IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 8

ing firm working in machine
plan events geared toward
"It's
controls again. "Being
profe s sion a l de velop active with IEEE had
ment, Brooks explains
hard when
kept my network up
that she has focused
you are 18 years
to date and prevented
on the practice of the
old to pick a field
me from losing touch
"soft skills" she was
that you'll work
with everything."
not exposed to in colin for the rest of
In 20 0 9, Brook s
lege. Ser ving as an
began working in the
IEEE-USA S-PAC Comyour life."
role she still holds today,
mittee regional coordinaas a design engineer with
tor from 2004 to 2011, "it
Ideal Aerosmith in Minnesota.
is pretty amazing to see some of
Ideal Aerosmith is a world leader in
the events that they pull off," Brooks
supplying motion test systems for the
says proudly. In this capacity, she also
inertial navigation, industrial, oil and
worked on the creation of an all-day
gas, automotive, medical, and conworkshop for college students (S-PAW),
sumer marketplaces and works with
authoring a presentation on the subject
Fortune 500 companies worldwide
of time management.
providing both equipment and engiTime management is certainly
neering expertise. "This job is comsomet hing Brook s ha s ma stered.
pletely different from anything I've ever
Though she initially volunteered with
done," describes Brooks, who works
IEEE as an activity to fill her time away
on the hardware integration of multifrom work, Brooks rejoined the corpoaxis electric and hydraulic test tables.
rate world in 2007, right in the middle
"But branching off into another arm
of her active IEEE involvement (she
of electrical engineering has made me
still serves as a IEEE Women in Engigo back and refresh myself on things I
neering regional coordinator). "It was
haven't done since I was in college. It's
nerve-racking going back to work; I
nice to know that the brain still works!"
was afraid that I'd forgotten a lot, but
In learning t his new c apabilit ended up not being too difficult to
ity, Brooks is following some of the
get back up and running again," says
advice she gives to the students she
Brooks, who took a job with a consult-

mentors through IEEE and other projects. "Something I try to live by is 'never
say never','' she says. "I know it's cliché,
but it's important to keep an open mind
about opportunities." Noting that she
has sometimes been disappointed by
opportunities, Brooks can chalk those
times up to life experience and recognize what she won't have to try again
in the future. "That attitude keeps me
challenged and keeps me from getting
bored," she explains.
Keeping an open mind is especially
important for young students who may
have to try a few careers before finding
one that clicks. "It's hard when you are
18-years old to pick a field that you'll
work in for the rest of your life," says
Brooks. Though she immediately found
her niche due to a love of mathematics
and a high school teacher with a great
career suggestion, Brooks recognizes
that not everyone finds that direction
as early as she did. "I lucked out," she
admits, "but you just have to be open to
trying new things."
-Leslie Prives

A Biomedical
Engineering Story

Rutherford inspires young adults
A biomedical engineer, Kathleen Rutherford is associate director of regulatory affairs at Zimmer Trabecular Metal
Technology.
Rutherford grew up in Queens, New
York. Her father was a captain in the
New York City Fire Department, and her
grandfather and uncle worked there too.
"Since I was a girl, I had to find an alternative occupation," she says. "Luckily, I was
good in math and science, and my parents
guided me into engineering, which was
pretty progressive in the late 1970s."
Rutherford adds there were never
limits put on her potential, and both her
mom and dad encouraged her and her
brother to explore whatever interested

Brooks changed course in 1998 when she moved to North Dakota and became a
stay-at-home mom to three boys.

IEEE women in engineering magazine

DECEMBER 2013

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MWIE.2013.2280367
Date of publication: 11 November 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013