Name:Lynn Braunschweig
Job Title:Project Manager, maxon motor Aerospace Unit
Degrees:范德比尔特大学机械工程工程学士学位
Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis
MBA from Washington University in St. Louis
Talk about the culture at your company. What makes it inclusive or supportive of women? What do you enjoy about working there as an engineer?
maxon motor Group is a family owned company that employs 2,500 people worldwide with 1,200 of them being in Switzerland at their headquarters. Our mission states that “we form a team of individuals and personalities who combine their interests and qualities to achieve common success. We treat each other with respect and actively seek to create a trusting work environment.” There are people from various cultures, backgrounds and ethnicities working at maxon. maxon builds actuator systems ranging from 6 to 90mm. Due to the small size of the hardware, there is a high percentage of women in production who work both part-time and full-time to accommodate their family obligations. Furthermore, maxon has a small daycare facility on-site for employees. Unfortunately, the number of women in engineering and higher-level management positions is still on the lower end, but I enjoy the challenge of proving to everyone around me that women are just as capable as men in this field. Furthermore, being able to work on “cool” projects such as motors going on the next NASA Mars Rover is a great motivator.
What first drew you to engineering? / When did you first know you wanted to be an engineer?
My mother is an emancipated woman, a math teacher and good at fixing things around the house. When I was young, I always aspired to be like her. She introduced me to the world of technology and always encouraged my siblings and me to pursue our dreams, whatever they may be. I did enjoy playing with Barbies and Legos, but 3D puzzles were my passion. In high school, I completed a career assessment which suggested I either become a lawyer or an engineer. As I didn’t want to argue in court every day (at the time I thought that’s what lawyers did), I decided to study mechanical engineering.
Were there any influential engineers (women or men) who helped shaped your decision to become an engineer? If so, who and why?
请参阅上面的答案……我妈妈。
如果有的话，女性在当今的工程领域会面临哪些障碍？
第一个障碍是女孩不暴露engineering related classes. I know that some schools in the US have started these type of classes, however in Switzerland they are still lacking. Schools offer the science and math classes but there are not many interactive, basic engineering classes where one learns how to build projects, solve problems and learn how things fundamentally work. So most girls grow up thinking that you need to be good at math to become an engineer, which is not true. A basic knowledge of how things work is far more important in a person’s education.
其次，一旦妇女进入劳动力，她们就会面临两个障碍：1。年龄和2.他们的性别。作为我大学毕业的第一份工作，我不得不证明自己的价值，因为这是我的第一份工作，但我也必须克服成为女人的偏见。我喜欢挑战并蓬勃发展，但是由于这个，我可以看到一些女性在如此苛刻的环境中很难证明自己。
最后，妇女天生就会分娩，通常是孩子的初级保健人。如果公司将提供几个月的适当产妇（和亲子鉴定）假期，并有可能在儿童生活的头几年兼职工作，那么我认为更多学习工程的女性在成为母亲后也将担任工程师。当然，不仅公司，而且政府还需要通过提供负担得起的日托选择来尽其所能。
Describe your biggest engineering challenge. How did you conquer it or resolve it, or what was the outcome?
A few times I felt that as a woman, I wasn’t taken as seriously as a male employee with similar experience and training. However, I didn’t perceive that as a negative thing. On the contrary, it motivated me to work even harder and prove myself and my fellow colleagues that I was qualified for my position. For instance, the head of production at one company with whom I worked closely with to develop the assembly concept for a new aircraft told me one day that he always thought women needlessly complained about not being treated as men. Once he got to know me better and saw how much I was educated in the field, and how men at the company reacted to me, he understood the inequality between men and women. If a man had my job with my experience, he would have been accepted as an expert, however I had to prove myself repeatedly.
谈论您的领导能力。您学到了什么课？
我是航空航天部门的项目经理，目前负责无刷的平板电动机，该电动机将飞往下一个NASA MARS ROVER上的火星。在我的角色中，我与Maxon的各个部门紧密合作，从生产，质量到购买等等。领导该项目的最难部分是这些人从事我的项目，但对我不起作用。与人们交谈，对他们的需求和疑虑做出反应，同时将客户的需求全部遵守“一顶帽子”是我过去几年中学到的最大技能。
Have you worked with younger engineers as a mentor, to help them in their career? Or describe any involvement in any STEM or STEAM programs for young people.
SATW (Schweizerische Akademie der Technischen Wissenschaften = Swiss Academy of Technical Sciences) has launched a program called Swiss TecLadies which is a one year mentoring program geared to help young women ages 13 to 17 discover their talents and foster their interest in a technical and/or Engineering job. The program’s inaugural year is 2018/2019 and is being conducted in the German speaking part of Switzerland. I was asked to be a mentor in this program. The program had its kick-off day in September and I look forward to not only teaching my mentee a lot of things but also learning a lot from her. This is the first time I am participating in such a program, so it is both exhilarating and nerve-racking at the same time as I am worried that I will not do justice to my mentee.
In your opinion, what more can be done to promote greater participation of young women in engineering today?
Teachers could contribute more, but at the same time all parents with daughters could be involved in their daughter’s education. For example, they should involve them when doing maintenance on a motorbike or fixing something during their free time. Companies, on the other hand, have the responsibility to create modern structures with flexible hours, home office options, and part-time jobs.
What career advice would you give to your younger self?
I can only recommend choosing a career in technology. Take a risk! I’m also convinced that the next generation of women will find it easier to combine their career and family life.
[此赞助个人资料的凝结版本出现在11月的“工程女性”设计世界中。]
提交以下：工程领域的妇女
