At age 23, she was the youngest and only female member of the team which built and experimented with the world's first nuclear reactor (then called a pile), Chicago Pile-1, in a project led by her mentor Enrico Fermi.
Con 23 anos de idade converteuse na persoa máis nova e na única muller en formar parte do equipo que construíu o primeiro reactor nuclear, o Chicago Pile-1, nun proxecto liderado polo seu mentor Enrico Fermi.