Happy International Women in Engineering Day! Today we celebrate all current and future women engineers by telling the stories of Wichita State’s twin engineering students, Mary and Grace Peterson. Mary is an electrical engineering major and Grace studies mechanical engineering. Both have internships with Textron Aviation this summer.
Mary and Grace became interested in engineering after participating in the FIRST Robotics Competition in high school. They both loved the challenging nature of engineering and how the field is constantly working to improve the world.
Grace was recently elected President of the Society of Women Engineers while Mary was the former President, and they are both members of Student Ambassador Society, Navigators and Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society. They also both serve as mentors to first-year engineering students through the ACE Mentoring Program.
Wichita State University Engineering Student
Aside from these things together, Grace is an undergraduate research assistant for the Nanomaterials for Renewable Energy and Environment Lab (NREEL) and Mary is part of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Teachers have made a significant impact on their education, but two highlighted by Mary and Grace are Dr. Aravinthan and Dr. Wei Wei. “Dr. Aravinthan has invested a lot of time in helping me learn more about research in power systems and then methods we use,” Mary said. Grace admires Dr. Wei Wei because she “is an excellent mentor who cares for her students and desires to help them succeed.”
Mary and Grace are also thankful for the friends they have made during their time in college. “Wichita State has allowed me to meet many intelligent and inspiring people,” Grace said. “It is a blessing to be able to share my experiences in college with friends.”
Mary believes the biggest challenge she has faced during college is time management. “I always wish I had more time for the three S’s—study, socialize and sleep,” Mary said. “I’ve learned that on any given day, homework consumes my attention, but afterwards, the people I spend time with fill my memory. Experiences matter!”
Mary and Grace both agree that their parents are a large part of how they have gotten to where they are now. “My parents faithfully invested their lives into educating my siblings and me and into helping us grow academically and personally,” Grace said. “I am so grateful for their love, support, advice and encouragement.”
One last piece of advice to other students from Mary: get involved and ask for help when you need it. “Wichita State provides amazing support to students,” she said. “Advisors, professors, tutors, older students and university staff have all been a big help to me.”
These two Shockers are on their way to change the world, to impact the field of engineering even more and they are paving the way for more women to choose a career in engineering.
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