EngineeringBy Carolyn Rice '95 April 17, 1995 Carolyn Rice '95, an Engineering Sciences major at Dartmouth and active WISP participant, shares her experience with the ENGS 66 class last term, and what she got out of it. The project for this year's ENGS 66 class was to design and build an "apple-picker."
When first given the assignment, my partner and I brainstormed for hours and hours to come up with an initial idea. We came up with crazy ideas, simple and stupid ideas, and occasionally ideas that we were really excited about. When it came down to choosing a final design, we decided that simplicity was the way to go. So after finalizing the drawings of our chosen design, we ventured into the machine shop to start our term-long friendship with everything mechanical. We sawed and sanded and lathed and milled; we made mistakes and machined parts over and over again, and we made a home of the machine shop--sometimes remaining from 8 AM to 8 PM. After a few weeks in the shop, we realized that our design (even though we chose our simplest) was far more complicated than we would have liked, and grew tired of machining what seemed like hundreds of tiny parts. I have to admit that I learned a countless number of machining tricks from making all those tiny parts, but it was very frustrating to spend hours and hours on pieces you could hardly see. Eventually the hard work paid off however, and we felt like it was all worth it as we watched our machine climb the tree to pick several
I think the ENGS 66 class helped prepare me for any job I may find next year, and taught me invaluable lessons about working with a partner, being aggressive when asking questions about an unfamiliar subject, and the importance of efficiency and forethought. A Little Bit of Engines in My Life, A Little Bit of Business by My Side By Kathryn Greer '00 November 1, 1999 Are you a science major interested in business? An Economics major interested in engineering? If you are a college student majoring in mathematics, economics, engineering, computer science, or any natural science and have an interest in engineering management, you could be a strong candidate for the Thayer Engineering School's Master of Engineering Management program (MEM). What exactly IS engineering management? According to the Thayer School of Engineering, the MEM program was formed to "produce graduates who can relate to both the engineering and business functions in technology-based companies, who can manage complex research,
The one-year program trains graduates in engineering design and business management. In a three-term series of engineering design classes, students must complete design projects, both in teams and independently, to learn the many aspects of project design. Students must also take five management courses of their choice, including a three-course sequence in the fundamentals of management. Erika Johnson, a '98 Dartmouth undergraduate, is currently an MEM candidate at Thayer Engineering school. She was an engineering major as an undergraduate, and after obtaining her AB in 1998, she stayed at Dartmouth for an extra year to get a Bachelor of Engineering degree (BE), after which she decided to become an MEM candidate. Erika has participated in several projects during her Dartmouth engineering career. She worked to develop a comprehensive method of locating downed planes in rugged terrain using infrared and radar. Another project Erika worked on involved curing concrete at room temperature, above room temperature and below room temperature, to determine which creates the strongest concrete. Currently, she is working with the Epipen shots of epinephrine for use in people with fatal allergic reactions. The shot is automatic and most of these people carry it around with them in case of an incident. In the experiment she designed, Erika will ask carriers what they do not like about the shot, to discover how they could be improved. She will then set about designing some of these improvements for the Epipen.
If interested in the Thayer MEM program, check out the Thayer web site at http://thayer.dartmouth.edu. Thayer is not the only science-management graduate program, however. For more information on several other programs, look on http://www.ScienceMasters.com/. By Anne Loomis '99 February 22, 1999 Michelle Ott has known that she wants to be an engineer since she arrived at Dartmouth. She's currently busy working on the culminating experience for her major developing a portable, collapsible, mobility aid for the moderately mobility impaired, with Synergy Innovations, a company based out of Lebanon. I recently had the opportunity to talk with Michelle about some of her experiences, and what it's like to be a woman engineer. How did you choose engineering, and what's made you stick with it? That's a tough question. I guess coming into college, I knew that I liked math and sciences and things like that. I had liked them in high school, but didn't want to be a purely theoretical person. I'm a hands-on, applied person. I took all the prerequisites, science and math classes, and tried to take an engineering class as soon as possible, to see if I really liked it. I took Engineering 21, which is a project group class, and had a really good experience. What did you make for your project? We made an Odor-free Counter Top Food Waste Composter. So I got to go to the chemistry department and nose around and figure out how to detect odor coming out of garbage cans, basically. It was a lot of fun. And there were some engineering aspects too, of course. It was
Have there been any professors who've encouraged or influenced you? My advisor, Professor Eric Hansen, is excellent. He's been really encouraging, and has never put down women. When I go in there and say, 'I know nothing,' or 'I feel so much less competent than a lot of the people in this class,' for instance, he's just been really encouraging. Other people I would cite are two younger women engineering professors who I've had. They're younger women and they're doing cool things in their fields, and they're well respected and excellent professors. [Professors Linda Wilson and Laura Ray ed.] So what's it like to be a woman in engineering? I think at Dartmouth, at Thayer, we're pretty well off as women engineers, because there's a good number of us, maybe 25% at least as undergraduates, at the graduate level there
I also think that we need women in engineering because engineering isn't just technical stuff. Engineering requires a lot of human interaction, especially in this day and age, and a lot of other kinds of things that women can add a lot to. And I think that women's perspectives on problem solving can be new and good and useful. I think it's great! Do you have any ideas as to why there aren't more women in engineering? I don't know. I think that maybe, first and foremost, it's an interest. Not all that many women are as excited by the technology maybe, and I don't know why that is, but I'd list it as one of the reasons. And at least for me, one of the things I've struggled with in deciding what I wanted to do is a desire to really help society and help people, and sometimes that's
Do you have plans for next year yet? I have debated a ton about next year. I came into this year thinking I would get a job. But then I talked to a lot of people about the Masters of Engineering Management program at Thayer, and over winter break I decided to turn down the jobs, and stay another two terms to get my MEM. It's a dual program with Tuck Business School, and I would love to get a job where I do communications, or technical marketing or something like that, that really requires communications and is more international. But I also want to do something that has a technical aspect to it, and I think that an MEM would help me go in that direction. That's why I'm staying. And do you have any advice for other women in engineering? I guess my advice would be to be a go-getter and don't be intimidated. You can do it! 1995 National Convention Dinsie Williams '97 and Sue Saalman '97 July 23, 1995 The following is a summary of events and reflections on the convention by the Summer President of SWE Dinsie Williams and Summer Vice President Sue Saalman. BOSTON! The week before the 4th of July! Over a thousand women engineers, men engineers, and non-engineers from across the globe attended the Society of Women Engineers 1995 National Convention and Student Conference. Among them were two Dartmouth students. Days 1 and 2 The convention began on Tuesday, June 27. Unfortunately, we were unable to attend until late Wednesday due to classes, but earlier on Wednesday over a hundred major corporations were represented in the Exhibit Hall, including AT&T, Dow Chemical Company, General Electric, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson Orthopedics, and Procter and Gamble. Recruiters were answering questions about their companies, accepting resumes, and many were even doing on-the-spot interviewing.
