![\"Kathleen](\"\/mariner\/issue2-2017\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/12\/Knight-engineering.jpg\")
Kathleen Knight \u201881, the first female Marine Engineering graduate.<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cWhen I asked my high school guidance counselor for a letter of recommendation to enter an engineering program, he told me it wasn\u2019t a good fit, that I should major in Phys. Ed.,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
MMA was in the early stages of accepting women when Knight enrolled. She was encouraged and excelled in the academy\u2019s learning environment. \u201cI was hooked after the first training cruise, learning new things, taking things apart and putting them back together, working with my classmates to complete jobs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bad times,\u201d she says, \u201cwere when I wasn\u2019t allowed to participate in activities because I was a woman, or having obscenities yelled at me from behind the curtains in the dorms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Knight was undaunted.<\/p>\n
She continued to excel upon graduation. Her education at MMA allowed her to do well in a variety of jobs, from engineering design, quality assurance and safety with a company that repaired ships, to working as a maintenance supervisor and nuclear plant operator, a technical writer, and now as a math teacher at Lewison High School, Maine.<\/p>\n
\u201cI take pride that I helped pave the way so young women are now recognized as being just as capable as young men in their desired field\u2014traditional or not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seeing The Big Picture<\/h3>\n
In past years, engineering suffered from a reputation of being a tedious profession filled with hours of calculations by hand and pages and pages of numbers to solve problems.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the computers we have now,\u201d Fleck says, \u201canalysis can be done quickly and engineers are free to do more creative and interesting tasks.\u201d<\/p>\n
With an engineering degree, a graduate leaves MMA with an ability to solve problems and create solutions that have wide applicability, she adds.<\/p>\n
An interesting example is Alaina (Hanlon) Adams \u201903 who came to MMA in pursuit of a Marine Systems Engineering degree literally with stars in her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to work with NASA,\u201d she says, \u201cand realized an engineering degree from MMA would give me an edge and position me for that goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Alaina](\"\/mariner\/issue2-2017\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/12\/adams-engineering.jpg\")
Alaina Adams \u201803, co-founder and CEO, Healthimation.<\/p><\/div>\n
For Adams, MMA\u2019s engineering program stood out because of its unique hands-on, approach to applied learning, complemented by strong theoretical and classroom components. \u201cPlus,\u201d she says, \u201ctraveling the world on the academy\u2019s training ship sounded like an amazing adventure I couldn\u2019t experience anywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the nearly two decades between Knight\u2019s and Adams\u2019 enrollments, hundreds of women have graduated from MMA and proved themselves more than capable in maritime, science, technical trades and more.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy experience at MMA was very positive,\u201d Adams says. \u201cNot to say there weren\u2019t challenges, there were, but they helped prepare me for similar challenges I would face in the future.<\/p>\n
You have to make all the no\u2019s and rejection you receive lead to direction, clarity and motivation…and persistence, persistence, persistence.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cI am very grateful to my engineering professors, many of whom I\u2019m still in close contact with today. They demonstrated a genuine interest in helping students succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adams developed leadership skills as a midshipman training officer, Cadet Assistant Engineer and captain of several sports teams\u2014and a deep passion for engineering.
\nShe obtained her master\u2019s and doctorate degrees in mechanical engineering at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where she conducted research related to NASA and aerospace\u2014specifically, materials manufacturing in space and a novel thermal monitoring and detection system for spacecraft.<\/p>\nAs a graduate student, her work led her to start her first company, which developed sensing systems capable of self-diagnosing problems and sending alerts, not only for aerospace vehicles but infrastructure, as well as therapeutic devices for healthcare prevention systems.<\/p>\n
Partnering with a leading research hospital in Boston, she started her next company focused on preventing diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, using sensing technology, \u201cbig data,\u201d predictive analytics and clinical intervention techniques.<\/p>\n
Becoming a business executive has brought its own set of hard-won lessons for Adams, but her solutions have a touchstone in her days at MMA.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to make all the no\u2019s and rejection you receive lead to direction, clarity and motivation,\u201d she says, \u201cand persistence, persistence, persistence.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing an engineer turned out to be a great background for being a CEO,\u201d she says. \u201cI was a problem-solver. I could see the big picture, as well as the details needed to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Strides<\/h3>\n
Several important strides have been made to recruit and help women succeed in engineering at MMA.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, having women faculty helps,\u201d says Elizabeth True, Ed.D., Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management. \u201cWomen engineering alumnae serve as great ambassadors for the school. There\u2019s strong informal mentoring that upper-class women do for freshmen, the OneTeam program (part of a comprehensive leadership initiative in Athletics), and an effort to get our students networked through the school\u2019s affiliation with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE).\u201d<\/p>\n
MMA chapter of SWE (front, left-right) Alayne Felix, Morgan Boudreau, Emily Melick (back, left-right) Charlette Bradley, Maryellyn Musselman, Sydney Knowlton, (not shown: Kylie Bradley).<\/p><\/div>\n
Although the MMA chapter of SWE was created just last year with True\u2019s support and Fleck as faculty advisor, several graduates have already leveraged their membership in the MMA group to help land their first jobs, including Molly Marcotte \u201916, one of the MMA SWE\u2019s founding members.<\/p>\n
Marcotte, who studied Marine Systems Engineering, works as a naval architect in the Engineering Department, Naval Architecture Division at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, primarily on docking and stability for Navy submarines.<\/p>\n
She progressed to the job after only a year working for NAVSEA at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center.<\/p>\n
Molly Marcotte \u201916, Naval Architect at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard.<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cAt my job,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m doing what I enjoy and using the knowledge and experience MMA provided.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s hard to recruit women into engineering because as Professor Fleck said, there aren\u2019t many women to look up to; therefore it\u2019s hard to envision yourself excelling. And although the industry has greatly changed over time, engineering is still mostly a man\u2019s world that I see even in my job now. I\u2019m happy to note it\u2019s improving.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve succeeded so far not only because of my own goals but also because that is the expectation for a Maine Maritime graduate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t have the job I love now or the drive to push myself without the stress, long nights and hard work that came from being an MMA student.\u201d<\/p>\n
Problems To Be Solved<\/h3>\n
Fleck sees fewer barriers for MMA engineering graduates. Companies that depend on technological prowess are actively recruiting women.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith an engineering degree from MMA you can walk into a job immediately out of school with a good salary and job security,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cBasically, engineering uses math and science to solve problems. Once you have those skills, you can use them to solve all kinds of problems\u2014in robotics, energy, design, research, biomedicine or manufacturing. We have several grads, for example, working for Tesla (electric car) manufacturing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at where our women alums have gone and what they have achieved!\u201d says True. \u201cThey seem to climb up the career ladder in the maritime trades and ashore very quickly because of their training and unique experience.\u201d\u2588<\/span><\/p>\n
Photos: Billy Sims & Deanna Yocom<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When you graduate from MMA with an engineering degree you know how demanding the work can be, but it opens the door for many career opportunities. So, there\u2019s an equation that doesn\u2019t add up for Professor of Engineering Barbara Fleck.<\/p>\n
Why do few women enter the field? Approximately 30 women are enrolled in engineering majors at MMA (out of 543 total). In the United States, 20 percent of engineering school graduates are women, according to the Society of Women Engineers. And they make up only 11-14 percent of practicing engineers.<\/p>\n
![\"SWE](\"\/mariner\/issue2-2017\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/12\/engineer-1.jpg\")
![\"Molly](\"\/mariner\/issue2-2017\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/12\/marcotte-engineering.jpg\")