10/9/2018 7 Famous Female Engineers in History

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7 Famous Female Engineers in

History
BY MONICA SHEPHERD , ON 30 JULY 2014 SUBSCRIBE NOW

If I asked you to name a famous female engineer off the top of your head, could you do it? Even in
2014, engineering is still thought of as a largely male-dominated industry. However, throughout
history, there have been many women who have signicantly contributed to various elds of
engineering, while likely overcoming discrimination and social challenges to do so.

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So, let’s hear it for the girls! Here is a notable selection of forward-thinking females who have broken
through barriers to blaze a glamorous trail though engineering history:

1. Edith Clarke

In 1918, Edith Clarke became the rst woman to earn an electrical engineering degree from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Displaying some serious employee loyalty, Edith worked from
1919 until 1945 at General Electric, becoming a salaried electrical engineer after just two years of
employment (quite an achievement for a woman at this time).

In 1921 she received her rst patent for the Clarke Calculator - a device that was used to solve
electric power transmission line issues. She went on to teach electrical engineering at the University

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of Texas for 10 years, making her the rst female Professor of Electrical Engineering in the United
States.
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2. Emily Roebling

Emily Roebling is evidence that behind every good man stands a great and gutsy woman.

Roebling never planned on becoming an engineer, it’s funny then that she is credited with being at
the helm of one of the biggest feats of engineering for her time. She is best known for her role as
Chief Engineer during the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, completed in 1883.

Her position came about when her husband, who was in charge of the bridge’s construction,
became ill and bed-ridden. Taking one for the team, Roebling assumed the role of ‘rst woman eld
engineer’ and became responsible for the day-to-day project management, relaying the information
from her husband to the workers, and carrying out her own studies of technical issues, materials,
stress analysis, construction and calculations.

3. Martha Coston

Martha Coston quite literally blazed her way into engineering history books. Coston is credited with
creating a signalling are system, known as Coston Flares, still used by the US Navy today.

At the age of 21, Coston was left a widow with four children to support. Desperate times called for
some creative thinking. She discovered a design for a pyrotechnic are that her late husband had left

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behind in his notebook, and set about designing a signal are that would work. For nearly 10 years
she worked on perfecting the design, which needed to be bright, multi-coloured and long-lasting if
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they were to be effective tools for communication. She nally achieved a patent in 1859, with the US
Navy paying her $20,000 for the rights to the ares - mega bucks in Martha’s time.
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4. Lillian Gilbreth

Lillian Gilbreth is heralded as a pioneer in the eld of industrial engineering and psychology, and
often referred to as the ‘Mother of Modern Management’. She became the rst female member of
the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and worked with General Electric to improve the
design of kitchen and household appliances. As one of her son’s wrote “If the only way to enter a
man’s eld was through the kitchen door, that’s the way she’d enter”. Interestingly though, she was
apparently a terrible cook.

If you think being a modern working mum is tough, then spare a thought for Lillian doing it without
the help of today’s time-saving technologies. As a mother of twelve, Gilbreth became recognised not
just for her development of industrial management techniques, but also for her ability to combine a
career and a family, with the California Monthly labelling her ‘a genius in the art of living’. Twelve
kids? No wonder she was continuously working on ways to get things done faster at home.

5. Stephanie Kwolek

Chances are you’ve heard of Kevlar, a stiff synthetic material ve times as strong as steel. Because of
it’s resistance to corrosion and ames, it is the main element in the production of bullet-proof vests,
as well as a whole range of everyday products including safety helmets, camping gear, snow skis and
cables.

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We have Stephanie Kwolek to thank for this super-strong material, one of the rst female research
chemists. Aside from the discovery of Kevlar, Kwolek is also the recipient of 17 US patents for her
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other research efforts.

Kwolek died peacefully on June 18 this year (2014), at the age of 90, likely with the comforting
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knowledge that her discovery went on to help save thousands of lives.

6. Mary Anderson

Next time you’re driving through a downpour, give a nod to Mary Anderson. Although technically not
an automotive engineer, we have her to thank for one handy feature that is still used on our motor
vehicles today - the windscreen wiper. Her idea was simple: a rubber blade attached to a spring-
loaded arm which would sweep across the windscreen to clear rain, snow and dust. Genius.

Windscreen wipers are standard on all modern cars, however the concept wasn’t initially so
accepted by many in the automotive industry. In fact, when she tried to sell the rights in 1905, she
was told by one company “we do not consider it to be of such commercial value as would warrant
our undertaking its sale”. The naysayers thought it would distract drivers if they had to operate the
device and also see it moving in front of them, and Mary’s patent expired before the wiper became
widely adopted with the boom of the automotive industry.

7. Hedy Lamarr

Better known as a star of the silver screen in the 1930s and 40s, and best remembered for being the
rst woman to bare all in one of cinema’s rst sex scenes, actress Hedy Lamarr proved she was

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much more than a pretty face. In fact, if it wasn’t for Hedy, we likely wouldn’t have WiFi today (hello,
why is this woman not a God?).
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Taking time out of her acting schedule, Oh-la-la-Lamarr shattered stereotypes by using engineering
acumen ahead of her time to invent a remote-controlled
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It’s this frequency hopping theory that essentially serves as the basis for today’s communication
technology. Hedy really should have been heralded as a sexy Steve Jobs of the 1940s, but it’s hard to
be taken seriously when you’re a buxom bombshell, and bad luck for Hedy, her patent had run out
before anyone realised the genius of her invention.

From impressive engineering marvels to everyday tools, women have been responsible for various
clever creations. In more recent times, international and local engineering organisations have been
established to promote the eld of engineering to women and encourage them to pursue a career in
technical disciplines. While gender disparity still persists in engineering, the gap is closing and
women continue to excel in their chosen elds.

“There is no demand for women engineers, as such, as there are for women doctors; but there’s
always a demand for anyone who can do a good piece of work” - Edith Clarke

Are you a female working in the eld of engineering? Are there other female gures in
engineering that have inspired you?

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