Wonder Woman Extravaganza: A Chemical Engineer
had the pleasure of interviewing Sophia He, a chemical engineering teacher at Dalhousie University. During the interview Sophia expressed a need to encourage more women in the field of engineering. Of all the STEM options, engineering is the field with the fewest women making up only fourteen percent of the employees that have careers in engineering.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
I don’t really remember what I wanted to be as a little girl but I do know in high school I wanted to be a chemist. Chemistry was so mysterious and it was everywhere. When it came time for college I did not know specifically what I wanted to do, I just loved chemistry. Here in Canada, during high school there are resources to help you choose the right path, there are guidance counsellors to help you in the process of choosing the right career. However, back in China there is not much guidance to help you understand what each profession involves."
What was the toughest part of university?
Well I chose chemical engineering thinking it was chemistry and in my first year I was unprepared for the level of math in engineering. I had never taken any calculus before and my first class was a disaster. After almost failing my calculus midterm, I studied all semester and I finally scored a 93% in my final. From then on I fell in love with engineering.”
What do you love most about engineering?
There are immediate benefits. Engineering is focused on application and that is the beauty of it. When I started working at the university I was immediately approached by a farmer who had a bio-diesel setup in his farm. I could improve and maximize his bio-diesel production after a few changes to his processing system. Now, I am working on converting old cooking oil into bio diesel. We will need alternative sources of energy in the future and if we can use waste, it will be an inexpensive alternative to coal or gas. There are also many engineering related jobs, there is a wide spectrum of fields that require an engineer like project management or energy consumption.
What would you say to young girls who wanted to be engineers in the future?
I would tell young girls to be especially adventurous. Boys are raised to be brave and to push the limits, but girls are often taught to be a little gentler and demur. Girls are different in terms of the way they assess design, how they evaluate customer needs and how they solve problems. Girls should be just as brave and I think they would make fantastic engineers. In fact, I think women would make better engineers. They are very creative and good at solving different problems. I am currently a minority in my field and I would love to see more women in chemical engineering.
This was a great interview as it shows how engineering can make a difference to peoples lives. In the future, we will need to have alternate sources of energy because we will run out of fossil fuels soon enough. These Wonder Women posts are here to create awareness about what Scientists and engineers do and it gives the chance for us to show case some of the brilliant women in the STEM fields.
Comment, Like & Share! Do You Know Someone In The STEM fields?!
Understanding the profession of these role models in important when trying to stimulate creativity and learning for the sciences.