“Women should not be afraid to put themselves forward!” Don’t take our word for it: this is the sage advice of gazillionaire entrepreneur Sarah Wood, whose online video marketing gave us Old Spice’s hilarious “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” video.
While smelling like your dad does on Christmas Day isn’t a CV prerequisite for a job in engineering, it’s wise to remember Sarah’s words when considering a career in a sector that is booming.
This is an industry where more and more jobs are being created as Scotland cements itself as a leader in engineering education and careers – competition for the top jobs, therefore, is fierce.
Alongside this, there’s a growing movement to get more women involved in what has been seen as a largely male-dominated career.
With all this talk of change and equality and the forced opening of doors for more women, you could be forgiven for thinking the so-called fairer sex thought a lazy tong riveter was for salad tossing.
In fact, the ladies have already left their stamp on the engineering world. And so here, for your delight and delectation, insight and inspiration, we celebrate some of the most successful female engineering success stories.
Here are our top five women who have made a bigger impact in the world of engineering than the Creusot steam hammer. Will you be the next?
Edith Clarke (1883-1959)
The American is an apt champion for Scotland’s mission to get more women into engineering education. In 1918 she became the first female to get an electrical engineering degree from MIT. Beyond that? She was also the first female electrical engineering professor, teaching at the University of Texas for 10 years. Big up, Edith!
Martha Coston (1826-1904)
At 21, widowed and with four wee bairns to support, most of us would find it hard to retain our slippers and sanity, let alone engineer. Not Martha Coston! For 10 years she worked on a signalling flare system, known as the coston flare, and after finally patenting the design in 1859, she sold the rights to US Navy for £20,000: windfall wonga in Martha’s day.
Stephanie Kwolek (1923-2014)
Ms Kwolek was one of the first ever female research chemists. You may not have heard of her, but you have heard of Kevlar. The super-tough fabric, along with an astonishing 17 other research patents, solidify Kwolek’s contribution to engineering, and to safety. She passed away in 2014, at the grand age of 90.
Emily Roebling (1803-1903)
Emily never started out as an engineer, but ended up at the helm of one of engineering’s biggest ever feats. She was chief engineer during the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, but only became responsible for the project after her husband, who was previously charged with the bridge’s construction, fell ill. Not one to pander to the woes of man flu and, despite having no previous engineering education, Emily learned, worked and persevered, and oversaw the bridge’s completion in 1883. Now, that’s what we call bridging the equality gap!
Hedy Lamarr (1913-2000)
Perhaps best known for her pin-up starlet looks, alongside her acting career in the 30s and 40s, Miss Lamarr overstepped stereotypes to develop a remote-controlled communications device for the military. No, seriously! And without it, we wouldn’t have Wi-Fi. Unfortunately, the patent ran out before she could ever be appropriately credited, though she was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame last year. Oh, and did we mention she also bared all in one of cinema’s first ever sex scenes? Put that hi-vis vest back on right now, young lady!
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Heddy Lamarr, who engineered movie magic and the technology for Wi-Fi.