Mother of Ergonomics & Management : Lillian Moller Gilberth

Lillian 's life was shaped by the conventions and traditions of the 19th century society. But, with her exceptional merit she managed to convince her father and got admission to University of California. As the eldest of her nine siblings she also had to ensure that her study didn't hamper the caring of her siblings. She was the first woman in the university history chosen to deliver her speech on the commencement day in 1900.

When I was looking for a woman inventor for my assignment,I was going through a number of lists;suddenly my eyes got fixed at her name because the list was showing she was a mother of 12 children!!! I was awestruck and quickly clicked on her profile. What I saw was amazing...and decided to take Lillian's contribution as the subject matter of my final project. Thank God,I am permitted to do that as no one else in our course has chosen Her.I couldn't even imagine how a woman can maintain her 12 children, her household chores along with her engineering and industrial carrier . Lillian had a happy married life with her husband Frank and their children.

Lillian worked in a period when there was clamor of World War-I. It was an era when a bulk of women had to enter into the work field replacing the men power who were fighting in the on going war.Among her contemporars,there were Dorothy Young, Rosa Valerio & Jessie Cartwright. They were the women who invented sewing guide,improved embroidery tech and invented washing machine. But...Lillian Moller Gilberth invented the a whole discipline of ERGONOMICS(ergonomics is essentially fitting the workplace to the worker) and introduced psychology and management into the industry. She was the first to recognize the fatigue and stress of the workers as well as housewives. As a result she designed several kitchen appliances.Here is the link which will provide some glimpse of her innovative ideas; gilbrethnetwork.tripod.com/kitpics1.html

Some of her inventions are step-on trash can, the improved electric can opener, the egg keeper,electric food mixer and butter tray in refrigerators and the waste water hose in washing machines.To reduce the complications of kitchen and to make the work more comfortable she interviewed 4000 women to design the proper height for stoves,sinks and other kitchen fixtures.In 1966, she became the fist women to be elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

Another interesting feature of Lillian's life seemed very interesting and which is her educational background. She hadn't come from an engineering background. She did her M.A in literature and PhD in psychology.It was her sheer dedication to science which drove her into those marvelous inventions.Though it may not seem something like rocket science or quantum theory,her inventions were much ahead of her time.


So,next time when pressing the paddle of any trash can or mixing cake recipes with a mixer in an egg bowl or putting something on a fridge self...stop for a while to pay a tribute to this lady and think how a woman's inventions make life so easy that you can't even think of your world without these appliances!!!

The Woman With a Vision!

Sex trafficking is the 2nd most profitable business for organized crime next to drugs.An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked each year(UNICEF).The average age of a trafficked victim is 12-14 years old, with some are as young as 7 years old.
It is a leading contributor to the world wide AIDS pandemic.

Meet a woman who has dedicated all her life to save the Nepalese girls & women from the clutch of sex trafficking. She was chosen by CNN as a HERO in 2010.

Assaignment on Unit-4

I have explored a number of blogs created by my course mates. Their links were very much helpful as well as informative.For instance- the post on Geraldine Ferraro by Marjorie made me amazed that in 1984 how a woman penetrated the opaque sphere of conventions and stood up as a pioneer in the political history of the US. Coming from an immigrant family, her path was never an easy one. I was astonished to see the video in which she is debating with G.W.Bush Senior. The confidence and the zeal in her eyes were something which are sure to be remembered throughout my life.Thanks to Nasreen Ma'am, who has taken this novel step to intermingle our worlds!

Another Video is worth mentioning,which was uploaded by Garcia.This one helped me to learn a lot about the AWCF & CAEV. The increasing numbers of members of these two organizations show the striking initiatives taken to improve the condition of Asian women. And country like Germany is also coming forward to help them to flourish is another compliment to their efforts.All these videos have filled with a sheer pleasure of optimism in me.

Ridiculous!

Mainstreaming: An Effective Solution!

Before starting this unit for my Online course, I didn't have a clear conception about Gender mainstreaming. Though I heard the term but telling the truth, I thought this would be a term with the same meaning as gender discrimination. My vague idea takes a perfect shape when I completed the whole unit.

It isn't criticizing our male counterparts for grabbing all the positions of professional sects;but this idea is based upon the point to include women force in these fields as well along with their traditional role of MOTHER,WIFE & SISTER. Here, I would like to share some of experience regarding working women as well as women who are studying in the field of Science & Technology.

I have two friends who are studying Engineering in two different Public Universities of Bangladesh. One of them is studying in the Aeronautical Engineering dept. The most interesting thing is SHE is the ONLY FEMALE STUDENT among the 71 students of that dept.!!! Unable to grasp the situation at first,when I asked her the reason she told me that their subject demand a lot of field works and besides there's no assurance of job for a girl after passing from this dept.Here two forces are working simultaneously- 

• Parents feel insecure to let their daughters out for the field work for the fear of physical assault and criticism from her surroundings.

• The companies are also unsure about their competence with that of a male competitor. 

In these circumstances how can a girl come forward and take up the challenge of 21st century? My other friend is also facing almost these same problems.

But,these situations can surely be developed if there's going to be an intricate research on these issues because only then, we can have the capacity to overcome the hurdles and make the Gender Mainstreaming a worthy armor to maintain the proper balance of development of any nation.  

Turning A New Page!

February 23,2011, at around 1pm. Sitting in a computer lab with goosebumps all over me... One might ask what's so special about a computer lab that I had goosebumps?? No, the lab was very regular type,nothing extraordinary...But the moment became special when right at 1pm, Nasreen ma'am came to the screen of  that computer lab because it's the orientation program of my First Online Course!!! We were about 13 students eagerly waiting for that moment to come.

Our course is "Women in Technology". Today is the last day of our completion of Unit-2. Can't imagine how these days have flown and I am actually doing my assignment of an Online course!!! The feeling is really amazing. Feeling that I was holding a bow which had no color in it, but after today five bright colors will be there on my bow...as I had to complete five segments of  work for my Unit-2 within toady. And when my whole course will be completed I hope that I will be able to hold the most bright colored rainbow of the universe.

I learned a lot about the prevailing gender-gap in the field of technology and other sectors. The reading assignments were packed with vibrant resources. The Gender-Gap Index was very enlightening, the articles by Hafkin &Taggart, Smith & Thompson and lastly the video by Saadia Zahidi were extremely helpful to look deeper into some of the very common topic of our daily life. Many questions arose during my reading of these articles and to seek the answers I had to look in some other websites...and when I got all the answers, the feelings of  satisfaction is worth mentioning.

At many points I feel a bondage with all the women of the world who are still striving for diminishing the gender inequity. One of the interesting thing is that we have a number of male students in this course who are very willingly supporting the voice of women in IT, in wage system, in political platform as well as in social platform.

Enjoying the thrilling discussions among the students not only from diverse background but also from different countries of the world. I count myself  to be very lucky to attain a course like this and hope that within five years or so most of the female students of the developing countries like ours get the chance to experience such a wonderful technological endowment like Online courses.