Toby Bothel
Executive Vice-President for Engineering and Digital Fabrication
Toby graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from Cornell University, and joined the staff of the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Carderock, Maryland, the U.S. Navy’s prime experimental facility for testing the hydrodynamic designs of ship and submarine models. She received her Master’s Degree in Ocean Engineering from the George Washington University in 1987. For the 34 years, she led model-scale and full-scale experiments aimed at measuring the flow around surface ships and submarines. From 2007-2014, Toby directed the National Defense Education Program’s K-12 STEM Outreach effort at Carderock, engaging fifty lab STEM professionals in bringing authentic engineering projects to local school districts.
Toby retired from the Naval Surface Warfare Center in 2014 and joined TIES where she leads a Digital Fabrication team of Fab Lab designers and installers, Fab content developers, and educator professional development trainers. Toby also leads TIES’ work with the Defense STEM Education Consortium, including the deployment of a Mobile STEM-on-the-Go Digital Fabrication Van.
Toby and her husband Bob live near Tarcoles, Costa Rica. When she is not working, she loves ocean kayaking, birdwatching, exploring the biodiversity of Costa Rica, and spending time with her two grandchildren.