Books in STEM Trailblazer Bios series

When Diana Trujillo was little, working for NASA was her greatest dream. She loved to gaze at the stars in the sky. She also enjoyed math and art. Then she learned that engineers use math and art in their work. So Trujillo decided to be a NASA engineer. Although she didn't speak English, she was determined to live her dream. Trujillo believed in herself enough to move from Colombia to the United States to learn English. After years of hard work, she earned a degree in aerospace engineering. She quickly got a job at NASA and worked on the Mars rover Curiosity. She became the lead engineer on her team. Today, Trujillo is a mentor to other women and immigrants. She is also a role model to young scientists. She believes everyone can find a connection between what they love and science.

Do you like the challenge and adventure of video games? As Jane McGonigal was growing up, she had fun playing early video games. As an adult, she saw games as an outlet for problem solving and teambuilding. McGonigal started creating alternate reality games (ARGs), which may be based online but take place mainly in the real world. She enjoys challenging others to engage in modern issues and to work together, as in her game World Without Oil and in The Lost Ring, which she created for the 2008 Summer Olympics. McGonigal was named one of the world's top innovators by MIT's Technology Review, and her 2010 TED Talk, "Gaming Can Make a Better World," is one of the most-watched of all time. But how did she get there? Find out how she developed her passion for games to become the public face of game design.

While watching Star Trek on television as a child, Mae Jemison was certain she would one day visit space. As an adult, she made this dream a reality when she became the first black female NASA astronaut. Jemison became a medical doctor before applying for NASA's Space Shuttle program. Then, in 1992, she blasted off on the shuttle Endeavour and conducted scientific experiments to test the effects of space on human bone cells. Jemison has dedicated her life to science education and to finding ways to use technology to help communities around the world. Find out how Jemison's passion for science led to her many impressive achievements.

When Ellen Ochoa was young, male American astronauts walked on the moon. But girls were not allowed to be astronauts. Girls didn't often study science either―but Ochoa didn't let that stop her. In high school, Ochoa loved math and science. In college, she studied physics and engineering, and later she became a scientist and inventor. Eventually NASA began accepting women into their astronaut training program. While there, Ochoa developed technology, became the first female Hispanic American astronaut, and logged 1,000 hours in outer space. Learn about Ochoa's hard work and perseverance on her journey toward becoming a scientist, inventor, and astronaut.

Have you ever watched video of astronauts walking on the moon? Margaret Hamilton programmed software that helped get them there. As a girl, Hamilton loved math and science. She grew up during a time when very few women studied computer science, but Hamilton knew she wanted to write code. As an adult, she worked on NASA's Apollo program, creating computer programs to guide spacecraft to and from the moon. This included the 1969 Apollo 11 mission―the first spaceflight that landed humans on the moon. In 2016, Hamilton was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work. Learn how Hamilton's passion for math and computers played a key role in space exploration.

Have you ever watched a home video that went viral on the Internet? Then you've probably heard of the company YouTube. YouTube was created by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim in 2005. When these three friends wanted to share a video from a party, they realized they were on to something. They thought other people would want an easy way to share videos online too. The website they built quickly became the most popular online video community in the world. But how did they go from tech-savvy young adults to founders of one of the Internet's most visited sites ? Discover how Chen, Hurley and Karim came together to build an international platform for video sharing.

What do you want to be when you grow up? When Katherine Johnson was young, women weren't expected to go into the math and science fields. Johnson loved math, but she never thought she could be a mathematician. After studying math in school and teaching for a few years, she learned that the organization that would later become NASA was hiring women to complete mathematical equations. As an African American woman, Johnson had to work hard to earn the respect of her coworkers, but they soon came to rely on her brilliant calculations. Her contributions to the US space program helped send astronauts to the moon. Learn how Johnson broke barriers as a female African American mathematician.

Have you ever tried to come up with ways to solve a problem in your community? Wangari Maathai worked to solve an environmental crisis and help people at the same time. When Maathai was young, it was unusual for girls in Kenya to go to school, but she was determined to learn more about science and nature. As an adult, she noticed that people were cutting down too many trees. Maathai knew that forest loss was bad for the health of the environment and people. She started the Green Belt Movement, which educated women in rural villages and paid them for every tree they planted. The program helped plant millions of trees and brought money to the villages. For her environmental and human rights work, Maathai became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

Do you spend hours tinkering with projects? Do you also love listening to and collecting music? So did inventor Tony Fadell. He combined two of his passions to create the iPod, the world's most popular music player. Even as a child, Fadell was curious about how things worked. He invented a new processor for his computer and sold it to Apple when he was still a teenager! Years later, Apple reached out to Fadell to create an iPod prototype, and he helped lead the team that revolutionized portable music players. How did he go from a curious kid to an innovator in electronics? Read on to find out about his brilliant ideas and remarkable career.

Do you have friends or family members who use Facebook? That social networking website is the brainchild of Mark Zuckerberg. He has helped Facebook grow into a company that has almost one and a half billion users worldwide. Zuckerberg has been interested in computers for a long time. He began writing code when he was just twelve years old. Microsoft even offered to buy one of his programs while he was still in high school. When Zuckerberg created Facebook from his college dorm room, few could have guessed it would become the multibillion-dollar company it is today. Find out how Zuckerberg became a computer programmer who forever changed the way people connect online.

Do you play video games? If you do, you've probably played a game designed by Shigeru Miyamoto. Miyamoto pioneered a new kind of game based on story and characters, rather than competition with other players. As a child, Miyamoto was fascinated by animated movies. He drew his own cartoons and designed children's toys. In college, Miyamoto studied art and design. He was hired as an artist at Nintendo, a toy company that was just starting to make video games. At Nintendo, Miyamoto designed classic games such as Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. The follow-up Super Mario Bros. became the best-selling video game of its time. Today, Miyamoto still makes popular games for Nintendo, and fans can't wait to see what he comes up with next.

Are you a fan of computers? When Elon Musk was growing up, he taught himself computer programming so he could design his own games. As an adult, he set out to design much more complex tech inventions. Musk started his first tech company when he was twenty-four and quickly made a fortune. Then he moved on to bigger projects. He started a company called SpaceX to build reusable rockets―and possibly pave the way for a human settlement on Mars. His other company, Tesla Motors, makes electric cars, which Musk hopes will replace gas-powered vehicles. Then there's the Hyperloop, Musk's vision for a superfast new form of transportation. Find out how Musk defied the odds to build his tech empire―and maybe even change the world.