In The Know

Did you know that women have engineered some of the world's most important technologies?

• A woman inventor named Stephanie Louise Kwolek was responsible for saving thousands of lives by designing Kevlar®, a fiber five times stronger ounce for ounce than steel, that is best known for its use in bulletproof vests.
• Long-lasting lipstick can attribute its birth to a woman named Hazel Gladys Bishop, who led the charge by utilizing advances in chemistry to design one of the first modern cosmetics.
• Randice-Lisa Altschul patented the world's first disposable cell phone in 1999.
• Martha Coston provided for her family by inventing a system of maritime signal flares that helped the North win the Civil War.
• Bette Nesmith Graham, a secretary in Dallas and a single mother, used her own kitchen blender to create the first batch of Liquid Paper, used to cover up mistakes made on paper. She later sold her company for nearly $50 million dollars.
• Patsy Sherman, a 3M research chemist, helped develop the first stain repellent and soil release textile treatments which have grown into an entire family of products known as Scotchgard® protectors.
• Grace Hopper was one of the first programmers to transform large digital computers from oversized calculators into machines capable of understanding "human" instructions. Hopper developed Common Business-Oriented Language or COBOL, now the most widely used computer business language in the world. She also coined the term "computer bug" after discovering a moth jamming her equipment.
• Famous 1940s actress Hedy Lamarr is credited with several sophisticated inventions, among them a unique anti-jamming device for use against Nazi radar.
• NASA astronaut Bonnie Dunbar helped to develop the ceramic tiles that enable space shuttles to survive re-entry.
• Beulah Louise Henry was known in the 1920s and '30s as "the lady Edison" for her inventions such as including a vacuum ice cream freezer, a typewriter that made multiple copies without carbon paper, and a bobbinless lockstitch sewing machine. Henry made millions from manufacturing her inventions.
• Emily Roebling supervised construction of the Brooklyn Bridge after taking over the job of day-to-supervision from her sick husband. She was considered the Chief Engineer as she had studied mathematics as well as materials for construction such as cables.

Could you be an engineer?

Do you like to share great new ideas?
Do you want to know how things work and what makes them go?
Can you solve problems that puzzle other people?
Do you have a talent for design and innovation?
Are you determined to be the best you can be?
Do you want to help make the world a better place?

What else do engineers do?

Electrical or electronic engineers have designed air bag sensors for cars, controllers for home appliances, computer chips, global positioning systems, robot control systems and TV broadcasting systems.

Mechanical engineers are behind your favorite games, cars, air conditioners, elevators, escalators, farm equipment and even zip-lock freezer bags.

Bioengineers are helping to replace failing parts of the body with artificial joints that can give elderly people the freedom of independent movement.

Industrial engineers are responsible for creating hospital layouts to make patients and families more comfortable; transportation systems that reduce traffic; and law enforcement systems that protect communities.

Material scientists and metallurgical engineers develop glass, steel, ceramic superconductors for computers; composites used on sailboats and race cars; even materials used in hip joint replacements and artificial hearts.

Chemical engineers are working on cleaner automobile fuel that is less harmful to our environment; better ways to recycle plastic bottles; and processed cheese with more nutrients.

Computer engineers work to optimize computers for student use, to maintain banking systems or to power a video game.

Aerospace engineers invented commercial and military aircraft, rockets and helicopters; spacecraft; and satellites that give clear telephone connections across the street or across the world.

Civil engineers design and oversee the building of bridges, highways, high-rise apartment and office structures; new suburban housing communities; the demolition of old buildings and much more.

Environmental engineers are dedicated to preserving our priceless environment through better ways to protect our drinking water and to dispose of or recycle chemicals, sewage and garbage.