How Their Lives Shaped Our Lives Dr Carol Marsh President. Women s Engineering Society.

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1 How Their Lives Shaped Our Lives Dr Carol Marsh President Women s Engineering Society

2 WES HISTORYAgenda First WES President - Rachel Parsons First WES Secretary (then President) - Caroline Haslett More Inspiring WES Presidents

3 WES HISTORY Introduction 51 st President of the Women s Engineering Society Technical Manager at Selex ES WES started in 1919 and is 95 years old My inspiring women were Presidents of WES

4 Rachel Parsons Inspiring Women

5 William Parsons, Earl of Rosse ( ) Astronomer President of the Royal Society Mary Countess of Rosse ( ) Astronomer Photographer Sir Charles Parsons ( ) Engineer Designed Steam Turbine Engines "William Parsons Earl of Rosse". Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - "Mary, Countess of Rosse" by Unknown painter - Birr Castle Archives. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - "Charles Algernon Parsons". Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons -

6 Sir Charles Parsons ( ) Designed Steam Turbine Engines Katharine, Lady Parsons ( ) Leader of the Suffragettes in Northeast England Rachel Parsons ( ) Engineer "Charles Algernon Parsons". Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

7 Katharine, Lady Parsons Leader of the Suffragettes in Northeast England Pioneer of the Girl Guide movement First female member of the North East Coast Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders Encouraged Rachel to be an engineer Extract from History Today by Henrietta Heald In 1916 at an exhibition of women s work Katharine Parsons stated This exhibit proved conclusively that women were able to work on almost every known operation in engineering, from the most highly skilled precision work to the rougher sort of labouring jobs More information available from The Genius of the Parsons Family website

8 Rachel Parsons st of 3 women to study Mechanical Sciences at Cambridge University Females barred from becoming full members of Cambridge University, so she wasn t awarded a degree o 1948 before women were awarded degrees 1914 (start of WW1) became director of her father s company CA Parsons in Newcastle upon Tyne in the Northeast of England (now part of Siemens) o o Made searchlight equipment to detect Zeppelins and airplanes In charge of female employees More information on Rachel Parsons

9 1915 Rachel joined newly formed Ministry of Munitions to train women to o Assemble aircraft parts o Make telescopes, periscopes, shells o Install electrical wiring on battleships 800,000 women worked in engineering during WW Restoration of Pre-War Practices Act became law which banned women from working in engineering at the end of WWI More information on Rachel Parsons

10 In 1919 women Over 30 could vote Over 21 could stand for parliament Could become doctors, vets, lawyers and civil servants Could not become engineers Could not become members of professional bodies Could not publish technical papers So Katharine and Rachel Parsons Set up the Women s Engineering Society Set up Atalanta Ltd, an engineering firm that employed only women More information on Rachel Parsons

11 Rachel Parsons was One of the richest women in Britain Loved fast cars, fast boats and fast horses Sailed across the Atlantic on a record breaking liner Was elected to the London County Council Stood for Parliament in 1923 (only 2 previous women MPs) Campaigned for equal access, regardless of gender, to all technical schools and colleges Blazed a trail for women who wanted to go into non traditional careers More information on Rachel Parsons

12 Dame Caroline Haslett

13 Dame Caroline Haslett ( ) Father was an engineer in the railway Worked as a clerk in an engineering company which made boilers during WW1 Received basic training as an Electrical Engineer and designed boilers Became 1 st secretary of WES in 1919 after answering an advert Founder and editor of WES s journal The Women Engineer President of WES in

14 The Women Engineer Journal

15 Dame Caroline Haslett Campaigned to make life easier for women by getting them to use and, better still, design new, safe and easy to use electric appliances Electric Dishwasher 1917 Electric Vacuum Cleaner 1910 "Electric dishwashing machine, 1917" by Keith's Magazine - Keith's magazine on home building. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - "Vacuum cleaner 1910". Via Wikipedia -

16 Dame Caroline Haslett 1924 Founded the Electrical Association for Women (EAW) st woman to become a member of the Institute of Electrical Engineers (now the IET) 1932 Chair for the Home Safety Committee st female Vice President of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents 1935 Pioneered the All-Electric House in Bristol 1945 Appointed to the British Electricity Authority 1953 Chair of the British Electrical Development Association

17 Dame Caroline Haslett Wrote several books o The Electrical Handbook for Women o Teach Yourself Household Electricity o Munitions Girl A Handbook for the Women of the Industrial Army o The Kitchen Practical Ran educational classes from How to change fuses and wire plugs to diploma courses

18 Dame Caroline Haslett Lectured throughout Britain and gave radio talks Worked for the British Government during WW2 Lived to see o Electricity in almost every home o Television (1 st broadcast by BBC in Britain in 1936) o Nuclear power stations o Jet planes o Computers Dying wish was to be cremated by electricity

19 Dame Caroline Haslett Lectured throughout Britain and gave radio talks Worked for the British Government during WW2 Lived to see o Electricity in almost every home o Television (1 st broadcast by BBC in Britain in 1936) o Nuclear power stations o Jet planes o Computers Dying wish was to be cremated by electricity

20 More Inspiring WES Presidents

21 Inspiring Women Verena Holmes President Held 12 patents for medical devices to engine components: o Pneumo-thorax apparatus for treating patients with tuberculosis o Surgeon's headlamp o Poppet valve for steam locomotives o Rotary valves for internal combustion engines. 1 st female associated member of Institute of Mechanical Engineers took 20 years to become a full member Amy Johnson CBE President Dynamic record-breaking English aviator 1st woman in the UK to be awarded the Air Ministry s ground engineer s licence 1 st woman pilot to fly solo from England to Australia Broke the record for flying from England to Moscow, Japan and South Africa

22 Inspiring Women Elizabeth Laverick OBE President In 1943 did a BSc in Radio and Physics at Durham University then a PhD in Physics (WW2 women encouraged to do engineering) Worked on Microwave Instruments and Radar research Deputy Secretary of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (now IET) Chaired Institute of Physics Women in Physics Committee IEEE Fellow Daphne Jackson OBE President Nuclear physicist 1 st female physics professor in the UK Youngest Fellow of the Institute of Physics and became a VP Set up the Daphne Jackson Trust to help women re-enter engineering after a career break still running "Daphne Jackson" by 21 September 1972 issue of New Scientist. Licensed under Fair use of copyrighted material in the context of Daphne Jackson via Wikipedia -

23 Summary As the 51 st President of WES, I feel indebted to the 50 amazing women who came before me o Including the inspiring directors, trustees and members Beyond their boundless enthusiasm and dedication, what links all of these women together is a refusal to accept the status quo We need to promote the supportive network of inspiring female engineers, so that there are strong role models for current and future generations of female engineers to refer to Too many generations of undiscovered engineers and scientists who never reached their potential have gone before us. We need to make sure that this generation find their voice and their place within industry and history