<p>I just loved math as a kid. I can still remember the excitement I felt the day our teacher introduced the concept of fractions. I went home and told Mom all about it. Even so, I never thought of being an engineer until my father, an engineering professor, jokingly told some of his students that I would be the next engineer in the family. I thought, “Huh, I guess I COULD do that!” Now, whenever I meet another female structural engineer, I ask if her father was an engineer. I can think of only two women whose fathers WEREN’T. A lot of times, I’m the only woman in a group of 40 engineers at our engineering association meetings. I’m 49 and keep expecting to see younger women entering the field in higher numbers, but it’s not happening.</p>