Female automotive engineers launched first mass-produced electric car by General Motors
source: http://womensenews.org/story/women-in-science/110419/female-engineers-put-buzz-gms-volt
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Britta Gross, director of Global Energy Systems and Infrastructure Commercialization for General Motors, is literally getting the world ready for the advent of the electric car with the Chevrolet Volt.
Gross, with a degree in electrical engineering, is in charge of preparing states to be "plug-in ready" for the Volt by working with energy and utility companies to produce the necessary charging infrastructure to support the new vehicle. She then goes to federal, state and local governments to help pave the way for the implementation of new policies to support electric cars.
Gross has worked in the field for over 25 years, but she's still an anomaly.
Women have been gaining ground as engineers since the 1980s, according to a National Science Foundation report, but in 2006 women were still only 19 percent of those holding a bachelor's degree in engineering, like Gross.
In late March, Gross joined three other female engineers in a Web chat--online meetings where participants can exchange written instant messages--about the Chevrolet Volt, the first electric car with extended range capability by General Motors that all four women helped create, market and distribute.
"The Volt is a great demonstration of the opportunities that exist for women," Teri Quigley, plant manager at Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly, the production place for the Chevrolet Volt, said during the online forum. "It requires hard work just like any job, but the door is wide open for success."
Women make up less than 11 percent of working engineers and earn 86 percent of the salaries of their male counterparts in engineering.
Engineering salaries are among the highest earnings for college graduates, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In electrical engineering, the median salary for the lowest 10 percent of the field is $52,990, while the median salary for the highest paid 10 percent of engineers is $125,810.
Read the full story at Women's eNews http://womensenews.org/story/women-in-science/110419/female-engineers-put-buzz-g...
Gross, with a degree in electrical engineering, is in charge of preparing states to be "plug-in ready" for the Volt by working with energy and utility companies to produce the necessary charging infrastructure to support the new vehicle. She then goes to federal, state and local governments to help pave the way for the implementation of new policies to support electric cars.
Gross has worked in the field for over 25 years, but she's still an anomaly.
Women have been gaining ground as engineers since the 1980s, according to a National Science Foundation report, but in 2006 women were still only 19 percent of those holding a bachelor's degree in engineering, like Gross.
In late March, Gross joined three other female engineers in a Web chat--online meetings where participants can exchange written instant messages--about the Chevrolet Volt, the first electric car with extended range capability by General Motors that all four women helped create, market and distribute.
"The Volt is a great demonstration of the opportunities that exist for women," Teri Quigley, plant manager at Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly, the production place for the Chevrolet Volt, said during the online forum. "It requires hard work just like any job, but the door is wide open for success."
Women make up less than 11 percent of working engineers and earn 86 percent of the salaries of their male counterparts in engineering.
Engineering salaries are among the highest earnings for college graduates, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In electrical engineering, the median salary for the lowest 10 percent of the field is $52,990, while the median salary for the highest paid 10 percent of engineers is $125,810.
Read the full story at Women's eNews http://womensenews.org/story/women-in-science/110419/female-engineers-put-buzz-g...
