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Ida Habtemichael understands she’s a statistical rarity.
Black, female mechanical engineers make up less than 2 percent of the engineering workforce. A role model for those seeking STEM careers, she couldn’t be prouder of her 14 successful years rising through the senior ranks of Micron Technology. Yet Habtemichael admits she downplays the exact title of her college degree.
“I don’t really identify that I have a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering technology, because there’s a stigma,” she said. “So, I don’t specify the technology portion of my major. It’s almost like a secret.”
She is an equipment engineer, developing robotic monitoring systems. She founded a Black Employee Network 12 years ago that she is still involved in and heads a women’s leadership group.
Johnson said that, like his student, he himself didn’t fully understand the differences in opportunity for the two disciplines when he switched from engineering to engineering technology in his first year at North Carolina A&T State in 1983.
Johnson had never heard of engineering technology before arriving at college until he was paired with a roommate who was an ET major. While Johnson was taking theoretical classes, his roommate was in the lab.
“Though I did well in theoretical courses, I just had a passion for hands-on work since I grew up on a farm,” Johnson said.
Johnson knew early on that he wanted to teach, so the PE exam was never in his plans. However, he said he does find it interesting that he can head an engineering department and teach engineering in Tennessee but can’t sit for the license.