Women Engineers Moved to the Motor City

By Olivia Sobek

At Welocal 2023 in Detroit Michigan I attended the conference called “Women Engineers Moved to the Motor City ” It was about the history of women engineers back in 1900s when there wasn’t a lot of women in stem careers. These empowering women were from around the area of Detroit Michigan known as “Motor City.” The session started with Mary Virginia Sink (1915-1986). As a child, she wanted to be a teacher and was one of the top people in her class. She then received a scholarship and grant towards college. Mary was told by everyone that she was crazy for studying engineering After graduating college with a chemical engineering degree, she got a job at UC Chrysler Corporation. After being doubted and told she was crazy by people, she didn’t let that stop her from following her passion. She was made the first female engineer into the auto industry and was paid less compared to the men she worked with Later, the company valued her hard work and gave her a raise where she went on to graduate school to study mechanical engineering in 1942. Around this time Chrysler had 173 women working for them now. Mary was recognized as female role model and joined SWE Detroit in 1952. From hearing this story, it inspired me to follow my passion for engineering. To not be afraid or let my fears control me. It made me feel proud to me a member of the Society of Women Engineers