Quiz of the Day
Women in Engineering
Tuesday, 23 June 2026
International Women in Engineering Day — female inventors, STEM pioneers, barrier-breaking achievements
1. Who is widely regarded as the world's first computer programmer?
- Marie Curie
- Ada Lovelace
- Hedy Lamarr
- Grace Hopper
Ada Lovelace wrote the first algorithm intended for a machine in 1843, over a century before modern computers existed. She was the daughter of the poet Lord Byron, whom she never knew.
2. What did Hedy Lamarr co-invent that became foundational to modern Wi-Fi and Bluetooth?
- Frequency-hopping spread spectrum
- FM radio
- The cathode ray tube
- The transistor
Lamarr and composer George Antheil patented their frequency-hopping idea in 1942 to help torpedo guidance evade jamming. The military ignored it for decades, but the principle now underpins Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS.
3. Which engineer led the team that developed the code for NASA's Apollo guidance computer?
- Margaret Hamilton
- Katherine Johnson
- Mae Jemison
- Sally Ride
Hamilton coined the term 'software engineering' at a time when software was not taken seriously. Her error-checking code saved the Apollo 11 moon landing when the computer became overloaded minutes before touchdown.
4. Who was the first woman to earn a PhD in engineering in the United States?
- Emily Warren Roebling
- Ellen Swallow Richards
- Lillian Gilbreth
- Edith Clarke
Lillian Gilbreth earned her engineering PhD in 1915 and became a pioneer of industrial engineering and ergonomics. She and her husband had 12 children, inspiring the book and film 'Cheaper by the Dozen.'
5. What device did Rear Admiral Grace Hopper help develop in the 1950s?
- The first laser printer
- The first microprocessor
- The first compiler for a computer programming language
- The first personal computer
Hopper's work led to the development of COBOL, one of the first high-level programming languages. She also popularised the term 'debugging' after a literal moth was found in a computer relay causing errors.
6. Which woman oversaw construction of the Brooklyn Bridge after her husband fell ill?
- Emily Warren Roebling
- Nora Stanton Blatch
- Kate Gleason
- Lillian Gilbreth
Emily Warren Roebling taught herself advanced engineering, field supervision, and materials science. She managed the bridge project for over a decade and was the first person to cross the completed bridge in 1883.
7. What percentage of the global engineering workforce is estimated to be women as of the mid-2020s?
- About 45%
- About 15%
- About 5%
- About 30%
While women make up roughly half of STEM graduates in biological sciences, engineering remains one of the most gender-imbalanced fields. Countries like Latvia and Cyprus lead with over 30% female engineers.
8. Edith Clarke became the first woman to achieve what professional milestone in 1919?
- Join the American Society of Civil Engineers
- Teach engineering at a university
- Earn an electrical engineering master's from MIT
- Patent an electrical device
Clarke went on to become the first female professor of electrical engineering in the US at the University of Texas. She invented a graphical calculator that simplified electrical power line calculations tenfold.
9. Which engineer invented the first home security system with closed-circuit TV in 1966?
- Beatrice Hicks
- Stephanie Kwolek
- Marie Van Brittan Brown
- Shirley Ann Jackson
Brown, an African American nurse from Queens, New York, designed the system because police were slow to respond in her neighbourhood. Her patent laid the groundwork for all modern home security camera systems.
10. What material did chemist Stephanie Kwolek invent in 1965?
- Kevlar
- Nylon
- Teflon
- Gore-Tex
Kevlar is five times stronger than steel by weight. Kwolek almost discarded the solution that led to it because it looked unusual, but a curious technician agreed to test it. It has since saved thousands of lives in bulletproof vests.
11. Who was the first Black woman to earn a PhD in nuclear physics, enabling advances in telecommunications?
- Mae Jemison
- Aprille Ericsson
- Shirley Ann Jackson
- Claudia Alexander
Jackson's research in theoretical physics enabled others to develop the portable fax, touch-tone telephone, solar cells, and fibre optic cables. She went on to become president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
12. In which century was the first known female engineer, En Hedu'anna, documented?
- 23rd century BC
- 5th century BC
- 12th century AD
- 3rd century AD
En Hedu'anna was a Sumerian high priestess and is sometimes credited as an early engineer for her role in temple construction and design in ancient Mesopotamia. She is also history's first known named author.
13. Which country launched the International Women in Engineering Day, celebrated annually on June 23?
- United States
- Germany
- United Kingdom
- Australia
The day was created by the Women's Engineering Society (WES) in the UK in 2014. It gained UNESCO patronage in 2016 and became an international day of celebration for women in engineering worldwide.
14. What did engineer Beulah Louise Henry, known as 'Lady Edison', achieve during her career?
- Held approximately 49 patents and invented 110 devices
- Invented the first sewing machine
- Built the first female-owned factory
- Designed the first commercial aeroplane
Henry's inventions included a vacuum ice cream freezer, a bobbin-free sewing machine, and a typewriter that made four copies without carbon paper. She was active from the 1910s through the 1960s.
15. Who led the engineering team that created the first image of a black hole in 2019?
- Donna Strickland
- Fabiola Gianotti
- Jocelyn Bell Burnell
- Katie Bouman
Bouman developed the algorithm (CHIRP) while still a graduate student at MIT. The image of the black hole in galaxy M87 required combining data from eight radio telescopes around the world, processing five petabytes of data.