Christina Ernst

Christina Ernst
Ernst in 2025
Instagram information
Page	shebuildsrobots
Years active	2022–present
Genre	Engineering
Followers	495 thousand (29 June 2025)
Website	www.shebuildsrobots.org

Christina Ernst is an American engineer and social media content creator known for her work in "fashioneering," a portmanteau for the integration of fashion and engineering. ^[1] Ernst has received media coverage for her viral wearable technology projects and her educational initiative She Builds Robots. ^[2] She was a recurring guest on Season 6 of the CBS WKND television show Mission Unstoppable. ^[3]

Education

Ernst attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she was the recipient of the Alwan Engineering Scholarship. ^[4] She graduated in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering. ^[5]

At a 2017 college hackathon, she created a Bluetooth-controlled, color-changing dress. ^[6] Ernst was struck by the enthusiastic response from young women and girls who approached her, expressing a desire to learn to code specifically to create similar projects. ^[6] Following the event, she received a grant which provided the seed funding for what would become her educational initiative She Builds Robots. ^[1]

Career

Maker-in-Residency

In the fall of 2024, Ernst served as the Maker-in-Residence at the Chicago Public Library Maker Lab, located in Harold Washington Library. ^[7] During her residency, she taught free public workshops on coding, circuits, and motor control. ^[8] Her final project for the residency was a motorized dress inspired by Jackson Park’s Garden of the Phoenix, which was put on public display at the library. ^[6]

Science communication

In October 2024, Ernst posted a video of one of her engineering projects, a motorized character from the film Ratatouille. The video went viral and was covered in publications such as Popular Science, ^[2] The CBC, ^{[9] [10]} Entertainment Weekly, ^[11] and CNN. ^[1]

In late 2024 and early 2025, Ernst had a recurring role on Season 6 of Mission Unstoppable, a STEM-focused educational television show on CBS hosted by Miranda Cosgrove. ^{[2] [3] [12]}

In April 2025, Ernst was a keynote speaker for the Women In Tech Sweden conference, where she emphasized the shared themes between textiles and computing. ^{[13] [14]}

References

1. Palumbo, Jacqui (2025-05-21). "Feats of fantasy: This software engineer codes self-twirling and illuminating gowns". CNN. Retrieved 2025-06-28.
2. Alt, Eric (2024-10-19). "Meet the engineer who crafted a genius animatronic 'Ratatouille' Halloween costume". Popular Science. Retrieved 2025-06-28.
3. "Mission Unstoppable with Miranda Cosgrove". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2025-06-28.
4. Communications, Grainger Engineering Office of Marketing and. "Alwan Engineering Scholarship". ece.illinois.edu. Retrieved 2025-06-28.
5. Communications, Grainger Engineering Office of Marketing and. "Christina Ernst". ece.illinois.edu. Retrieved 2025-06-28.
6. Cerda, Marissa De La (2024-12-09). "Meet the Maker: Christina Ernst". Chicago Public Library Foundation. Retrieved 2025-06-28.
7. "Meet the 2024 Makers-in-Residence". www.chipublib.org. 2024-04-12. Retrieved 2025-06-28.
8. "Crafting with Code: Write Code to Control a Noisemaker and Motor by Chicago Public Library". My Chi. My Future. Retrieved 2025-06-28.
9. CBC News: The National (2024-10-16). #TheMoment an engineer built a robot Remy from Ratatouille . Retrieved 2025-06-28– via YouTube.
10. Drost, Philip (2024-10-15). "This engineer built a functioning Remy from Ratatouille". CBC. Retrieved 2025-06-28.
11. "Patton Oswalt reacts to spot-on 'Ratatouille' Halloween costume featuring motorized Remy". EW.com. Retrieved 2025-06-28.
12. "Christina Ernst | Producer". IMDb. Retrieved 2025-06-28.
13. "Christina Ernst". Women In Tech Sweden (in Swedish). Retrieved 2025-06-28.
14. "New Threads: Tech Education through Fashion". Women In Tech Sweden (in Swedish). Retrieved 2025-06-28.