Meet a #futureshaper: Phoebe Henson

As a child, Phoebe Henson wanted to be an inventor.

She wanted to make crazy gadgets and solve a lot of big world problems.

“As I got older, I learned that another name for this was an engineer,” Phoebe said.

Now, she’s developing technology that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere of a spacecraft, making it possible to breathe on Mars.

Based in Glendale, AZ, here is her #futureshaper story.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
As a child I wanted to be an inventor, make crazy gadgets and solve a lot of big world problems. As I got older, I learned that another name for this was an engineer.

What do you do?
I am developing a technology that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere of a spacecraft. This is one of the technologies that will make it possible to live and breathe on the moon and Mars.

What gets you excited about coming to work every day?
I love working on my project and working with my team. They are some of the best scientists and engineers at Honeywell.

What do you wish people knew about Honeywell?
I wish more people knew about the range of problems that Honeywell is working to solve and our wide range of products.

How has Honeywell changed since you began working here?
There is an increased focus on business growth and a lot more excitement around the space business due to the rapidly growing and changing space market.

Why is the future important?
The future gives us hope and a vision for a better world, and that vision gives us the drive to get there.

How does your job make tomorrow better and safer than today?
My job is to provide the life support necessary to enable humans to go where they haven’t gone before, so that they might find new homes for us, capture more materials for our use, and help us answer some of the big questions that we have about life and our universe.

What qualities do you think a #futureshaper should have?
A #futureshaper is open-minded, curious and a problem-solver, and someone who has the desire to make the world a better place.

If you were a fortune reader, what would you predict as the future of your industry?
With the advent of the new commercial space launch companies who want to go to Mars and the Moon, I think the space market is going to experience very sudden and dramatic growth. With that growth will come the need for in-space resources. I think Honeywell may be particularly aligned to capture much of that market because of our space and industrial chemical processing backgrounds.

What advice do you have for someone who wants to follow in your footsteps?
Try a lot of different things and figure out what you do and don’t like. When you find a project that you want to be involved in, find the place where you can make the biggest impact and dig in.

What do you for fun?
In my free time I like to read, spend time with family and friends, scuba dive, and hike.

Learn more about what it is like to be a #futureshaper.