The “Her Stories: Adventures in STEM” blog series is a collection of stories about 20 women in science and engineering fields, written by members of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Pre-College Working Group.
These inspiring women have experienced a variety of life experiences and career paths, and these stories and accompanying artwork help to capture the vast diversity of our featured scientists and engineers.
We hope this series will show you how exciting engineering and science can be and help you realize that anyone can choose to become a scientist or an engineer.
Story by Elizabeth Gjini
Five, six, seven, eight, tendu, plié, and she sticks the pirouette. Marie Laplante’s life has been a lot like the Nutcracker ballet — and not just because she has been a dancer her whole life. Her life is a combination of many adventures tied together with a light blue bow.
Marie grew up in Massachusetts, where her start was simple. She loved math and science and was sometimes inspired by her dad, who was an AT&T lineman. As a lineman, he worked on electrical wires — identifying old systems, repairing power lines, and keeping people safe from hazards related to electricity.
At other times, Marie was inspired by the many magazines around the house that depicted working women who could do anything. And Marie did just that. She began her engineering journey by going to college for a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering.
After powering through chemistry and engineering, Marie graduated with the support of her professors into a workforce that was only 9% female engineers. The 1980s were not an easy time for women in engineering. Many men were uncomfortable working with women, and it affected hiring options for some women. While this may sound intimidating, Marie saw an opportunity to have a job where people are always learning about something new and exciting.
Her first job was at a manufacturing chemical plant in Houston. She made sure the plant was continuously operational, even through the night. Just as scenes change in dance, Marie moved to environmental technology sales. This new role gave her a great way to combine her love of learning about technology with a business mindset.
Unfortunately, just as the curtain closes at the end of a show, Marie’s time in sales ended when her entire division was laid off. While it hurt to lose a job, she realized that when one show is over, the next season is full of opportunities to audition for something new.
With that in mind, Marie decided to go back to her engineering roots. She began exploring coal gasification, which is a process that extracts the elements from coal in a way that limits emissions and the effects on the environment. This is so important for places that still need to utilize coal for energy. There were many projects where Marie was looking for root causes of problems and solving them with creative and long-lasting solutions.
Eventually, Marie danced her way to engineering procurement and construction where she became a chief technology engineer for utilities. She was the youngest person and the only woman among distinguished older male engineers. In this role, she worked on projects and mentored teams of design engineers. Marie spent her time reviewing calculations and drawings and making sure everyone was consistently following procedure.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Marie’s project shut down. She found herself looking for something new as she was laid off yet again! She told herself to keep an open mind about what amazing things she could do, and reaching for the stars came quite literally. Marie landed a job supplying space suits for astronauts! She was the project team lead, managing materials and process engineers to make sure everyone’s contributions fit together.
Her group also supported mission control by providing technical expertise during space walks and making sure the suits worked properly to keep astronauts safe. Marie’s latest mission will supply space suits to support NASA’s Artemis space programs which will put the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon!
SWE has been a constant theme in Marie’s ever-twirling and changing career. She is a life member and has been a treasurer for just about every level in SWE. SWE has always been there for her and has given her some of her best friends, helped her find jobs, and guided her through the ups and downs of her career.
Marie also volunteers with FIRST Robotics, an organization that challenges high school students to design, program, and build robots to play a field game. One of Marie’s proudest achievements was receiving the Houston Woman of Excellence award from the Federation of Houston Professional Women. This organization works to unite women from diverse member organizations to enrich personal and professional relationships and expand leadership, partnership and educational opportunities. Marie was recognized for her contributions to SWE and her community.
Marie considers herself a jack of all trades with all her different experiences. From chemicals, utilities, and energy, to sales, project management, process design, and now space, she has truly grown throughout her career and has never let the unknown hold her back.
With the poise and grace of a dancer and the curiosity of an engineer, Marie’s performance is far from over — she is continuously growing as an engineer and finding new adventures along the way.
The “Her Stories: Adventures in STEM” series is a collection of stories about 20 women in science and engineering fields, written by members of the SWE Pre-College Working Group. Dive into the rest of the series here!
Know a precollege kid interested in STEM? Join SWENext, the Society’s free program that allows students ages 5 through 18 to join the SWE engineering and technology community.
SWENexters enjoy numerous opportunities throughout the year to learn, network, and connect with peers, role models, and industry professionals. Plus, this diverse, welcoming, precollege STEM community provides a safe place where kids can feel seen, heard, and validated. SWENext is open to all genders.