Day 3 On Thursday, Dinsie and I went to seminars such as "Information Superhighway", "Infrastructure for 2000" (projects such as the tunnel under Boston Harbor), and "Manufacturing in the Biotechnical Industry." Following lunch and our excursion through Boston Common and the surrounding area, we attended an open technical exchange (similar to the WISP Poster symposium). In fact, one of the posters had pictures of us on it...and many of you, too. It was a poster about WISP at Dartmouth by Carol Muller, Mary Pavone, and Karen Wetterhahn. After learning about state of the art research and projects in many areas of engineering and science, Dinsie and I left for our Science at Sea Cruise - we puttered around the Harbor looking for lobsters, measuring plankton levels, and seeing such sights as the bottoms of planes taking off from Logan Airport and the church steeple used to signal to Paul Revere if the British were coming by land or by sea! Days 4 and 5 On Friday and Saturday, we took a tour of Johnson and Johnson Orthopedics, attended the "Student Sections Ideas Exchange" meeting, and went to Networking Night - a lobster dinner with plenty of opportunities to network, dance, and see fireworks light up the sky. A Trip to Remember It definitely was an incredible trip. In the upcoming Society of Women Engineers meetings, we hope to bring back to Dartmouth what we learned, especially this realization: SWE
by Marie B. Ventrice July 27, 1996 Marie Ventrice is associate dean of engineering for graduate studies and research at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee. This article is reprinted from Prism, the journal of the American Society for Engineering Education. I did not plan to be different; it just happened. I came from a middle-class family and grew up doing ordinary things: attending public school and Sunday school, selling Girl Scout cookies, playing ball, and climbing trees. Later I enrolled in college, met a great guy, married, had three children, and eventually became the grandmother of two. I also pursued a career as a university engineering administrator. True to form, I followed an ordinary path to achieve this: I earned a Ph.D., became a faculty member, worked with students, carried out research, and served on committees. Because I performed these ordinary activities in an almost exclusively male profession, some consider me extraordinary. I prefer to think of myself as a stubborn survivor. Early Obstacles
True to these predictions, I got married, had a child, and dropped out. Contrary to them, I dropped back in and used my education. Discrimination Robs Us All Because some women and minorities are successfully pursuing nontraditional careers, many people believe that significant hurdles have disappeared. There have been improvements, but bias still exists and needs to be addressed. At the university level, you find it in instructional methods, curricula, academic career opportunities, and more. After all these years, I continue to face significant obstacles myself, which leads me to conclude that quality and hard work are necessary to success but not sufficient. Laws, regulations, court decisions, mentors, advocates, enlightened managers and administrators, and supportive colleagues and family are also needed. A little good fortune doesn't hurt either. It is very important that we encourage women and other minorities to pursue nontraditional careers. If we restrict their options, we constrict their minds and lives and lose the insight, understanding, creativity, intelligence, quickness, initiative, and hard work they have to offer. Universities Should Lead the Way Add to this the fact that the U.S. is changing. It is becoming more diverse, which means American universities must prepare students to work productively in such an environment. Part of this preparation is seeing, experiencing, and working with a diverse group while in school. To this end, it is important that universities provide a variety of faculty role models. Universities should have female and minority faculty members even if there are few such students. All students need the experience of interacting with women and minorities in positions of authority. Doing so will prepare them for life. Universities play an important role in opening people's minds, in helping them learn, and in encouraging them to rethink their beliefs. Even if students eventually arrive at their original positions, they should have the opportunity to develop broader perspectives and see the greater complexities of issues. Diversity among students, faculty members, administrators, and staff assists this process.
