Elsie MacGill

Elsie MacGill went to college in the early 1920s, a time in which women didn't work as engineers. But she had her dream and mindset that “our direction in life is determined by something within us.”

She began her studies at the University of Toronto in 1923 in electric engineering. Four years later she graduated, the first woman in Canada to earn a degree in electric engineering.

She then moved to the U.S. for work and to study for a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering at the University of Michigan.

Towards the end of the master’s program she developed polio. Paralyzed from the waist down with doctors believing she’d never walk again, Elsie finished her degree. She wrote her final exams while in the hospital. Then with focus and exercise, over time, she began walking with the assistance of two canes.

Elsie went on to become an accomplished engineer, becoming the Chief Aeronautical Engineer at Canadian Car and Foundry. Amongst a number of responsibilities, during WWII she focused on making production line operation more efficient as demand for development increased, and to design solutions to ensure the Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft, which the company was now in charge of building for the Royal Air Force, could operate during the winter.

As her career progressed, she took an increasing role in advocating for women’s rights. In her words, "I have received many engineering awards, but I hope I will also be remembered as an advocate for the rights of women and children.”

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Sources: Montagnes, James. "Canada's Only Girl Chief Aero Engineer: Pretty Elsie MacGill, Once of M. I. T., is Whiz at Her Job, but Likes to Knit, Cook, Play Bridge, Too." Daily Boston Globe (1928-1960), Apr 28 1940, p. 1. / Sissons, Crystal. "Elsie Gregory MacGill: Engineering the Future and Building Bridges for Canadian Women, 1918–1980." Order No. NR50755 University of Ottawa (Canada), 2008. / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsie_MacGill / National Archives of Canada