International Women in Engineering Day

Engineering is a profession that is for all. Everyone should be encouraged to have an engineering career, and so today we honour women in the International Day of Women in Engineering. In this blog I will be talking about several women who made a huge impact on engineering for several different fields.

Dorothy Buchanan (1899-1985) is the first female member of the Institution of Civil Engineering (ICE). Dorothy studied at Langholm Academy in Langholm, Scotland and a BSc in civil engineering at Edinburgh University (1918). That led to her being the FIRST woman to graduate in any type of engineering in Scotland. After catching pneumonia, she decided to move to London to help in recovery. In order to join the ICE, Dorothy needed site experience, and so she went to Northern Ireland in May of 1926 to work on the Silent Valley Reservoir. Some notable projects which Dorothy worked on are a bridge in Dessoukh over the River Nile and one in Khartoum, Sudan. On the 13th of December 1927, Dorothy was elected an ICE member. Now, Dorothy Buchanan has a room dedicated in her name at One Great George Street.

Another important name is Ada Lovelace (1815-1852), who was an English mathematician and writer, and also considered as one of the world’s first computer programmers. Ada contributed to the first published program, and was one of the first to recognise the countless functions which computers can have. Not just known to be one of the pioneers to computer engineering, but “Ada” was the name of an early computing language, named after Ada Lovelace herself. The second Tuesday of every month of October is named “Ada Lovelace Day”, where the contributions of women in science and engineering can be recognised worldwide.

Edith Clarke (1883-1959) is regarded as one of the first ever female engineers, and also the first female electrical engineer in the United States. One of her major accomplishments is inventing the Clarke calculator in 1921, which was able to solve line equations 10 times faster than any other method at that time. Edith Clarke often struggled in finding a job in engineering because of her gender. She was a computer advisor at General Electric, but left in 1921 in order to teach Physics. A year later she was hired back by the same company, and so became the first professional female electrical engineer in the United States. She was also the first female professor of electrical engineering in the US.

Many more women contributed to engineering and all of their names should be recognised. The stigma of engineering being just for men should no longer exist, and it is time that we appreciate women! To check out some of the activities for International Women in Engineering day, such as webinars and other online-based events, go to this link.

#INWED20 #ShapeTheWorld