Here's to stubborn survivors--may there be many more. By Liz Maier '97 November 2, 1996 The Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL), located on Route 10 in Hanover, NH with a field office in Fairbanks, Alaska is an Army Corps of Engineers' laboratory dedicated to the study of the world's cold regions. CRREL also houses the Army Corps' Remote Sensing and GIS Center, which gathers and synthesizes information for all branches of the Corps. With over 300 scientists, engineers and support staff, CRREL is the leading expert in cold regions research in the United States, and it is right in Dartmouth's backyard. What Does CRREL Do? As our nation's best cold regions resource, CRREL contains specialized facilities and laboratory equipment designed for the study of ice, snow and frozen ground. The Main Laboratory houses 24 cold rooms (refrigerated laboratories operated at temperatures as low as -50°F), a computer center, a machine shop, a remote sensing analysis center, an electron microscope laboratory, chemistry and soil laboratories, and many smaller labs including a climatic data lab, a laser lab, and a material testing lab. The Ice Engineering Facility is one of the largest refrigerated hydraulics laboratories in the world, with an 80x160-foot research area that can be maintained at -10°F. Models of rivers and flood plains can be constructed in this lab to study ice formation and flooding in a controlled environment. It also contains a wind tunnel used to replicate drifting snow. CRREL has a Frost Effects Research Facility as well, where soils can be frozen with refrigerated panels to simulate the freeze-thaw cycle. Other facilities at CRREL include a greenhouse, a pavement testing building, a saline ice lab, and a comprehensive technical library, which subscribes to nearly 600 journals. Scientists and Engineers at CRREL use these facilities primarily to study the effects of cold temperatures on military operations and civil works. Building and maintaining roads or mobilizing a platoon in cold regions presents unique challenges to the army, and it is the job of CRREL to research and develop better methods of construction and transportation under severe conditions of snow, ice and temperatures that may vary by 150°F annually! CRREL's expertise is tapped in the field of environmental protection, too. In the 1970's, CRREL managed the United States Tundra Biome Project, a study of the ecology of the Alaskan tundra, and it has been developing a method of containing hazardous waste spills by artificial ground freezing. CRREL serves not only the military but also other branches of government, industry and the public. The same research that develops better ways of repairing potholes and "salting" roads for the army is applied to extend the life of our roadways. CRREL even offers a consulting service, whereby companies and citizens can get advice from experts with a free phone call. The Intern Perspective Through the Women in Science Project, I had the opportunity to do a research project of my own at CRREL during the winter and spring terms of my freshman year. I worked with two women geologists (Susan Taylor and Janet Hardy) on a study of the formation of snow ice under different temperature, salinity, and flow-rate conditions. We took snow cores from the field, characterized the snow (recorded the temperature, snow type, depth, etc.) and then brought the cores to a cold room for experimentation. We flooded the cores with warm fresh water, warm salt water, cold fresh water and cold salt water, and varied the rate of flooding too, so that we had snow ice cores in the end. I sectioned the cores with a saw and microtomed the cross sections (sliced them to a very thin thickness) and then mounted them on slides. I examined the samples under polarized light to compare the size and shape of their ice crystals. We found that the more slowly the flooded cores froze, the larger and more regular their crystals were.
Encouraging Future Interns I think the encouragement and individual attention I received from Susan and Janet was invaluable support for me that crucial year. I worked with one or both of them on my project every week, and because they did not have to juggle teaching classes with their research, they were able to spend that much time with me. My primary contacts were not graduate students but professional research scientists, and this is one reason why I would encourage students to consider taking an internship off-campus at an institution like CRREL. I enjoyed the experience of working in foreign surroundings rather than in a Dartmouth lab, because I was able to meet so many scientists and engineers and had exposure to unique and exciting devices and facilities that are unavailable here at school. True, it is more convenient to stay on-campus and the projects at CRREL may be in areas unfamiliar to most students, but CRREL is only a half-hour walk from campus (and there is a
By Dinsie Williams '97 January 25, 1997 Dinsie Williams, an engineering sciences major, is from Sierra Leone, a country of 4 million people on the Western coast of Africa. She hopes to pioneer the use of appropriate biomedical technology in developing countries such as hers. She has done research under the E.E. Just Program, and has been active in WISP, SBE, and SWE - serving as SWE president her sophomore summer and as current president of SBE.
Among the events that the Institute has planned since its opening in 1995, was a video-conference for Dartmouth College Course 4: Space Age Technology in Developing Countries, held in Winter 1993. At this video conference, students presented their ideas for "using satellite based telecommunications to facilitate health care delivery in West Africa." A board of distinguished scientists and policy-makers (at home and abroad) took part in this exercise. Other projects at the Institute include the Indicators of Development Project, which set forth to define a whole new system of evaluating sustainable progress. There is potential for more exciting projects for students who want to get involved. If anyone is interested in supporting the work of the Institute or being a part of the process, please contact Keely Punger at Keely.Punger@Dartmouth.edu or (603) 646-3487. The Institute also encourages collaborations between national organizations and academic institutions. At present, work at the Institute is focused on a US Department of Energy (DOE) Project - Energy, Environment and Investment: Initiatives for US/African Energy Partnerships. The
For more information about the Jemison Institute, visit our web site at http//www.dartmouth.edu/~jemison or e-mail Jemison.Institute@ Dartmouth.EDU. by Liz Maier '97 February 3, 1997 At an Alumni Council function last summer Kristin Canavan ('97), president of the student chapter of the Society of Women Engineers at Dartmouth, gave an insightful speech describing her experiences as an engineering sciences major. In a clear and honest voice, Kristin conveyed feelings that many female science students share but may not always be able to express, because the emotions can be as subtle and complex as the events that trigger them. Women who major in science or engineering are a unique and determined breed that is reshaping the image of the typical scientist, as Kristin explains in this thoughtful piece. Opening Remarks Good morning. First of all, I would just like to say what a wonderful weekend it's been. I've enjoyed seeing y'all again. I am so impressed with the attention and concern you have all displayed for the perspectives and issues of the Dartmouth student today. Not to mention that it helped me pick the topic of my speech! That's why I'd like to share with you today one of my perspectives that I've been asked about a few times this weekend, that of a female science major. I realize that many of you have no idea where I am coming from: either you weren't a science major during your Dartmouth years, or you weren't female. Maybe you weren't even aware that there is something special about the perspective of a female science major. You are especially the ones to whom I am talking today. The Trials and Tribulations When I arrived at Dartmouth, I already knew that I would probably major in math or engineering. I have always had a strong interest in math and physics and desired further study. So I ended up declaring myself an engineering major, plugged through all my huge introductory science courses, survived the horrors of blown-up labs, computer programs that only fried my poor Apple's circuits, and am still dragging myself through continuous hours of problem sets. Let's just say though, that it hasn't always been easy, though I suppose few would describe an engineering major that way. My three years so far have been filled with insecurities and doubt‹ from day 1 of freshman fall, I have continually questioned my aspiration to be an engineering major. I've recently started to really look at why I do this: I love my classes. I'm doing well enough in them that I can't complain. My professors have all been very good. My fellow engs majors, as we call ourselves, have been wonderful‹we've had a great time spending many an hour sweating over labs, problem sets, quizzes, and exams together, and trust me, you just can't come out of that kind of experience without some sort of bond. In general, I'd even be willing to say that we are one of the closest-knit group of majors on this campus. And, most importantly, I honestly want to graduate an engineer.
