As Women in Engineering Day is being celebrated on June 23rd this year and we have aspiring female engineers on our courses at North Kent College, we thought it would be fitting to recognize the work of 5 influential female engineers.
1. Edith Clarke
Edith was the very first female engineer, born in 1883. Her expertise was electrical engineering, inventing the ‘Clarke Calculator’ and contributing to the building of the Hoover Dam by advising on the development and installation of the turbines used to create hydropower.
- Mary Barra
Mary is the first woman to lead any major automaker as CEO of General Motors Company. She rose through the ranks of the company with her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. She now has visions to create a society with zero car crashes and zero emissions, creating a safer reality for future generations.
- Beulah Louise Henry
Beulah was known in the 1930’s as ‘The Lady Edison’ due to have huge contribution to inventions at the time. These included a bobbin-free lockstitch sewing machine, a doll with flexible arms, a vacuum ice cream freezer, and a typewriter that made multiple copies without carbon paper.
- Marissa Mayer
Marissa is currently one of the most famous women in science and engineering at this moment in time. She was the first female engineer to join google and was influential to the design of many Google flagship programmes including Google Chrome, Google Earth and Gmail.
- Sarah Guppy
Sarah was an English engineer and the first ever woman to patent a bridge in 1811. She invented many other devices including a method of keeping ships free of barnacles that led to a government contract worth £40,000.
Maybe you could be the world’s next great female engineer. To find out more about our engineering courses at North Kent College click here - Engineering at North Kent College