As I am writing this blog post, it is June 23rd a.k.a International Women in Engineering Day!!!! To honor this day and simultaneously reflect on the week that just passed, I want to talk about women. Women in engineering. Women in education. Women in Malawi. Women in the United States. Women who have mentored, encouraged, and inspired me as I pursue a degree with not nearly enough female representation.
On the surface, most of our week revolved around brainstorming new ideas for our main projects (my team’s project is a continuous maternal temperature monitor, which we are now planning to update to be a temperature + pulse rate monitor) and finalizing our solution to begin prototyping in the coming weeks. However, after some reflection, I also noticed that many of last week’s events had an underlying running theme: women’s empowerment.
It first started when Dr. Veronica Leautaud (our Rice 360 mom, who we lovingly refer to as Dr. L), the Rice 360 Director of Education, flew in from Rice and came to visit us at the Poly design studio on Wednesday. Dr. L is one of those people that immediately embraces everyone with open arms, and makes you believe you can achieve anything you set your mind to. She has a powerful presence. At the poly, each team got to pitch our final solutions to her in a short 3-minute presentation and hear her thoughts. She was able to give each team real, constructive feedback while remaining unwavering in her support for our ideas, no matter how far-fetched they might have been. She reminded me that being a woman in engineering means more than just demonstrating technical expertise; it means lifting people up through love and positivity.
Later that day, I got to watch as Karen Turney, the Rice 360 Director of Development, filled the design studio with a sense of excitement and curiosity. Karen is energetic and encouraging, but most importantly she has a seemingly insatiable curiosity and is an expert at getting anyone to open up about their passions and life goals. I couldn’t help but watch in wonder as she made her way across the room, talking to every single intern in the studio, asking them questions about everything: from family life to hobbies to long-term goals. She makes everyone feel important, like we all have our very own unique story to share with the world. And although she is not an engineer, she reminded me that being a woman in engineering means being unafraid to ask the “silly” questions and taking the time to learn from and grow with your peers.
On Friday, Mrs. Juliana Nyasulu Masi, a lecturer at the Poly, brought in around 20 bright-eyed 1st year students (1st year = 9th grade in the US) to the design studio. While the students walked around excitedly watching interns use 3-D printers, laser cutters, and Arduino circuits, I got the chance to talk to Juliana about her experience being a female lecturer at the Poly. I only spoke to her for a few minutes, but it was enough time to see just how passionate she was, not only about her subject (she teaches C++ at the Poly), but also about inspiring and recruiting the next generation of engineers. I didn’t get the chance to ask for exact numbers, but I’m almost certain she was one of very few women graduating with her degree, and one of even fewer women lecturing a programming course at the Poly. She reminded me that being a woman in engineering means paving the way, not just for yourself, but for all young girls who dream of being an engineer when they grow up.
On Saturday, my amazing teammate Christina invited all the interns to a Biomedical Engineering Student Society (BESS) event that she helped organize. Christina, a Biomedical Engineering student at the Poly, is the Diploma Representative of BESS. The event was a great success: it had project presentations from current Biomedical Engineering students, a fun and interactive engineering-themed quiz competition, and an awards ceremony for the best performing students – all tied together by a talented DJ who periodically mixed music to keep the room entertained. As I looked around, I quickly noticed that I could count the number of women in the room on my two hands. Still, it was so humbling to be surrounded by so much talent (including the first ever graduating class of Biomedical Engineers at the Poly!!). Christina, the only woman on the BESS board of representatives, managed the event with so much grace and confidence. She reminded me that being a woman in engineering means being unapologetically confident in yourself and not shying away from the spotlight.
Finally, I want to thank my fellow interns, the people who I have already learned so much from and who continue to inspire me every single day. Of the 7 Rice interns, 6 of us are girls. We are still learning what it means to be women in engineering and other healthcare-related industries, and how we can speak up to support other women trying to enter similar fields. They remind me that being a woman in engineering means learning through trial & error and taking your time to find your place and your voice.
As a woman in engineering, I’ve always been aware of how lucky I am to be surrounded by powerful, intelligent women who inspire me to follow my dreams. I’ve also always been aware of the odds against me. The odds against all the women around me. If there’s one thing that this week reminded me, it’s this: I’m here, in Malawi, working on meaningful and impactful engineering projects, and I’m going to defy the odds.
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— Nimisha 🙂