Not the Only One But you know, I've discovered that I'm not alone in doing this. In talking with other people in my classes, I've discovered that this is how most of the females in my science classes feel. One woman once told me that she feels almost as if she wears some sort of mask in class, and her biggest fear is that her professors and classmates might one day rip it off and tell her that she really isn't an engineer. This woman happened to graduate from Dartmouth with highest honors in the engineering department.
If you think I can stand up here today and tell you exactly why this happens or what the solution is, boy, do you have a lot of faith in me. I can't. But I can tell you what it's like... The Female Experience: An Analogy First of all, it's not anything blatant. Females do not walk into their science classrooms freshman fall and get chased out by the professor. Rarely is anything directly said. Most people can't even see it while it's happening, not even a lot of those females. It's based on the fact that science is a male-dominated field. It's not anyone's fault but at the same time it's all our faults: it's the society in which we live. I am not a whiner or a complainer. I am not going to stand up here and say that a woman can't be a science major because it's just too hard due to the past we've had. I'm not going to try to get you to shed tears for poor little freshmen girls who feel lost in a big science classroom. But I am going to tell you that males and females do not walk into their classrooms carrying the same baggage. Let's see if I can give you a better idea of what it feels like . . . Being from Atlanta, I am going to use a little baseball analogy . . . Now, I think kids sometimes do the best job of displaying human behavior in uncomplicated forms, so I want you to think back to your days on the elementary school playground. At my school, we used to play baseball every day during recess. We picked our teams by selecting captains, and then these captains went back and forth one by one picking people to be on their teams. There was always that one scrawny kid who was left in the end‹ maybe he was a little smaller, maybe he didn't look very athletic, maybe he wasn't very popular or couldn't communicate very well with the other children. One thing though, he didn't fit the ideal that the captains and the others expected in a baseball player. I think it's pretty easy to feel something for that lonely kid‹ he probably didn't feel like he fit in. He probably didn't feel like he could be accepted as a baseball player. He probably lost interest in wanting to play baseball. Arguably, these are just kids. They are basing things on appearances‹ now, appearances count a little more when you are dealing with baseball, right? Generally someone in better physical shape is a good player. But let's not even get into demonstrations of ability. Pretend it's the first day of school, and everything is just based on appearances. Maybe the small kid in the end could have eventually been the fastest kid in the class, or the best hitter, or just one great all-around baseball player. Hopefully one day he got to prove it, but until then, he was probably stuck in the outfield, maybe overlooked in the batting line-up, and didn't ever really touch the ball. Scrawny kids don't meet your expectations of typical baseball players. He probably even knew it. If not, he learned it on the playground. There is some sort of human need to fit in, to feel like you belong. That scrawny kid didn't. That's what being a female science major can feel like. I'm not saying every female science major feels like that scrawny kid all the time. There are going to be those who breeze through their department with barely a hint of insecurity. And then there are going to be those who find that every subtle thing can make such a difference. And then there are a lot of us in between. However, I cannot believe that a single female science major exists that has not had to deal with the fact that she is a female in a male-dominated field and that she doesn't fit the image of a typical scientist. You see, we are all that little scrawny boy in the outfield. We all have something to prove, to our professors, our classmates, and ourselves. At the same time, we are all scared to death that when that pop-up ball comes flying at us, we'll drop it, and all our personal doubts about not belonging in the sciences will be true. Every time I see a female major who buys into the statistics, becomes one less science major, I feel a little more insecure. Granted, there are people out there who lose interest in things for no reason, or none that have anything to do with what I've presented today. At the same time, every time a female tells me that she found the major too hard, or that she just wasn't smart enough to do it, it makes me waver a little. It makes me wonder if I can do it. The Survivors Now let me tell you about the female science major‹those of us who are rounding the bend toward graduation year. The hold-outs. We keep going through all this. We have all been that scrawny kid in the outfield, but we were just stubborn enough to show up every day and every day go into the outfield, hoping for and sometimes dreading that chance to prove ourselves. That's why we are special, or maybe just lucky, because we are holding onto our breaks before our interests are broken. Maybe some of us have had an incredible professor who went the extra mile to let us know that someone out there thought we could do it. These professors do exist at Dartmouth, I am happy to say. Some maybe are raised by parents who somehow instilled strong enough beliefs to get us through it. Some of us are just strong-willed and confident enough to deal with it all. Maybe it's a combination of these or completely other reasons, but to be completely honest, I don't believe that reasons like these don't play into the fact that we are making it while the majority doesn't.
