Maria Watkins facts for kids

Marja "Maria" Ludwika Watkins (born Ziff; 2 December 1918 – 2 September 2010) was an amazing engineer. She worked on electronics for defense and taught at universities. She was also the President of the Women's Engineering Society, helping many other women get into engineering.

Early Life and Family

Maria Ziff was born in Vienna, Austria, on 2 December 1918. She grew up in a city called Lvov in Poland. Her father was a bank director, and her mother was a research chemist at Lvov University.

Becoming an Engineer

In 1938, Maria decided she wanted to study electrical engineering. She applied to the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. The professor who accepted her was surprised because he thought her application was from a man! Maria became the very first woman to study electrical engineering at that university.

She moved to the UK in 1939 and joined the Women's Engineering Society. In 1941, she earned her degree in Electrical Engineering. Sadly, her family faced great hardship during the war, and she never felt able to return to Poland.

Her Engineering Career

In 1942, Maria started working at Johnson and Phillips Ltd. This company made important parts for aircraft, like cables and navigation tools. She helped solve technical problems with their electrical systems. Her job was very exciting and varied. She worked on new airplane guidance systems and even helped repair power cables damaged during the war.

Maria also worked for Jules Thorn, who founded one of the UK's biggest electrical companies. During the Second World War, she volunteered as an air raid warden in the evenings. At the same time, she was secretly working on a project called PLUTO, which was a pipeline under the ocean, and a secret airplane guidance system.

In 1947, Maria became a lecturer at South East London Technical College. Later, in 1959, she started teaching at Northampton College of Advanced Technology, which is now City University. She was promoted to Senior Lecturer and worked there until 1985. She was also part of the councils for City University and the Institution of Electrical Engineers.

Maria loved to travel and share her knowledge. In 1981, she went to the International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists (ICWES) in Bombay, India. She also attended another conference in Coventry in 1991. She did important research in medical electronics and wrote many papers about it. From 1973 to 2010, she was a visiting professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the USA, teaching there in 1975. She strongly believed in international education programs and even started some for students visiting from the USA.

Helping Other Engineers

Maria was a member of several important groups, including the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers. She was also a Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an active member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers.

She was a very dedicated member of the Women's Engineering Society (WES). She worked hard to encourage schoolgirls to think about engineering as a career. For several years, she was WES's careers officer. She became the President of WES from 1980 to 1981. In 1981, she gave a special lecture called Chips for the Disabled, where she talked about how engineering could help people with disabilities.

In 1984, Maria donated the Watkins Medal to WES. This medal is given to the best female engineering graduate each year. She also held tea parties for women engineering students at City University, encouraging them to join WES for support and career help.

Personal Life

On 22 February 1946, Maria Ziff married Thomas "Tom" Brown Watkins. He was a pilot in the Royal Air Force and had also studied engineering at Edinburgh. They made their home in Sydenham in 1947. Her younger sister, who had survived the war, and her mother-in-law joined them. Maria and Tom had two sons, born in 1947 and 1951. After her marriage, she took his last name, Watkins, and was often called Maria instead of Marja.

Later Years

Maria Watkins passed away on 2 September 2010 in Highgate, London. Her life and achievements were remembered in The Woman Engineer journal.