Aeronautics Astronautics Wyld Award, an award presented for outstanding achievement in the development or application of rocket propulsion systems, according to AIAA.
She also received the AAES John Fritz Medal, referred to as the highest award in the engineering profession, according to American Association of Engineering Societies.
Brill also achieved the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, which is the nation’s highest honor for technological achievement, that is presented by the President of the United States. Pres. Barack Obama awarded her this honor in 2011, according to the U.S Patent and Trademark Office.
Matt said when he was 10 years old, he realized his mom did not have a traditional career.
“It was about 1970 when I was 10 years old, the FBI came around our neighborhood asking questions about my mom,” he said. “Of course, I did not know whether she was a spy or what the deal was. My mom then said that it was for her top secret security clearance, so she could work on a satellite propulsion system that tracked Russian submarines.”
She was born in Winnipeg, Canada and attended the University of Manitoba, which is a public university in Winnipeg.
“To get an engineering degree you had to go to a summer field camp. They did not have separate facilities for women,” Matt said. The dean told her sorry and that he could not accommodate her. She instead had to get a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. My mom then received her masters in chemistry from the University of Southern California. So, the aerospace engineer did not have any engineering degrees. I tell you though she thought like an engineer.”
Brill would would later join the Society of Women Engineers in an effort to help women with the unique problems they face in the workforce, her son Matt said.
“One of my mom’s passions was trying to get women into other technical fields, not just with engineering,” he said.
According to the National Inventors Hall of Fame, Brill began her career at Douglas Aircraft, an American aerospace manufacturer, and she spent time with NASA.
“She was just a great mom from this son’s perspective,” Matt said.