By Liz Maier '97 February 3, 1997 WISP extends a warm welcome to Professor of Engineering, Linda Wilson, who, though a recent arrival on campus, is already offering encouragement and inspiration to women in science. Welcome to Hanover As Dartmouth College celebrates the cold and snow this Winter Carnival, Professor and native Texan Linda Wilson finds New Hampshire weather "an adjustment . . . The first thing I did was buy a four wheel drive," she said. That new vehicle has since been snowed into her driveway, then plowed into her driveway; and on one of the coldest nights this winter, her furnace simply shut down. Despite the headaches of winter in Hanover, Dr. Wilson has lost none of her enthusiasm for her new home. "I like new things," she explained. "That was why when I was in high school I decided I wanted to go to a college out of state. I grew up in a small town where the mentality was . . . there were certain schools in Texas that were acceptable and others that were not. And if you were going out of state, it must be because you were going to one of the service academies."
"What is a parallel system? Well, you try to get a lot of processors to work together on a single problem. It's like getting kindergartners to work together: each one plays nicely by itself, but you try to get it to work on that same project with others, and then you've got all sorts of problems!" Dr. Wilson will continue her research in parallel computing, as she joins the faculty here at the Thayer School of Engineering. Not Just a Researcher In addition to doing her research, this spring Dr. Wilson will be teaching ENGS 14, Introduction to Computer Science with Applications in Engineering. The course introduces students to programming while giving them examples of how computers might be used in
A Woman's Experience Dr. Wilson is also looking forward to finding a suitable project‹one that is "interesting, doable, and exciting"‹for a Women in Science Intern to work on in the future. She welcomes the chance to recruit more women into the burgeoning fields of computer engineering, computer science, and systems analysis, which according to the 1996 Occupational Outlook Handbook (US Department of Labor) employed about 800,000 people earning $44,000 on average in 1994. Another 537,000 jobs were held in computer programming. Most of these jobs were filled by men. "I understand what it's like when there aren't many women," Dr. Wilson said. "There weren't any women in my area at the University of Texas‹not in computer engineering. Out of a faculty of about fifty, we had one [female professor] that I knew of and one that I heard of but had never seen."
When she first decided to go to graduate school in electrical engineering, a graduate advisor said to her, "What makes you think you can be an engineer?" Then he asked her if she knew calculus, even though she had just explained that she had a BS in math from Duke University. Of course she knew calculus! She had taught it her senior year. "My reaction was, 'Well, I'll just show you,'" remembered Dr. Wilson. And here she is! There will be an opportunity to meet Linda Wilson over lunch at Thayer School this term, and more information on that event will be made available in the next week or two. It will be an excellent opportunity for those students with questions about electrical or computer engineering specifically to ask them, and a chance for everyone to meet a friendly and enthusiastic lady! In the meantime, we at WISP would like to welcome Dr. Wilson to Dartmouth; we are glad to have you! By Liz Maier '97 February 22, 1997 A recent conversation with Assistant Professor Laura Ray began with an animated description of her WISP Intern Susan Ashlock's computer model of the formation of a mitotic spindle in a cell, then segued into the story of how a girl who used to tinker with abandoned cars and other old junk grew up to balance - unconventionally - an academic career in mechanical engineering and the rearing of two children, and ended with a vision of roving troupes of coordinated robots probing a mine field, while human beings remain safely on the sidelines. One had the distinct impression, upon leaving Laura Ray, that here was a woman who would make a considerable contribution to her new home, Dartmouth. Wasting No Time Already the sponsor of a WISP intern and advisor to the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) formula race car team, Dr. Ray has not hesitated to get involved in life at Thayer School in this, her first Hanover winter. She is teaching this term as well, a course called Machine Engineering (ENGS 66), and she will teach Control Theory (ENGS 52) this spring and a graduate course called Modern Control (ENGS 145) in the fall. As one might infer from this list, Dr. Ray's area of expertise is in a field of mechanical engineering known as control systems. Mechanical engineers "model things from processes in cells to airplanes," explained Dr. Ray. She has studied at both scales, designing a control system for oscillating airplane wings as a Master's student and now helping Susan to write a computer program that simulates how a cell arranges microtubules into a mitotic spindle, a major player in cell division. The challenge in this project is to discover by what set of rules the cell moves these protein filaments. Throughout her career, Dr. Ray has been interested not only in systems but particularly in their robustness , or how well they work in the "presence of uncertainty". When a driver slams on her car's brakes on an icy surface, there is more uncertainty than there would be if the car slowed quickly on a dry surface, for instance. However, the driver hopes that her car will stop impeccably regardless of the weather, and it is up to control systems specialists like Laura Ray to design models that will operate consistently, despite uncertainty. How It All Began Long before Dr. Ray began her airplane research at Stanford University, where she spent a brief, sunny interlude before returning to her alma mater, Princeton University, for her Ph.D., she was inclined to investigate the way machines were put together. She grew up in a town thirty minutes north of New York City on the Hudson River, and as a girl she spent countless hours foraging in a junkyard near her house. "I guess I just liked playing with mechanical things," she said.
