Julia Mankoff

About Julia

Julia Mankoff is a design engineer working at the intersection of environmentalism and technology. With a dual background in mechanical engineering and sustainability, Julia aims to invent, scale, and distribute technologies that mitigate the climate crisis.

Since 2022, Julia has worked as a product design engineer at Apple, where she helped launch the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 15 Plus. Before Apple, Julia was a toy designer and YouTube host for KiwiCo. Her best-selling product, the Solar Crayon Recycler, teaches kids the science behind solar power and introduces them to the importance of renewable energy. Julia’s educational science content for KiwiCo has amassed over a million views on YouTube Kids, where children across the globe have watched her build a giant pumpkin launcher, explain how fish float, or lead a terrarium workshop.

Julia earned a BS in mechanical engineering from Yale University, focusing her studies on design and innovation. Outside of the classroom, she was involved with the Yale Sustainable Food Project and was awarded the O’Shaughnessy Global Food Fellowship to study regenerative farming and crop breeding in Ireland and Washington state. After graduation, she worked as a mechanical engineer at Tomorrow Lab, inventing hardware prototypes for entrepreneurs. Julia has also worked in the sustainable food industry at Kitchentown, where she connected innovative startups with legacy brands to scale up big ideas.

In her free time, Julia can be found playing semi-professional Ultimate Frisbee, embarking on elaborate baking projects, or knocking doors for her favorite political causes.