Christina Schober is an innovative engineer with a diverse background in design and manufacturing engineering.
With more than 40 years of experience, Christina’s engineering career spanned multiple Ring Laser Gyro product lines in Design, Manufacturing, and Research at Honeywell. Ring Laser Gyros are the sensors used in systems for Space, Commercial, and Military aircraft navigation and Tactical Guidance products. She is currently a consultant.
Christina holds 17 U.S. patents and 24 patents in other countries in the fields of aerospace and navigation. Schober started her career in the 1980s, at a time when female engineers were not widely accepted. The prevailing attitude required her to “stay tough,” she says, and she credits IEEE for giving her technical and professional support. Because of her experiences, she became dedicated to making diversity and inclusion systemic in IEEE.
Back in 1990, when she was asked to run for section chair, she told them, “Who in IEEE will vote for a Mechanical Engineer, Girl Scout leader?” Christina ran and never stopped her involvement with IEEE.
As a Life Member Committee member, Christina looks forward to building a broader LMAG network of active members and expanding volunteer opportunities at IEEE conferences and in STEM activities. She also wants to find a way to reach other IEEE seniors, who don’t necessarily qualify for Life Member status, but would benefit from Life Members’ news and events.
Fulfilling Activities
Outside of IEEE, Christina volunteers at Hope 4 Youth, a homeless youth shelter in Anoka, Minnesota. This volunteer work has also been flexible, allowing me to work around the frequent IEEE travel needs. She also visits and assists a home-bound senior weekly, helping as needed and relishing in the long discussions we have.
She and her husband, Steve, enjoy babysitting their grandchildren and riding snowmobiles in the upper Midwest of the United States. Christina has six brothers and four sisters, and her father was an Aeronautical/Mechanical engineer. She comes from a family of engineers, with four generations having graduated from the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering (formerly known as the Institute of Technology), including their son, who earned a degree in Biomedical Engineering. She’s sure some of the fifth generation will be added soon.