It is no surprise, then, that Laura Ray got her degrees in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. After finishing her doctorate, she accepted a tenure track position at Clemson University but remained there for only two years, because her husband Charles, who is a medical technologist, could not find a job in such a rural location. Dr. Ray went job-hunting again, this time targeting urban areas, and she had an offer which fell through at the last minute. To make matters even more exciting, she discovered that she was pregnant, and at this point she and her husband moved to Memphis, where he went to work for a former employer, and she gave birth to her son Tyler and "sat out" from the work force for a year. "When I took the year off with my first child, simply because I didn't have a job, it was so hard," she remembered. "I thought I'd never work again. You think that's the end...of your career life." Back in Action However, Dr. Ray did return to work after that year, this time as a tenure track faculty member of an undergraduate institution in Memphis called the Christian Brothers' University (CBU). Three years and a daughter later, a position at Dartmouth opened up, and she took it./p>
Making Adjustments As it turns out, Dr. Ray is seeing less of her new house than her husband, for there aren't many job opportunities in the Hanover area for a specialized medical technologist like Charles, and so the couple decided that, for now, he would stay at home with the children. "To come [to Dartmouth], we had to make the decision that only one of us would work," explained Dr. Ray. "So my husband is at home with the kids. But that's really the only way we could have done it‹either find something in a city, where he could work too, or have a one-income family." "The first few months were really hard for me, because it's not a complete role reversal. I was still doing all the grocery shopping and almost all of the cooking, besides the fact that [Charles] wanted a break at the end of the day. So the kids became mine at that point. I was tired!...Now he does almost all of the grocery shopping and almost all of the cooking, but I have to tolerate the meals, which are getting...better..." While life is running pretty smoothly for Dr. Ray and her husband, now that they have settled in, she anticipates that as time goes on, things will only improve. She is excited to continue teaching and to build her research group, which she imagines will consist of four or five graduate students in the near future. Right now she has a Master's student working on an experimental project in friction modeling, which has applications in semiconductor manufacturing, and she herself is working on a computer simulation study in multiple model estimation. She hopes Susan's computer modeling will evolve into a research-oriented project appropriate for a graduate thesis. And then, of course, there is that robot idea! Robots, the Future, and a Role for Students
Dr. Ray calls her potential research project "coordination of multiple robots," and there could be other applications for such groups of artificial workers in the handling of hazardous materials. Imagine the opportunities for graduate study in this area! For those who would be interested in seeing students of Laura Ray in action, the annual Machine Engineering competition will take place in Collis at 1:00 PM, Tuesday, March 4. This year eleven pairs of students must build their own mechanical device from a box of "stuff"‹gears, motors, shafts, belts‹that will sort scrap metal on a bench. On Tuesday, teams will square off to see which devices can sort scrap metal efficiently without throwing away a "usable" motor, which must be placed on a shelf instead. Since the opposing team may steal the motor, which is also a point-multiplier, the contest is strategic. It should be fun to watch! Stop by to see which team will get bragging rights for building the ENGS 66 champion scrap metal sorter, and say "hello" and "welcome" to new Thayer School Professor Laura Ray. By Catherine Eaton Smith'99 May 3, 1998 A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending the panel discussion entitled "Engineering and Society: Women's Perspectives and How They Affect the Field of Engineering." As I wandered (lost) around Occom pond in search of the Montgomery House, I pondered what to expect. I have had the opportunity to attend many similar events and maintain the feeling that it is important to hear what other women have to say regarding their experiences. This discussion certainly left me with many things to ponder. As do all good speeches, it started with startling statistics‹that in engineering, 18% of the people graduating from graduate school are women, 13% getting doctorates are women, and 9% in the workplace are women. [And no, I would not have remembered that if I weren't
There are certain issues that come up when discussing women in the sciences. All three women spoke of the people factor that they enjoy in their job, and each had held management positions. It is common that women are often very good at relating to other people in a way that some men have more trouble with. An issue I had not heard discussed in depth before, brought up by both speakers and students, was a lack of self confidence many women experience. I must say that in my engineering skills my lack of confidence in myself is pathetic. I find myself thinking, "How did I trick all these people? I tricked Dartmouth
By Catherine Eaton-Smith '99 August 17, 1998 Have you ever given any thought to alternatively fueled automobiles and their impact on the environment? Catherine Eaton-Smith has...and here, she shares some of the knowledge she has gained. A Developing Interest What if all that your car emitted was H2O? What if everyone drove solar automobiles?... Or if instead of gas stations every garage was equipped with a battery charger?... Or what if we used fuel cells running on alternative fuels? "Run on what!?" ... was my question five months ago. Needing to write an analysis paper for Engines 44, "Introduction to Environmental Engineering," I was drawn to the excitement of researching a completely new topic. This outlook lead me into presenting a cost analysis of fuel cell vehicles and alternative fuels. Starting from that paper, I now find myself in an independent study doing a comprehensive evaluation of alternative fuels for a project of Professor Lee Lynd's. I would like to share some tidbits of knowledge I have picked up through this experience. Water, Water, Everywhere
The fuel cell is the actual unit in which the hydrogen and oxygen are combined. It releases the stored electricity. Large stationary fuel cells are most effective. However, smaller fuel cells are receiving much attention for their usefulness in cars. Some of the most significant problems with fuel cell vehicles are that the cars are slow starting, the infrastructure to transport the fuels is not developed, and the cars emit water. This sounded funny to me at first, but it really would be a problem in December to be driving a car through NH that spit out water behind it. All the roads would become ice-rinks. To combat some of the problems with carrying hydrogen in cars, on board conversion of other chemicals such as methanol or ethanol are being investigated. These technologies would allow the vehicles to run on potentially less dangerous and more effective fuels. Around the world, many of these technologies for fuel cell vehicles are being test driven in an attempt to design a vehicle that will meet with all of our society's demands. Making Connections
