International Women in Engineering Day is an annual celebration of the outstanding contributions of women engineers. The theme of this year’s Women in Engineering Day is “Engineering Heroes,” so we reached out to hear the stories of just a few of our Cyclone Engineering heroes, who are innovating in their research and inspiring and educating the next generation of women engineers.
Today (and every day) we celebrate women Cyclone Engineers, like Kristine A. Bond, an engineer for the department of agricultural and biosystems engineering. She graduated from Iowa State with a degree in ABE and came back to work as an engineer for the past seven years.
Her engineering hero: is her father, for encouraging her to seek her higher education. He had to drop out of Iowa State’s Mechanical Engineering program because of his father’s death- he had to go home to the family farm and support his mother and other siblings. Bond said, “My accomplishment in earning an engineering degree in a way allowed my dad to vicariously fulfill his dream of becoming an engineer that he never got to experience. His career decision to become a farmer helped me fulfill my dream of becoming an agricultural engineer.”
As a woman in engineering, Bond supports current and future engineers by hiring undergrads and allowing them to get real-life experience and encouraging them to ask questions and get their hands dirty. “I aim to pass on knowledge and advice I wish I had as a student. I often felt intimidated by others as a student, and my goal in working with mine is to instill confidence in their ability, critical thinking and ideas.”
Her engineering superpower: Growing up on a farm and having a unique insight into the engineering side of agriculture. Her research and knowledge will help drive technological advances to farmers and increase efficiency in all stages of cropping systems. “I strive for excellence in what I do and have pride in quality of work and attention to detail. I enjoy not only seeing the advances made but experiencing them and contributing to them now and in the future.”