 Rebecca Brannon
Senior Member of Technical Staff
Sandia National Laboratories
Albuquerque, NM
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 B.S. -
Mechanical Engineering, University of New Mexico
M.S. -
Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Ph.D. -
Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison |
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Senior Member of the
technical staff, developing mathematical models that describe
the behavior of materials under extremely harsh loading
conditions. |
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"Excel and talk to
those who can help you." |
 
"I
think that the universal experience of women engineers is that there is
an extended proving period. When you come into a new department, there
is a time where you have to excel and produce more spectacular results
at a faster rate than your male counterparts. But once you do that,
you're on an equal par. In the end, there is no gender difference, so
it's only an initial thing. The same was true in graduate school and
undergraduate as well. With no proof other than a job title or diploma,
men are presumed capable from the outset, until they prove otherwise.
Women with the same credentials enjoy equal respect only once they
demonstrate that they are capable. If you doubt this assertion, then
please explain the nervous chatter among passengers on an airplane when
they discover that they have a ‘Lady pilot.' To earn respect, a ‘lady
pilot' has to make a perfect, not average, landing."
The
career of Rebecca Brannon at Sandia National Laboratories has been
blessed with mentors. Although she believes that it is more difficult
for women engineers to earn the acceptance and respect of their
colleagues than for men, mentors can help through difficult times. She
suggests that undergraduates actively seek out a mentor. For example,
they could go and speak to a "professor on a regular basis about more
things than just the homework. Make people notice you because that's how
you get a mentor."
In her own case, Dr. Brannon might never have become an engineer had it
not been for her first mentor. Coming from an artistic family, none of
her family members recognized her scientific bent. In fact, she adds, "I
didn't see it myself and I subscribed to Scientific American and Omni
when I was in high school." What led her to apply to engineering school
was the advice of a friend who "understood what engineering was" and
"recognized her potential" after seeing her standardized test scores.
And mentors continued to point the way for her. When she was feeling
frustrated by the engineering program as a student, it was one of her
professors who suggested that she do a cooperative education (co-op)
internship. "And that's exactly what I did. I did a co-op at Los Alamos
National Laboratories in fact, two co-ops there. And while I was there,
I learned so much about what it meant to be an engineer and got very
excited about it."
Mentors continued to make a difference for Dr. Brannon. One of her
supervisors at Los Alamos advised her to go to graduate school. "I went
to graduate school because he let me know just how important higher
level education was if I wanted to continue with what I was doing."
After she earned top score on the Ph.D. qualifiers, one of Dr. Brannon's
graduate school professors recommended her to the recruiter for Sandia
National Laboratories, and the recruiter, in turn, helped her get a
position there. "So excel," Brannon advises, and talk to those who can
help you.
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