October celebrates Ada Lovelace day by shining a spotlight on women who have made significant contributions in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM for short). Many of these women are uncelebrated, so I will attempt to redress the balance in a small way by dedicating our articles this month to female pioneers in technology.
I am starting with the story of one of the pivotal black women only recently recognised for their contributions, most memorably perhaps in the film Hidden Figures (2016).
Dr. Gladys West was recognised in 2021 with a NCWIT Pioneer in Tech Award. Born in 1930 as one of four children of field workers, she was encouraged by her parents to gain an education at a time when it was difficult for black people to even graduate from high school in the United States. She gained a master’s degree in mathematics and a PhD in public administration. She then spent forty two years working for the Naval Support Facility Dahlgren before retiring in 1998.
During her career, Dr West developed GPS, the Global Positioning System the whole world now uses on their phones and in their cars to find their way around. Although she has been instrumental in people losing the skill of map-reading along with their common sense, it cannot be denied that this was ground-breaking.
Gladys West is renowned for her brilliance in mathematics and computer programming and was also involved in Seasat, the first satellite designed for remote sensing of the Earth’s oceans.
As the only black woman to be inducted into the Air Force Missile and Space Pioneers Hall of Fame and recently inducted into the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame, Dr West is finally being recognised for her achievements.
You can read her memoir, which is available on Amazon – “It Began with A Dream”, by Dr. West and M. H. Jackson.
So, next time you blithely set off on a trip after setting your car’s satnav with the coordinates of your destination without even bothering to check which part of the country or continent you are aiming for, give thanks to Gladys West for saving you the time you previously had to spend plotting your journey – I know it must be at least fifteen years since I last bought a road map!
If you or anybody you know has problems understanding how to program their satnav, give us a call and we can help! (We can also help you understand an Ordnance Survey map!)
Diana Catton – by-line and other articles