New Perspectives My work ties into the theme of research which was presented in the last news article. I would like to make a follow-up note on that article which highlighted professional women doing research here this summer. After further conversation with Judith Prewitt I would like to include some additional details. I presented research as something that is always, though often remotely, linked with teaching. However, she (along with many other women) have spent periods of their lives doing strictly research. There are all kinds of combinations, including doing only research, oscillating between research and teaching, doing both at once, or just teaching. Again, the options are endless. By Anne H. Loomis '99 April 4, 1999
A Gathering of Women in Technology What does it mean to be a "Woman in Technology"? How does the presence of women affect the future of technology as we know it? What are the issues that women face in this traditionally male-dominated field? How far have we come? How far do we have left to go? These questions are just a few of those discussed at the first Women in Technology Conference held at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, March 25-27, which was attended by Dartmouth's own Chay Pearce. Pearce is a '96 RPI alumna who recently finished her Masters of Engineering Management (MEM) degree at the Thayer School of Engineering. At the conference, Pearce had the opportunity to talk to women who have broken into technological fields, see what kind of impact they have made, and listen to them speak about their experiences. Female Contributions: From Sleeping Babies to Sneakers One workshop Pearce attended focused on women's impact on design, and featured speakers from General Electric, Ford Motors, Delphi, and Reebok. "They talked about how we can influence and change things that a man might not think of, or that men might think about only in a certain way," says Pearce. "For example, there were a lot of women on the design team of the 1999 Ford Windstar, and a lot of them were mothers, so they were thinking about safety ratings. It's one of the only American cars that's gotten five-star crash ratings for front and side impact! They also modified the dome light, because if you have a baby sleeping in a car-seat, when the dome light goes on it wakes the baby up. They designed it with an off mode so the track lighting along the sides and the floor goes on, but the dome light doesn't, and it doesn't wake up the baby."
This is especially true in the area of gym equipment. "I'm pretty active and I like to work out, but a lot of the machines are made for men. They're designed by men and made for men and you get on them and it just doesn't fit quite right. So I've wanted to do something like designing sports equipment or dealing with that industry for probably the last six years." Some Problems Faced by Women in Technology As well as learning about the impact women have made on technology, Pearce had the opportunity to hear women talk about the problems they have faced, and how they have handled them.
But Pearce knows that progress has not been made across the board. When she interned at Black & Decker, she was the only woman engineer in their entire world headquarters. "I felt pretty uncomfortable," she says, "because, aside from two new male hires, everyone in the engineering department was a white male, on average age 50. You really felt like everybody was watching you, asking, 'Okay, can she do it?' The men didn't think that you belonged working with power tools, because it's not typically an area that women go into, and plus, it's engineering." "It depends on where you are, though. At larger companies they hire a lot of young people and a lot of women. It feels more like school, and I've never felt that way in school. Even though in one of my classes, there were about 50 or 60 people in the class and I was the only female, I didn't even notice when I walked in the door. So I think it depends on how open people are to change, because in more conservative, traditional companies you're going to have to prove yourself, but if it's a newer company, they'll probably be more accepting." The Take-Home Message Based on what she learned at the Women in Technology Conference and her own experience, Pearce advises women headed toward careers in technological fields to take time with job searches, to network, and to get to know the companies where they plan to interview. "It's important to realize that you don't have to feel uncomfortable working some place just because it's engineering or science," says Pearce. "There are places where you'll feel comfortable doing what you want to do. You just have to be patient and use all your networking connections to try to find the place where you fit in because I don't think it's worth it to work some place that isn't going to make you happy. When I was an
By Susannah Maurer '02 July 19, 1999 The following is an article about WISP's first Women in Engineering Networking Lunch, held for Engineering majors in the class of 2001. Comments from female majors provide insight into what it means to be a woman studying Engineering at Dartmouth. Dartmouth's Female Engineers
Building a Network A few weeks ago, the Women in Science Project held the first Women in Engineering Networking Lunch for the Class of 2001. Although not all of them were able to go, many of the ten women who did attend were able to meet for the first time. I had the chance to interview five of these women and uncover how they became interested in engineering and how they feel about being in a field that is represented by an overwhelming majority of male students. Why Engineering? Of the five women I questioned, all of them said they had always been interested in math and science, and most of them had developed a special interest in physics. Some of them knew right away that they wanted to be an engineering major, but for others, it required a
For Deirdre Brenner, she "always loved designing things" and was attracted to engineering by its "potential for creativity." This struck me as an interesting response. I think most people stereotype engineers and science majors as being uncreative number crunchers when in fact,
For Samantha Feakins, it isn't so much the creativity as it is "the objectiveness and rationality" that she likes about engineering. "Many of the problem-solving skills that are taught have immediate applications. In Engines 21, students use what they learn in class to create a final project that is useful in everyday life." Beth Shim agreed, giving her own example of real-life application. "My stereo broke and the CD-changer wouldn't work. So I took it all apart and saw that one of the screws had fallen off the motor, so I just glued it back on and it works again! To fix it, it probably costs $80, and to not be afraid to go ahead and fix it myself was so great." Under-represented but Up to the Challenge Though all of the women admitted to being very aware of the gender imbalance in the field, most of them said that it doesn't deter them from being confident students. "I definitely notice that there are a lot more guys than girls in the class, but I never feel at a huge disadvantage," said Robin. According to Deirdre, "I think it's kind of cool being 1 of 12." At the same time, she does admit that "it gets rather intimidating at times in classes where collectively we make up an eighth or so of the class. I definitely do feel a bit intimidated by the huge male force in some of the classes." Fortunately, they all agree that the professors as well as the other students are very encouraging and helpful. "In engineering, the best way to learn is to work with people," said Beth. "We just help each other out and are completely encouraging. So you just meet these great people and get to work with them."
