Celebrating National Engineers Week

This week is National Engineers week – a great time to recognize the many achievements of Engineers all over the world.   I remember the first time I took an engineering class – a programming class, before I switched my major to Computer Science.  At the University of Utah, Computer Science was in engineering.  Prior to that first class, I had never set foot in this glass and steel engineering building off to the side of the campus.   For the next four years, I virtually lived there.

From the moment when I found my life’s passion, I was proud to be an engineer, and it was the engineering discipline that helped me excel in positions where I delivered products, including semiconductors, software and customer design systems.

Although I was good at math, I grew up not knowing what an engineer was.   I was surrounded by lawyers, doctors, teachers and adults who worked in the arts.   I thought I was the first engineer in my family.   In recent years, I have discovered that my engineering talent was in my genes.   My father’s father, who I never knew, was an engineer, and my Grandmother’s family, included several engineers.   Who knew?

My technical career at startups and in school has thrived on the marriage of innovation – new ideas, new design methodologies, and new applications – with engineering discipline.   Ideas are easy to come by, but creating products with the quality and functionality that meets the needs of your customers, that is what innovation is really about.   Engineering school taught me that.

At the Anita Borg Institute, we have the opportunity to work with thousands of talented Engineers and Computer Scientists.   This week I celebrate the achievements of the many women and men who are devoting their professional lives to engineering, and who realize the importance of engineering in our future.   This is a great time to show the next generation of girls and boys the positive impact of what engineering can do – to our health system, the environment, and in space.  Through engineering, you really can change the world.