IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2012 - 47

my parents' home in Zimbabwe. When
she started recovering, we settled in
Cape Town, South Africa.
I found it hard to succumb to authority-school was the first time I had to
wear a uniform, listen to adults, and
well, be a normal kid. I did terribly,
almost failed eighth grade, and found
myself in the principal's office, detention, and finally kicked out of one
school. By that stage, I had been arrested and was serving a six-month sentence in a juvenal center, after which I
was placed in a boarding school-one of
those reformatory types.
When I left school, I did so with a
smile on my face, and I am pretty sure
that the teachers were feeling the same
way. I did not work hard and scraped
through-school was a curse word and
tertiary education was never something
I would ever look at-at that stage people just wanted to get rid of me rather
than find a way to support me.

I explore tombs.

Prof. Zhu developed a mobile robotic system, the first of its kind in the world, that was used for
archeological Chinese ancient-tomb explorations.
Advice to girls interested in technology:

"Identify a role model to follow."
Professor Xiaorni Zhu | Mechanical Engineering

I dropped
science and math
as soon as I could in
grade ten-it was my
decision and my parents
were not going to make
me do anything I
didn't want to do.
No one was.

next three years
traveling between
t he C a r ibb e a n
a n d M e d it err a ne a n . W hen
you have nothing
behind you, there
is very little you can
ever have in front of
you, meaning that without a goal, or education, or
drive, how else do you build anything, let alone a life?
One day I found myself working on
a yacht with this huge engine room
and even larger control room. They had
radar and gadgets coming out of their
ears and the skipper showed me how to
use them. I was fascinated-this massive piece of equipment, huge lines and
pulley systems, and notification systems being managed by little computer
screens-and I realized that there is
more to life than what I first believed.

Later I found out
that I had missed
cert ain things
that were offered
to the more obedient kids like math,
drama, and computer programming.
Little did I know that I
would have enjoyed them.
I dropped science and math
as soon as I could in grade ten-it
was my decision, and my parents were
not going to make me do anything I
didn't want to do. No one was.
Because I had been put in school
without knowing which year I fell
under, they went by how I coped, and
that meant that I finished school a year
before everyone else. I decided to hop on
a boat and do the only thing I knew how,
which was be at sea. I sailed to Miami
at 17, leaving everything behind, much
to my mother's dismay, and spent the

I chose not to
be a lawyer.

I work smart.

Heather is a director of smart grid technologies and strategy. She leads research into
technologies that improve electric systems and integrate renewable resources.

Patricia's work supervising the operation and maintenance of electrical infrastructures makes oil
exploration more reliable, which can help provide a better quality of life for her native Brazil.

Advice to girls interested in technology:

"Be flexible enough to accept change, and get involved."

"A degree in engineering is a great foundation."
Heather Sanders | Electrical Engineer

Patricia Lins | Electrical and Mechanical Engineer

I Change the World. I am an Engineer.
I test cold light.

"I am the lead reliability and test engineer for the lighting program at Ingersoll Rand Climate
Solutions, evaluating LED products specifically designed for refrigeration."
Advice to girls interested in technology:

"Don't allow stereotypes to determine the course of your life."
Yoelit Hiebert | Reliability and Test Engineer

I connect people.

I lead.

Pamela is not only a Lead Software Engineer, she enjoys leading roles with the IEEE Computer
Society, the Technical Council on Software Engineering, and in her science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics community.
Advice to girls interested in technology:

"In my work with an Internet service provider in Turkey, I provide people Internet, data,
and voice services, which today play key roles in our lives."
Advice to girls interested in technology:

"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll be among stars."
Pamela Jones | Software Engineer

"Believe and have self-confidence about engineering."
Ozge Gure | Electronic and Communication Engineer

Read more about women in engineering at
www.ieee.org/women

IEEE Women in Engineering

Poster Series sponsored by the IEEE Life Members Fund and the IEEE Foundation

Write to us at women@ieee.org

IEEE WIE is the largest international professional
organization dedicated to promoting women
engineers and scientists.

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MWIE.2012.2225191

december 2012

IEEE womEn In EngInEErIng magazInE

http://www.ieee.org/women

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2012