Repository: UIHistories Project: SWE - News Clippings Book [PAGE 30]

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Beatrice Hicks is president and engineering director of Newark Controls Company in Bloomfield, N.J. Inventor of the gas density switch, a key component in systems using artificial atmospheres, Mrs. Hicks has pioneered in the design, development and manufacture of gas density and pressure controls for aircraft and missiles.

Laurel Roennau, who once worked as an airplane mechanic, earned the society's award for studies in space biology carried out as a member of the guided missile research division of Space Technology Laboratories, Inc. Mother of two young sons, Mrs. Roennau now serves on the board of commissioners responsible for Los Angeles' airports.

Laurence Pellier was cited by the society for her work in the field of metallurgical engineering. Mrs. Pellier works as a research metallurgist in Norwalk, Conn., for the Burndy Corporation, a manufacturer of electrical connectors with plants here and abroad. The research laboratory is currently active in the study of surface phenomena.

Grace Hopper, a mathematician, is known for her original work in computer programming. During World War II she developed operating programs for the first automatically-sequenced digital computer, forerunner of the electronic computer. Dr. Hopper is a staff scientist with the Univac division of Sperry Rand Corporation in Philadelphia.

earns a median salary of $9,500 a year. A college graduate, she has done some graduate work. Three coveted awards are given by the society each year. One is an "Achievement" plaque that goes to a woman who has made a significant contribution to engineering. Another is a $500 scholarship for an outstanding engineering student in her sophomore or junior year at college. Third is a $100 "E" Bond for the best engineering-oriented exhibit entered by a girl in international Science Fair competition. Last June, the society made its biggest public splash to date by sponsoring the First International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists. More than 530 delegates traveled to Manhattan from 50 states and 37 countries abroad to discuss the world-wide need for technically-trained "womanpower" and to explore the problems that women in technical work face. Lillian M. Gilbreth, the famous mother in "Cheaper by the Dozen," was the keynote speaker. Now 86, with 28 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren, Dr. Gilbreth is still president of her own industrial engineering and management consultant firm. The conference was so successful the second one has already been planned. It will take place at England's Cambridge University in 1967.

Isabelle French, a technical editor with Bell Telephone Labs at Allentown, Pa., is 1964-65 president of the society. She succeeded another Bell engineer, Aileen Cavanagh of Whippany, N. J. Miss French was the first woman to receive a B.S. in radio engineering from Indiana's Tri-State College. That was in 1944. She later did graduate work in physics and electrical engineering at Boston and Northeastern universities. Vice-president is Alice Morgan, a design engineer with Douglas Aircraft's missiles and space division in Huntington Beach, Cal. Secretary is Lydia I. Pickup, an engineering designer with The Boeing Company in New Orleans. Treasurer is Beatrice M. Williams, a design draftsman with Lockheed-California in Burbank. Members of the governing executive committee are Elaine Brower, a staff engineer with Chrysler's space division in New Orleans; Barbara Fox, a sanitary engineer with the City of Chicago's water safety control department; Olive Salembier, president of Specifications Packaging Engineering Company in Phoenix, Ariz.; Mary L. Wolf, a senior engineer with Westinghouse's air arm division in Baltimore, and Betty J. Yost, an engineering section leader with Ledex, Inc. in Dayton, Ohio. e*'©