By Susannah Maurer '02 August 2, 1999 After completing a Master of Science degree in engineering, it seems natural and logical that the graduate would pursue a career in just that- engineering. But imagine deciding, after you've just spent five years studying engineering, to go to medical school. That's just what Missy Wei Thibault, who is now in her fourth year at Dartmouth Medical School, chose to do. A Shaky Start and a Passion for Engineering Skipping back nearly a decade to Missy's first year of undergraduate school at Dartmouth, Missy elected to take some engineering courses because of her love of science and the room for invention and innovation that engineering allows. "Even though I got a 'C-' in my
By the end of her first year, Missy had decided that she wanted to major in engineering. As far as her career plans, Missy "was interested in saving the planet" and thought she would focus on environmental engineering. In order to pursue this interest, she joined the solar car racing team and worked for a summer at the Pacific Northwest Laboratories in Washington D.C. She was also involved in undergraduate life at Dartmouth, teaching skiing PE classes and joining the Dartmouth Ski Patrol. "I think through all of those experiences I learned what I enjoy- teaching, building, the gratification of the personal progress of others, daily personal interactions. I also learned what I did not enjoy - hours in front of a computer compiling documents for policy, thinking about what is economically beneficial more than generally beneficial for the public." As a result, Missy changed her concentration to biomedical engineering. A New Plan: The Road to Medical School Medical school was always in the back of Missy's mind, and after gaining some experience with physicians who worked both with patients and in research labs, she came to the realization that she "wanted to be a doctor who invents for her patients." So during her senior year, Missy completed her pre-med course requirements and "somewhat hastily" applied to medical school. Although she interviewed at two medical schools, Missy was wait-listed and didn't get in. This unexpected kink in her plans induced her to pursue her BE and Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering. For her BE independent project, she explored different uses for 3-D generated graphics in total knee replacement, and in her MS thesis she examined the biological effects of electromagnetic fields. After completing those degrees, she reapplied and was admitted to medical school.
Valuable Advice from Someone Who Knows As far as giving advice to undergraduates, she discourages students from feeling pressured to decide on a career path and to work on building resumes right away. "I think college is a time to test the waters. Join clubs and pursue projects that are interesting and not
Compiled by Allison Hargreaves '02 August 14, 2000 The following is a brief book review that includes excerpts of relevance to aspiring women in science. Valuable Advice from Someone Who Knows A book that may be of interest to our newsletter readers is Journeys of Women in Science and Engineering: No Universal Constants by Susan A. Ambrose, Kristen L. Dunkle, Barbara B. Lazarus, Indira Nair, and Deborah A. Harkus. The book is a compilation of the stories of women scientists as told by the authors (who have presented these profiles in the first person, enhancing the apparent authenticity of the stories‹to the reader it feels as if the scientist is speaking). The book is quite remarkable and features wonderful commentaries by prominent female scientists concerning the science field, balancing career and family, the importance of having a mentor, and advice for aspiring women scientists. The stories seem to complement the mission statement of the Women in Science Project at Dartmouth quite nicely. Below are some excerpts from Journeys of Women in Science and Engineering: No Universal Constants.
Cynthia Friend, Professor of Chemistry at Harvard University (p. 179) "I believe that young women interested in science cannot underestimate the importance of developing self-confidence and self-esteem and of not letting others deflate them as they go through the system. I always tell them never to doubt their value and worth as individuals
Judy R. Franz, Executive Officer of the American Physical Society and Professor of Physics at the University of Alabama, Huntsville (p. 175) "In my career I've learned that it's important to find a focus, an area where you can make a definable and discernible contribution. It sounds sort of cheap to say "something that's yours and that you can put your name on," but it really is gratifying. There's less time for
Deborah Estrin, Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southern California (p. 149) "It's a wonderful life; I don't think I could have chosen anything that would have made me happier. I don't think people emphasize that enough‹they think about the scientist as
Gertrude Belle Elion, Scientist Emeritus at Burroughs Wellcome Company and Medical Research Professor at Duke University (p. 140) "There's no question in my mind that women face barriers in professional life; there are benefits as well, but on balance it still constitutes a challenge. I've been able to overcome a good number of barriers due to a combination of things: the confidence I have in my own
Sheila Evans Widnall, Secretary of the United States Air Force (p. 424) Ambrose, Susan A., et al. Journeys of Women in Science and Engineering: No Universal Constants. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1997. The New Age of the Machine is upon us. We are embarking on an intriguing journey into the realm of the small. According to the October issue of Physics Today, it is possible to "fabricate inexpensive micromachines that range in size from 0.1 to 100 microns, require little power and operate at high speed." How small is small? Smaller than the diameter of a single strand of hair. Smaller than the naked eye can see. "Imagine a machine so small that it is imperceptible to the human eye. Imagine working machines with gears no bigger than a grain of pollen. ...Imagine a realm where the world is upside down, and the seemingly impossible suddenly becomes easy - a place where gravity and inertia are no longer important, but the effects of atomic forces and surface science dominate. Welcome to the microdomain..."
The possibilities truly do seem limitless. |
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