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Research engineer Christine Perry has spent nearly three decades toiling in corporate labs -- but she’s never seen chemistry quite like the sort she’s enjoying now.
Part of a groundbreaking Ford Motor Company research team dedicated to developing environmentally-friendly substitutes for select vehicle components, Perry says the work marks the first time in her career that she’s been part of an all-woman team.
"In my 28 years experience in industry, I have never seen this many women together at one time -- ever," said Perry, who came to Ford six years ago after 22 years at chemical giant BASF. "Usually, it's maybe one out of a whole department full of people."
In addition to Perry, the team consists of technical leader Deborah F. Mielewski, research engineers Angela Harris and Kelly Williams and technical specialists Drs. Ellen Lee and Cynthia Flanigan.
The women don't make a big deal out of the make-up of their unit, concerning themselves more with scientific breakthroughs than social ones. Even so, they are acutely aware of how uncommon their team is. Quietly, they are proud.
"In this building, (a team of all women) is totally unheard of," said Mielewski, whose team works out of the Ford Research and Innovation Center. "The usual is for maybe one woman to be in the group. For all of us to be in the same spot is just really odd."
The women say, they often work closely together, though they aren't sure if gender is the reason for the synergy. They know simply that they enjoy collaborating.
"We all help each other completely with anything that anybody needs," said Perry. "And we give all the information. Everybody is there to back you up and help you in your project."
Given that five of the six women are married and that four of them have children, members of the team also pick up the slack for one another when personal problems arise, according to Mielewski.
"I think we’re all in similar places in our lives," Mielewski said. "The complexity of life we understand. So if somebody has a sick kid, somebody else is willing to step in because they know next week it’s going to happen to them."
Along with their research at Ford, the women also work together to promote science to children, schoolgirls in particular. They lecture, perform experiments such as making slime and teach young women that, as Lee says, "science is cool."
The outreach "demystifies science and engineering," said Flanigan. "Our work shows there are a lot of really neat things, and you can do it, too."
