It’s Mother’s Day WEEK, and today we’re turning our attention to four brilliant, beautiful, totally inspiring moms who spend their days innovating to change the world. It’s all part of an exciting series with GE that focuses on tapping into technological creativity in every mom, sister and aunt. Whether fixing, hacking or redesigning things, moms have a knack for engineering solutions in unexpected places and achieving feats of greatness on the daily.
We hope these stories inspire you as much as they inspire us — these women are seriously badass!
DANIELLE MERFELD // ELECTRICAL ENGINEER AT GE
Based in Schenectady, NY, GE Electrical Engineer Danielle Merfeld is one seriously inspiring lady. Her interest in electrical engineering stemmed from a love of lasers — the very fact that we can convert electricity to light sparked (pun intended) something in Danielle. Now she spends her days engineering new ways to create lighting that uses less energy to make the world brighter, more efficient and more connected. We can certainly get behind that.
The Maker Shop
SKEYE Nano Drone ($49) is literally the world’s smallest quadrocopter. On the right we’ve got the Leeo Smart Alert Nightlight ($99), a beautiful and practical nightlight that connects you to the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in your home via your phone.
Nomiku
get it in our shop!
LISA FETTERMAN // FOUNDER OF NOMIKU
Tell us your story.
I am a classically trained journalist from the Arthur L. Carter School of Journalism at NYU. I loved writing — for me it meant creating something from absolutely nothing as quickly as possible. I loved that I could live a different life every week through meeting my heroes and people I found absolutely fascinating. Eventually I got tired of being the record-keeper rather than the record-holder and decided to make my own company. I definitely couldn’t have gotten to that point though without seeing the miracle that is human will from my interview subjects like Harvey Pekar or Belle Yang.
My main interest is people. I love people and the way their minds work. I could talk to any person off the street for hours. I’d just sit there sipping on some hot tea and listen, listen, listen and soak up all of that goodness. Basically I’m crazy for stories. When I was little, the highlight of my day was when my dad would tuck me in and tell me stories of when he was an entrepreneur. I would retell them in the schoolyard the next day to a rapt audience.
People always say that they want to be a doctor because they want to help people, but engineers and makers are what make the world go round. Pretty much every object you interact with and see was created by a person. The world around you is a construct of a minute amount of people, and it’s powerful to be among the elite. The thing is, it shouldn’t be an elite thing to do — everyone is born to make. To make and to engineer is the ultimate expression of your potential from within, and it’s going to make you feel good.
What inspires you? Why do you love to innovate and create?
Passion inspires me, if anybody is excited about something. Football, food, lyrca leggings, jewelry, spelunking or code, I can’t help but get sucked into their energy forcefield! Give me a day with a passionate person and the next day I’ll probably wearing a t-shirt reppin’ their dream because I am so inspired. I’d then spread their story, go for it myself. An example is when my creative director Monica introduced me to Krav Maga. I signed up for classes because of her passion! I got totally beat up and it was so much fun.
I love to innovate and create because it’s like walking a city and finding an undiscovered treasure to call my own. There’s a saying that there’s nothing new under the sun, but there was never a Lisa Q. Fetterman under the sun before. I’d never done “xyz” and I want to do it!
What’s one piece of advice you’d share with other budding female engineers, innovators and makers?
The Maker Shop
Bheard Sound Pod ($35) — she uses it to play music for her 18-month-old Zech, who she let us know is “such a funny and enthusiastic dancer.” Like Danielle, she loves the Leeo Smart Alert Nightlight ($99) and has her sights set on the Lomo’Instant Camera ($119) as a gift for her husband (and co-founder).
The third inspiring mama on this list is Pu Ma, a Senior Software Verification Engineer at GE based in Sunnyvale, CA. What does being a Software Verification Engineer mean? For Pu, it means working in the medical healthcare area to make a difference. In particular, she recently spent time working on the Invenia™ ABUS, a new imaging technology proven to help clinicians find more cancers in women with dense breasts than mammograms alone (See source at the end of this post). Pu’s work can help save people’s lives — and that is just one of the reasons she is a major inspiration to us.
PU MA // SENIOR SOFTWARE VERIFICATION ENGINEER GE
Tell us your story.
After I got my bachelor of Engineering in China, I went to Canada to pursue my Master of Applied Science degree in the Electrical & Computer Engineering department. My research was about automatically detecting tumors in MR brain images, which started my interest in the medical imaging area. I think it is very meaningful to work in the medical healthcare area since I can contribute my knowledge and experience to the products which saves peoples’ lives. I am very glad I’ve had the chance to work on Invenia Automated Breast Ultrasound (ABUS) at GE healthcare to help improve women’s health in the world.
What inspires you? Why do you love to innovate and create?
The Maker Shop
Bheard Sound Pod ($35) also jumped out at her. Who doesn’t love something that amplifies music without the use of power? She also picked out the Bluetooth Selfie Stick ($35) for capturing her favorite moments, whether on the job or off.
Last but *obviously* not least is Quora Director of Product Management Sandra Liu. You might be thinking “So, what is a Product Manager?” Sandra tells us product management is all about solving problems for people through technology. Can we say #dreamjob? But Sandra isn’t all business all the time. She exercises her creative muscles by drawing cartoons for her kids. Plus her hidden talent is piano karaoke. What’s in her repertoire? All pop all the time!
SANDRA LIU HUANG // DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT MANAGEMENT AT QUORA
Wristlet Phone Charger
Leeo Smart Alert Nightlight ($99). She loves how such a simple and innovative device suddenly opens up a new platform for our homes whether or not we’re physically there.
Girl Develop It
register here ASAP using the code GDI4Moms. (Note: The Girl Develop It class offer is only available to the first 150 customers who redeem their gift code. So, don’t delay!!)
It’s all about bringing out Mom’s inner tinkerer, maker and engineer. These classes are meant to serve as stepping stones for women to invent world-changing products. We’re in a new era of building, and what it means to make is constantly being redefined. It’s up to us to learn these skills to change the world.
We want to hear from you, too! Use hashtag #MyMomMakes on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and tag @britandco and @generalelectric to share your stories.
