A trip to New York City in the early 1930’s sealed it for teenager Beatrice Hicks. Enthralled by the new engineering marvels like the George Washington Bridge and the Empire State Building, Hicks knew exactly what she wanted to be when she grew up.

But everyone - friends, classmates, teachers and family - tried to dissuade her from pursuing a career as an engineer – a choice considered socially unacceptable for a woman at the time.

But Hicks persisted and graduated from the Newark College of Engineering, one of two women in a class of 900. She would later earn a Master’s Degree in physics from the Stevens Institute.

Most everything Hicks did blazed new trails for women. She became the first woman hired as an engineer by Western Electric.

Three years later she went to work for Newark Controls, her father’s engineering company, and later inherited the business.

She was awarded numerous patents including one for a molecular density scanner and one for a gas density switch utilized by NASA on the Apollo moon missions.

She helped establish, and served as the first president of, the Society of Women Engineers. There were 60 members at its inception. Today, there are 16,000.

She was named Women of the Year in Business by Mademoiselle Magazine in 1952.

She was one of the first women to join the National Academy of Engineers in 1978 and she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2002.