Ila Ghose facts for kids

Ila Ghose (born Majumdar) (24 July 1930 - ? December 2019) was an amazing mechanical engineer. She made history as West Bengal's first woman engineer. She was also the very first female student to graduate from the Bengali Engineering College.

Ila Ghose in circa 1947 (born Majumdar)

Early Life and Education

Ila Majumdar was born in 1930 in a village called Madaripur, in East Bengal. She grew up with six sisters and two brothers. Her father, Jatindra Kumar Majumdar, was a deputy magistrate, and her mother was a housewife. From a young age, it was clear that Ila was very interested in engineering.

Her family later moved to West Bengal, and then to Calcutta in 1945. Ila was accepted into the Bengal Engineering College. At that time, there was only one other woman in her entire class! In an interview, she once shared that the boys were surprised to see them, but they quickly became good friends. They would chat, joke, and cheer for them at cricket matches. She never felt uncomfortable.

The other female student left after one year. This meant Ila became the first woman ever to graduate from the college. She earned her degree in 1951.

Her Engineering Career

After finishing her studies, Ila travelled to the United Kingdom for more training. She worked for a company called Barr and Stroud in Glasgow. When she returned to India, she worked in a factory that made military equipment in Dehra Dun.

In 1955, she became a lecturer at Delhi Polytechnic. After she got married, she moved back to Calcutta. There, she taught at the Institute of Jute Technology. Later, she became the principal of the Women's Polytechnic on Gariahat Road. In 1985, a big organization called UNESCO asked her to help set up a new polytechnic for women in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

In 1967, Ila attended an important meeting in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It was the second International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists. This conference brought together women engineers and scientists from all over the world.

Ila Ghose sometimes faced challenges because she was a woman in a field mostly dominated by men. She once said that it takes time for society's ideas to change. She felt it was unfair when women were not given the jobs or promotions they deserved. But she kept working hard and showed that women could achieve great things in engineering.

Personal Life

Ila Majumdar got married in 1959 and took her husband's last name, Ghose. She had a son in 1960 and another son in 1967.