When Glynis (Fluhr) Hinschberger decided to major in electrical engineering at Iowa State in the early 1970s, she didn’t realize how few women there were in engineering in general—or that even fewer were in electrical engineering. But being a minority in the profession hardly fazed her, as she would soon become the national president of a professional organization, lead the first wind energy project in the Midwest, and be named the CEO of an organization.
Hinschberger attributes her success to several factors, among them hard work and persistence; however, she believes being a woman in male-dominated environs gave her an opportunity to set the stage for how others perceived female engineers. While it was a challenge to be so visible, she appreciated the chance to introduce the industry to a woman’s perspective.
Looking back on her college years, Hinschberger feels that being one of the few women (if not the only one) in her classes was challenging, but it also taught her some valuable life lessons. “I learned that it is possible to do the impossible—or what others might think is the impossible,” she says, “to challenge the status quo. And that being different is a great thing.”
She also quickly found that surrounding herself with a positive network of people was important. In 1973, she was part of a small group of women who reactivated the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) student section charter. “SWE was one of the only places at that time where I could find other women engineers to build connections with,” she says. “I could channel my energy there, especially as I was trying to figure out just where I was going to fit into this field.”
‘A singular position’
After finishing graduate school, Hinschberger entered the workforce in 1976 with Northern States Power. The company had 5,000 employees, and she was only the second female engineer to be hired. “I was in a singular position,” she recalls. “When someone is one of the first from a certain background, whether an ethnic group or gender, that person is invariably the one who sets the bar for how others will perceive those who follow.”
The extra pressure of being perceived as the representative for female engineers was something Hinschberger did not take lightly. “Diversity is important in every field,” she says. “In simple terms, it gives organizations a different point of view.”
Moreover, Hinschberger adds, she appreciates the experiences and varying contributions that individuals from different backgrounds bring to projects. “When everyone sees things the same way, with the same frame of mind, something important can be missed,” she says.
During her time with Northern States, Hinschberger sought and received promotions and was often known for shaking things up in the workplace. As she entered management, she enjoyed working with a variety of people and soon realized that a large element of her success was in part due to her communication skills.
“Not everyone speaks like an engineer,” Hinschberger says. “The ability to communicate or convey a technical or complicated idea to someone who is not an expert is important for all engineers.”
An ambassador for women
Applied at what she calls “the right time,” Hinschberger’s ambition, knowledge, and skills would lead her to some of her proudest achievements. When she moved to Minnesota, for example, she discovered that the local chapter of SWE had been only recently established.
Hinschberger saw an opportunity to make a difference and worked closely with the chapter as the national organization went through restructuring. SWE was developing regions, and Hinschberger jumped at the chance to become the Region H director.
“We were on the move to becoming a large organization, with a greater influx of new students and recent graduates becoming full-fledged members,” she says. “Our priorities were shifting from the very early stages of affirmative action and focusing on women becoming naturally integrated into businesses.”
Hinschberger stayed connected to the organization that had provided her with a professional network throughout college, and in 1990 she became national president of SWE. Seeing herself as an ambassador for women entering the engineering profession, she focused on providing new female engineers resources to help them succeed.
“The organization continues changing, which is a good sign,” she says. “The leaders are now working to bring more family networking into the organization, addressing the dichotomy that many female professionals feel between working and being a mother.”
Leadership in innovation
Hinschberger was still working for Northern States in the early ’90s, managing the organization’s energy resource planning. Not many utility companies were headed in the direction of wind energy then, but many were starting to realize the importance of using renewable, clean energy sources.
At the same time, the state of Minnesota had instituted resource planning in order to comply with the federal Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. Having Hinschberger work on the state-mandated plan was a natural, given her position with the company. So when the first wind project in Minnesota arose from the plan, few were surprised, given Hinschberger’s penchant for nontraditional thinking.
Three people were assigned to manage the project, for which Hinschberger became spokesperson, simultaneously wearing the hats of utility company employee, wind energy advocate, and regulator. “It was such a novel opportunity,” she says. “Now, as I look at Iowa and Minnesota vying for the top spots in terms of wind energy production, I feel proud to be a part of the beginning.”
Next, when Northern States was looking to expand beyond standard utilities, several employees, including Hinschberger and the company’s CEO, got together to explore how telecommunications could benefit the power industry. “This was at a time when companies were trying to figure out how to bundle services such as cable, telephone, and Internet to increase customer loyalty,” she remembers. “The CEO looked at me across the table and said ‘figure out if we have a business here.’”
Beginning with a business plan, Hinschberger led the team that would found Seren Innovations and was named CEO of the new company. As a subsidiary of Northern States, Seren Innovations became an integrated communications provider in Minnesota and California. Hinschberger was even responsible for the company name, which means “star” in Welsh. “We wanted to find something that had meaning,” she says. “I think it was luck more than anything, but the name stuck.”
‘Coming full circle’
While Hinschberger’s career is far from over, she has had much success, and Iowa State has recognized her accomplishments by awarding her a Professional Achievement Citation in Engineering in 2001 and a Professional Progress in Engineering Award in 1992, as well as naming her Outstanding Young Alumna in 1990. “The awards are honors,” she says. “Sometimes I look at them and wonder what I did to deserve them. But I am always proud to have them.”
Today Hinschberger enjoys working part time for Excel Engineering, a Minnesota consulting company she serves as a transmission planning engineer, acting as liaison between engineers and their clients by taking raw engineering information and packaging it into full-scale reports. “It is like I am coming back full circle in my career,” she says.
Her schedule is more flexible, a benefit she appreciates as a mother of four. “Things are not always in perfect balance,” she says. “You learn how much you can handle and juggle among what you need to do and what is important at that time.”
Pleased that women who enter the field now have a greater network of resources, Hinschberger does not see herself as a pioneer for all her accomplishments. “Solving engineering problems requires people to think from all angles,” she says. “I just happened to be there at the right time and the right place to help bring a different perspective to the industry.”