Women Engineers Honored as Trailblazers and Changemakers at ASME Foundation Gala
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has awarded the 2024 Kate Gleason Award to Patricia Brackin, Ph.D., director of the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s engineering design program and an ASME Fellow. Established by the ASME Foundation in 2011 in memory of the first woman to become a full member of ASME, the award recognizes the contribution of a distinguished female leader in engineering.
Sonya T. Smith, Ph.D., chair of the ASME Foundation, presented the award to Brackin at the Foundation’s third annual celebration of its progress toward empowering next generation engineers, a VIP event entitled “Reinventing the Future–Women Engineering Change,” on March 20 in Washington. (See captioned event photos below.)
Brackin helped develop Rose-Hulman’s Home for Environmentally Responsible Engineering program, a living and learning experience for students interested in sustainability and humanitarian engineering. She also spent 11 years as director of the Institute’s Operation Catapult program, helping to introduce high school seniors to the wonders of science and engineering. A member of Rose-Hulman mechanical engineering faculty since 1995, Brackin earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nuclear engineering from the University of Tennessee and a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology. She worked as a design engineer with the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company and has spent an academic sabbatical leave as a project engineer with Eli Lilly and Company.
Melissa Williams, general manager of Shell Oil’s trading operations products and former president of Shell Marine, was the keynote speaker for the fundraiser. In her remarks, she emphasized, “Now more than ever, we need to combine technical expertise with business practicality and critical thinking” to meet “growing energy demand and the post-COVID world.” She shared her personal engineering journey and encouraged attendees to “remember the importance of continuous learning, adaptability, and building strong networks” to “drive innovation while creating inclusive environments that empower everyone to succeed.”
Susan Ipri-Brown, ASME’s 143rd president of its Board of Governors, presented ASME Dedicated Service Awards to four exemplary honorees: Robin Coger, Ph.D., Carolyn Winstead Meyers, Ph.D., Sonya T. Smith, Ph.D., and Tahira Reid Smith, Ph.D. The Honorable Aruna K. Miller, the 10th Lieutenant Governor of the State of Maryland, who also earned an undergraduate degree in civil engineering, was a special guest speaker. Other speakers included ASME Executive Director/CEO Tom Costabile, P.E., FASME, and Stephanie Viola, executive director of the ASME Foundation and managing director of programs and philanthropy for ASME. Award-winning journalist Michelle Miller, a national correspondent for CBS News and co-host of CBS Saturday Morning, served as the event’s emcee.
Attendees included current and prospective donors to The ASME Foundation’s Campaign for Next Generation Engineers, ASME’s $50 million capital campaign to support its philanthropic work. The Foundation funds ASME’s array of high-impact programs in education, workforce development, and innovation support aimed at opening doors of opportunity for young people to pursuing engineering careers and advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
“This year marks our third-annual Reinventing the Future event celebrating the promise of next generation engineers,” said Viola. “The ASME Foundation has made it our mission to increase access to a rewarding technical career–access for everyone with the ability and the drive to be a professional problem-solver. Engineering touches all our lives in so many ways, and tomorrow’s engineers will make life better for all of us.”
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