What I Do At present I am retired, although I occasionally consult on different projects. For most of my career, I worked in the commercial aircraft business - designing or leading teams of engineers in developing propulsion systems (engines) for commercial aircraft. Within this area, I spent several years on multiple engine/airframe combinations as a designer, analytical engineer, integrator and finally in several leadership roles. I retired from that role and went to work for an engineering consulting firm that focuses in both software development and systems engineering. I used my many years of experience to help clients through their projects via systems engineering methodologies. Great experience and lots of new industries and approaches to learn.
Why Engineering? When I was in high school, the local university (University of Colorado, Boulder) had a 3 day program in the summer months that exposed high school kids to engineering. Based on my strengths in math and science, my school counseler had selected me to go. I chose to go based on 3 days away from home in a new and exciting place - because I didn't know what an engineer was or did. Those 3 days opened my eyes to a wonderful world where problem solvers pool their talents to invent/create amazing things. I was hooked.
School Days I am an alumni of the University of Colorado at Boulder, with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. I am active in giving back to the department - I believe my education was a wonderful gateway to many years of success.
My Day At Work I would spend a lot of time working to problem solve issues uncovered by our customers - working with our engineers or our suppliers' engineers to ensure a high quality and timely resolution.
Best Part I love to problem solve! Issues that pop up are like a puzzle, where you break it down into bite size chunks and sort out how to work each piece.
Proud Moments There have been many - but for me seeing a new airplane fly away with engines humming beautifully is the best! I never get tired of that. I also think of the team that made that possible and am proud of them and their hard work to get to that delivery.
Challenges When I started working - there were very few female engineers - which can be intimidating. I felt the biggest challenges I worked through was proving I was a capable engineer and should be heard. Sometimes my biggest critic was myself - I was harder on myself than my male colleagues were. It took some time - but as you begin to believe in yourself more - you give off that confidence and your colleagues pick up on that and accept it.
My Family My husband (also an engineer) and I have 2 boys who are engineers as well. We enjoyed what we were doing enough for it to rub off on them and they will definitely go further in new technologies, doing things we never imagined.
Dreams and Goals I am now in the later stages of my career and so my goals are focused on passing on the things I learned and providing a support for young women who are either just starting as engineers or still not sure what they want to do. As I mentioned earlier about self-confidence, if I can help someone see they are able to do anything they want - if they can believe in themselves enough to get there - then I will consider myself very successful.
Inspiration My greatest influences were my father - a math and science teacher and my sisters who both conquered their own arenas in ways that were not stereotypical for women at the time. My mother was also a great role model on how to be kind and generous while not compromising your ability to do a great job at whatever you want to do.
Want to be an Engineer? If you find solving problems interesting and like to understand how things work - engineering may be just the thing for you. I realize it seems like a male dominated world - but actually there are a lot of talented women engineers and there is always room for more. Engineering is so diverse - you can find just about any area to apply yourself - whether it is aerospace, software, biomedical, environmental, etc . The possibilities are endless. Every time I see a plane flying, I can be proud that I helped make that happen - people are connecting all of the world, because of something I did. Just about every where you look - an engineer had something to do with it - buildings, roads, cars, your cell phone, house hold electronics, etc. etc. etc.
Hobbies Outside of work, I enjoy the outdoors by hiking, skiing and gardening. I also love to read and enjoy volunteering. I also actively support the Mechanical Engineering dept at the University of Colorado (my alma mater) by serving on an advisory board, mentoring and working with senior design teams on their projects.