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.
I Bet You Didn’t Know
Toby is a dragon boat paddler. She has paddled on two breast cancer survivor teams in Washington, DC and Akron, Ohio, and has created Costa Rica’s first dragon boat team for breast cancer survivors and survivors of other cancers.
What I Love About My Job
I love working for TIES because I have the chance to collaborate with an amazing team of colleagues and to work closely with teachers who care deeply about their profession and want to share their passion for teaching with their students.
A Transforming Moment
During the last seven years of her time at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Toby served as Carderock’s STEM Outreach Coordinator, leading a team of engineers and scientists to bring authentic engineering experiences to K-12 students in the local community. Now working with TIES, a STEM partner in the Defense STEM Education Consortium, Toby is co-leading a Community of Practice for STEM Outreach Coordinators, working with some of the same Coordinators as she collaborated with seventeen years ago!