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Edith Clarke:
Electrical Engineering Pioneer
Edith Clarke was born in 1883 38
in Ellicott City, Maryland. Both
her parents died by the time Edith Clarke’s age when
she was 12. Her uncle sent her she applied for a patent
to a Maryland boarding school. for her Clarke Calculator
She struggled with reading and • The calculator was
spelling. But she did very well in used to solve complex
mathematics. calculations. These
helped to find electrical
At 18, Clarke went to Vassar College current and power
in New York to study math. She disruptions in power THE SMART GRID
graduated in 1908. She began lines. The electric grid in the United States was built in the 1890s. It powers
• It solved these equations the nation’s lights and electrical devices. This power comes from fuel,
10 times faster than
previous methods. coal, nuclear reactors, dams, and renewable energy sources like wind and
• It was the first invention solar. Today, there are sensors that monitor how much power is used by
in Smart Grid technology. a home or building. These sensors tell utility companies how much power
is needed so it is not wasted. This back-and-forth communication is
called the Smart Grid.
working as a human computer for
AT&T in 1912. She solved complex
math problems on paper or in her Technology (MIT). She took a job Clarke worked for GE for the next
head. at General Electric (GE). In 1923, 25 years. In 1947, she began
Clarke was given the title of electrical teaching electrical engineering at the
In 1919, Clarke became the first
engineer. She was the first woman in University of Texas, Austin. She died
woman to earn a graduate degree
the United States to have that title. in 1959.
in electrical engineering from
24 the Massachusetts Institute of 25
