Necessity Is the Mother Of Invention - New York Times

Necessity Is the Mother Of Invention - New York Times: "Smith's entire life is like one of her inventions, portable and off the grid. At 41, she has no kids, no car, no retirement plan and no desire for a Ph.D. Her official title: instructor. ''I'm doing exactly what I want to be doing. Why would I spend six years to get a Ph.D. to be in the position I'm in now, but with a title after my name? M.I.T. loves that I'm doing this work. The support is there. So I don't worry.'' It was a good thing that she won the Collegiate Inventors award in 1999, she says, because back then she was stretching a three-month graduate-student stipend to last for a year and didn't know how she'd pay her rent. The $7,500 prize came just in time."