Engineers make the world work. Yet, today, still, only a small percentage of the U.S. engineering workforce is female. At the recent Society of Women Engineers (SWE) National Conference, I saw how much women engineers enjoy and get satisfaction from their jobs and how much value their efforts provide in making the world a better place. For over 65 years, SWE has worked to increase the number of women in the engineering profession. Match the engineering woman with her accomplishment:
____ 1. A founder and the first president of the Society of Women Engineers, she ran her own company and invented a gas density switch.
____ 2. Aeronautical engineer and first female Secretary of the Air Force.
____ 3. The first female electrical engineering professor at the University of Texas at Austin, she wrote the books that describe the methodology used to evaluate the wires that deliver electricity to the country.
____ 4. She developed the computer compiler, the software that translates human languages into the zeros and ones that a computer understands.
____ 5. The mother of twelve children profiled in books and movies, she is a co-founder of the field of industrial engineering.
A. Edith Clarke
B. Lillian Moller Gilbreth
C. Beatrice Hicks
D. Admiral Grace Murray Hopper
E. Sheila Widnall
The first woman to get an electrical engineering degree from MIT, Edith Clarke was a trailblazer throughout her career. During her years of employment at General Electric, she invented a graphical calculator that was used to solve electric transmission line problems. She wrote a two-volume book that described how to evaluate the wires that deliver electricity around the country. A recipient of SWE's Achievement Award, Clark was the first electrical engineering professor at the University of Texas at Austin. She has been inducted into the National Inventor's Hall of Fame.
Lillian Moller Gilbreth and her husband Frank Gilbreth had twelve children so that they could test their theories of industrial engineering. The so-called "First Lady of Engineering" Gilbreth was the first female engineering professor at Purdue, the first woman elected to the National Academy of Engineering, and the first and only woman until 2005 to receive the Hoover Award. The so-called "mother of modern management", she pioneered in the use of career interest surveys, matching people's abilities and interests with their job. You can thank her for the foot-pedal trash can and the egg tray and butter dish in your refrigerator. Gilbreth has been inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.
One of the founders and the first president of SWE, Beatrice Hicks decided to become an engineer after she was inspired by the Empire State Building and the George Washington Bridge. She was a pioneer in the development of pressure and gas density controls for the aerospace and electronics industries, ran her own company, and received a patent for her gas density switch. She encouraged women to pursue careers in the engineering profession. Among her many awards were recognition by the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame and induction into the National Women's Hall of Fame.
The first individual woman to receive the National Medal of Technology Admiral Grace Murray Hopper developed the computer compiler. This is the software that allows us to use human languages to talk to a computer; the compiler translates our languages into the zeros and ones that the computer understands. She developed the first English-based computer language, was instrumental in the development of the business computer language COBOL, and she loved to take credit for finding the first computer bug - a moth. The destroyer Hopper was named in her honor. Admiral Hopper has been inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.
When aeronautical engineer Sheila Widnall was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame, she said that growing up on a ranch in California and herding horses was good practice for leading the faculty at MIT. The first, and to date the only, woman to head a branch of the military, Widnall served as Secretary of the Air Force from 1993 to 1997. Widnall was also the first woman to chair a department at MIT. A member of the National Academy of Engineering, Widnall is an expert in aircraft fluid dynamics.
Learn about more she-roes and celebrate amazing women. These pioneering engineering women are profiled in the book Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America. They changed the world and paved the way for me to be an engineer. The world has truly benefited and continue to benefit from their passion, determination, and persistence.
(Answers 1-C, 2-E, 3-A, 4-D, 5-B )