Spartan Profiles: Joellen Thompson
ENGINEER OF THE YEAR
Since its founding in 1946, the Michigan Society of Professional Engineers (MSPE) has never named a woman as “Engineer of the Year.” That tradition ended in May when Joellen Thompson, ’79, assistant water system manager for the city of Grand Rapids, received a plaque for that honor at the society’s awards banquet. “I’m very honored, and humbled,” says Thomson. In 1999, Joellen became the first woman elected MSPE president. “What I like about engineering is problem-solving,” she says. “I like to find out what causes the problem, and see what can be done to fix it.”
Indeed, recently when a dent appeared on the elbow of a pipe connected to a storage tank, city hydraulic engineers postulated all kinds of theories. But Joellen figured that it was caused by an air bubble that seeped in from a valve, and proved it with buoyancy calculations. “It turns out that a pocket of air only one-seventh the volume could have caused it,” she explains.
A native of Midland County, Joellen chose MSU because “it was a Big Ten school that offered many programs, plus it was away from home but not too far away.” She touts two MSU mentors, the late James Burnett of mathematics, and McKenzie Davis. “Dr. Davis advised us on obtaining our P.E. licenses, which is very important,” she notes. “Some engineers work for private companies where a license is not required, but I would recommend it to all engineers.”
The engineering field is dominated by men, but the number of women is increasing. The Society of Women Engineers, a national organization whose executive director is fellow Spartan Elizabeth Shanahan, ’78 (see Winter 2003), estimates that there are now some 27,000 female civil engineers, or about 10 percent of the total. “I’m pleased that women are making inroads in engineering. I think it’s an interesting profession, since at the core it’s about helping people, and it pays well. I would encourage women to go into engineering.”