BUSINESS BUILDING
The women in automotive you need to know From the earliest days of motorised transport, we have heard about the men who have grown and shaped the automotive industry.
automotive manufacturers, to inventing important technology still used today, and driving cars far and fast, women have been part of the automotive industry since day one.
But right alongside them, from the very beginning, have been pioneering women driving the industry forward. From leading global
Here are 10 women you need to know if you work in the automotive industry today.
BERTHA BENZ
Known for: First person to drive an automobile over a long distance. We’ll spare you the cliché ‘behind every man,’ but without Bertha Benz, we may not even have the motor vehicles we know and love today. Bertha Benz was the business partner and wife of automobile inventor Carl Benz. After investing in Carl Benz’s iron construction company before their marriage in 1872, Bertha also helped to finance the development of the Motorwagen. After contributing to the design of the original machine, she was also the first person in history to drive an automobile over a long distance, covering 106 km in one day in 1888.
Margaret Wilcox
Known for: Inventing climate control It’s the first thing you turn on in the frosty cold of a winter morning, but did you know today’s climate control was invented by Margaret A. Wilcox in 1893? As a qualified mechanical engineer, Margaret worked throughout her twenties to heat railway cars utilising the heat generated by the engines to heat the cabins. In 1929, Henry Ford began using her system in his Model A cars, and the rest they say, is history.
Mary Anderson
Known for: Invented the windshield wiper Sometimes the smallest things can make a huge difference, the windshield wiper being a great example of this effect. During a visit to New York in 1902, Mary Anderson sat in a trolley car (known here as a tram) and observed as the driver struggled to see past the sleet on the windows. When Mary returned home, she worked with a designer to produce a hand-operated device to keep a windshield clear. Building on Mary’s invention, Charlotte Bridgewood created the first automatic wiper system in 1917, using rollers instead of blades.
Aloha Wanderwell
Known for: First woman to drive an automobile around the world When googling Aloha Wanderwell, you come across ads touting her as the ‘world’s most widely travelled girl.’ This claim may not be inaccurate, as at age 16 she began a drive around the world, starting in Nice, France, in 1922 and finishing her expedition in 1927. She is the first woman to circumnavigate the world by driving herself. Aloha spoke 11 languages and acted as translator and filmmaker for numerous expeditions she and her husband embarked upon.
Katharine Burr Blodgett Known for: Invented nonreflective glass
Katharine Burr Blodgett was the first woman to work as a scientist for General Electric Laboratory in Schenectady, NY. Whilst working with colleague Irving Langmuir, she developed the film used to create ‘invisible glass,’ making glass nonreflective. This film is now widely used on windscreens to reduce glare in motor vehicles. In 1943, she received a star in the seventh edition of American Men of Science, recognising her as one of the 1,000 most distinguished scientists in the United States.
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