International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality. The theme this year Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.
We wanted to celebrate international women's day by highlighting 5 influential female engineers throughout history:
1. Edith Clarke
In 1918, Edith Clarke became the first woman to earn an electrical engineering degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Alongside he successful career as an Electrical Engineer, Clarke also she received her first patent in 1921 for the Clarke Calculator - a device that was used to solve electric power transmission line issue.
2. Emily Roebling
Emily Roebling is best known for unofficially taking over her husband’s role as Chief Engineer on the Brooklyn Bridge when he became too sick to complete the works. It is widely recognised that The Brooklyn Bridge owes its existence to her.
3. Stephanie Kwolek
Have you ever heard of Kevlar? Kevlar is a type of aramid fiber. It is woven into textile materials and is extremely strong and lightweight, with resistance toward corrosion & heat. In 1965, Stephanie Kwolek made an unexpected discovery that led to the creation of synthetic fibers so strong, not even steel bullets could penetrate them and as a result, the invention of Kevlar was created.
4. Lillian Gilbreth
For more than forty years, Lillian Gildbreth's career combined psychology with the study of scientific management and engineering. Lillian became a pioneer in what is now known as industrial and organizational psychology and helped industrial engineers recognize the importance of the psychological dimensions of work.
5. Martha Coston
Martha Conston was the inventor of the Flare, or more commonly known Flare Gun. Coston spent ten years testing and refining her process of night flares before patenting it in 1859.