Women’s Revolutionary Pioneering Engineer: Edith Clarke

The inclusion of women in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is not only about diversity; it is the growth driver. The role of women and girls in STEM education is not just a critical but the necessary step to the progress of the world in many areas of global development. Women in the engineering world wrote and directed history using their natural abilities and created brand new paths that are currently changing the world.

Women’s Revolutionary Pioneering Engineer

Edith Clarke

Today, we’ll discuss about the first women to embark on this adventure, lead the way for other women, defy preconceptions, and become a big influence to the globe. Edith Clarke was born in Maryland on February 10, 1883, as the youngest of nine siblings. Orphaned at the age of 12, she decided to use her inheritance to further her education, enrolling at Vassar College at 18 to study mathematics and astronomy.

After graduating from Vassar in 1908, Clarke began teaching mathematics and physics, first at a private school in San Francisco and later at Marshall College in West Virginia. She later studied civil engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before joining AT&T in 1912. At AT&T, she worked as a “human computer,” helping engineers.

Clarke made history as the first woman at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to acquire a master’s degree in electrical engineering. Her achievements had a tremendous impact on the field of STEM, leaving an everlasting stamp on its future.

After initially having trouble in finding a job in engineering, she joined General Electric (GE) and transformed the industry with her creation, the Clarke Calculator. When compared to previous methods, this graphical tool solved equations 10 times faster, simplifying hard jobs for electrical engineers. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, this 1925 patent greatly advanced power grid technology and set the foundation for “smart grid” systems.

Reference:

• How Edith Clarke Solved Equations and Advanced STEM Fields
• Edith Clarke, a Woman of Many Firsts