What I Do Retired from industry, yet still doing part time consulting as a computational fluid dynamics specialist. I've worked in nearly every engineering discipline applying my specialty, most recently in Carbon Capture.
Why Engineering? They didn't even call it STEM when I was young, but I always excelled in mathematics and science, so engineering was a natural choice for me.
School Days Central Michigan University (pre-engineering) Michigan State University (BSChE) University of Washington (MSChE and PhD-ChE)
My Day At Work Learning about a unique engineering challenge that needs highly specialized analysis. Devising a method for numerical modeling and solution. Deciding on the domain of interest to best represent reality. Discretizing the domain into many unique "cells" or points that a numerical simulation can accurately predict reality. This process is a description of "Computational Fluid Dynamics", or CFD.
Proud Moments Chosen to participate in the NAE FOE program. Elected as the first female Bechtel Distinguished Scientist.
My Family I have 3 sons, one beginning his PhD in Aerospace Engineering at UCLA next fall, one beginning his PhD in Aerospace Engineering at Stanford next fall, and my youngest will graduate with his BSME from UCSD next spring.
Dreams and Goals To educate people on the biases female engineers face so that so many women won't leave the profession after 5 years out of college.
Want to be an Engineer? I almost didn't because of the systemic biases. But that is just because my career has been so negatively affected by it. However, I truly believe society is eager to address these issues. So to those young women, the positives you face in your successes as an engineer will definitely outweigh the negatives.
Hobbies My children. I never had much time outside of work and family, but it was sooo worth it. I volunteered for my children's' sports teams, teaching Science Olympiad at their schools, Robotics in their high school, and PTSA along with many other activities surrounding their growing up years. Now that they have flown the nest, I'm exploring several other volunteer opportunities. Giving back brings me so much happiness and joy.