This article is part of SWE Magazine’s Spring 2017 Issue. To view it on your mobile device, download the SWE Magazine app! Download it on the App Store or get it on Google Play.
A professor in the department of industrial engineering and management systems at the University of Central Florida, Pamela McCauley, Ph.D., is an expert on ergonomics, human factors, and biomechanics. She directs the university’s Ergonomics Laboratory, leads the Human Factors and Ergonomics in Disaster Management Research team, and is the faculty advisor to the SWE collegiate section. Recently, she completed an assignment with the U.S. State Department as a Jefferson Science Fellow, a program that engages the American academic science and engineering community with U.S. foreign policy.
Dr. McCauley has written more than 80 technical papers, book chapters, and conference proceedings as well as an ergonomics textbook. She frequently speaks on leadership, diversity, and the importance of STEM education, topics that are also addressed in her book, Transforming Your STEM Career Through Leadership and Innovation: Inspiration and Strategies for Women.
An earlier book, Winners Don’t Quit: Today They Call Me Doctor, describes her personal journey from struggling teen mother to becoming the first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in engineering in the state of Oklahoma. The story is highly acclaimed for its inspiring message. Her latest book, Essentials of Engineering Leadership and Innovation, was just released.
Dr. McCauley received her B.S. in industrial engineering, as well as her master’s and Ph.D., from The University of Oklahoma.
Who Are the Women Engineers We Should Know?
Quite often, those who are behind the scenes and out of the limelight make real change in the workplace and in our communities. It is our intention to recognize such women and make their efforts better known in our SWE Magazine series “Women Engineers You Should Know.”
Casting a wide net, SWE Magazine staff and editorial board members seek contemporary women whose lives have embodied the Society’s mission to: “Stimulate women to achieve full potential in careers as engineers and leaders, expand the image of the engineering profession as a positive force for improving the quality of life, and demonstrate the value of diversity.”
Through a variety of means, including fielding suggestions and conducting archival research, we will examine the stories of many women who have made a difference in these critical areas. Determining a final list is a daunting challenge, and our selections are in no way meant to be definitive. While some names you may recognize, many are not recognizable to most people. From a variety of perspectives, in different environments and moments in time, these women represent “ordinary” when doing “extraordinary” things. In saluting them, we are saluting all the women, known and unknown, past and present, who have advanced our mission.
Nominate women engineers to know for our next article. The deadline for submission of names is December 15, 2017. Submit nominations here.
With each submission, please include the following.
- Nominee info: name, why her, links supporting your nomination, areas of expertise, where is she located
- Nominator info: name, email, how you know the nominee
Thanks for your help, and look for the Spring 2018 issue of SWE Magazine.
