“I was surprised how much they were willing to help us,” Hobbs said. “We’re all sort of working toward the same thing. That makes it more of a collaboration than a competition.”

Miss Possible has a five-person team of college-age women working on all aspects of their idea, from the design to web development and marketing. Hobbs has been working 50 to 60 hours a week on the plans since graduating this summer, even though she already has a job lined up starting next month.

Hobbs and Eaves know their career choices will put them in the minority in their fields, and that’s what they are hoping to change. Even though women represent half of all college-educated workers in this country, they made up just 28 percent of science and engineering workers in 2010.

Typical engineers. They spotted a problem and came up with a way to address it.

Hobbs and Eaves researched and found a factory in China to produce their dolls, which they will sell for $45 apiece. The monthlong Indiegogo.com campaign will hopefully help them raise the $75,000 they need to fund the factory’s minimum order of 5,000 dolls.