5 Inspiring Women to Watch on International Women in Engineering Day

June 23rd marks International Women in Engineering Day, a time to celebrate the achievements of the female engineers in a field traditionally dominated by men. Despite the incredible contributions of female engineers to the community, the industry still lacks adequate representation, and we hope the brilliant minds highlighted in this blog can help to inspire change and encourage even more progress for the future.

 

1. Evelyn Wang

Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, Evelyn Wang is striving to implement new ways to teach future generations the fundamentals of engineering, implementing bold and adventurous research projects and techniques.

An article for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) by reporter Chitra Sethi discusses Wang's work, describing her as, “an internationally recognized leader in phase change heat transfer on nanostructure surfaces." The article continues on to explain her award-winning work, stating, "Wang’s research focuses on high-efficiency energy and water systems… Her work on the development of a device that can extract fresh water from the air in arid environments was selected by Scientific American and the World Economic Forum as one of 2017’s most promising emerging technologies.”

 

2. Kimberly Bryant

Founder and CEO of Black Girls Code, with whom Capitol Tech proudly has a partnership agreement, the ever-inspiring electrical engineer Kimberly Bryant is working towards her goal of encouraging young women and girls of color to get involved in STEM and engineering. With Bryant’s passionate guidance and mentorship, these young female scientists and engineers of the future are learning technology in a way that encourages representation and instills confidence in both their abilities and their identity.

In the previously mentioned ASME article, Sethi explains that while women are already a minority in the engineering industry, women of color make up an even smaller percentage of the field. “African American women make up less than 3 percent of the workforce in the tech industry and Black Girls Code fights to change and improve this percentage for the better. The organization already has trained 3,000 girls in seven chapters in cities in the U.S., and has one chapter in Johannesburg, South Africa, with plans to add chapters in eight more cities.”

 

3. Ramille Shah

Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Dimension Inx, Ramille Shah has dedicated herself to furthering the realm of 3D printing, working with biomaterials to advance their properties and the world of tissue/organ engineering.

Sethi states that, “Shah has established herself as a renowned leader in materials development for 3D printing. In 2016, she co-founded Dimension Inx, to facilitate the translation and commercialization of the 3D-printable material technologies developed in her lab.”

 

4. Christina Koch

NASA Astronaut Christina Koch has been working to excel in her field her whole adult life, obtaining two bachelor's degrees in electrical engineering and in physics. Starting as an electrical engineer helping to improve tools used to research cosmology and astrophysics, Koch passed her astronaut training in two years, eventually participating in the first all-female spacewalk.

While on board the International Space Station in December 2018, Koch broke the record for the longest single spaceflight by a female, which was previously held by former station commander Peggy Whitson. 

 

5. Danielle Merfeld

Vice President and CTO of GE Renewable Energy, Danielle Merfeld is committed to developing and implementing widespread methods for sustainable fuel. Her efforts focus on making this energy cheap and easily accessible, ensuring that all communities can easily have it installed and it can be kept running indefinitely.

Sethi’s article goes on to state, “Driven by her passion for renewable energy, Danielle Merfeld is spearheading technical efforts to develop differentiated products and services across a broad renewable energy portfolio at GE, which combines onshore and offshore wind, blades, hydro, storage, utility-scale solar, and grid solutions as well as hybrid renewables and digital services offerings.”

 

Capitol Tech offers many degree programs in engineering and engineering technologies, where students can gain the expertise and experience needed to enter their chosen career field with ease. Capitol also has a chapter of the Society of Women Engineers, and interested students can email studentlife@captechu.edu for more information about joining.

To learn more about our other programs, visit captechu.edu and check out the various courses and degrees offered. Many courses are available both on campus and online. For more information, contact admissions@captechu.edu, for Undergraduate, gradadmit@captechu.edu for Master's programs, and doctorate@captechu.edu for Doctoral programs.