Dorothy Smith (10 February 1899 – 22 February 1975) was a British electrical engineer. She worked for the engineering firm Metropolitan-Vickers (formerly British Westinghouse) from 1916 to 1959, retiring after forty-three years at the company. She was the second woman to gain Full Membership of the Institution of Electrical Engineers since Hertha Ayrton in 1899 and was a prominent member of the Manchester branch of the Women's Engineering Society.
Contents
Early life and education
Dorothy was born to parents James H Smith and Amelia Smith (née Bebbington) in Stretford, Lancashire. She attended the Manchester High School for Girls under a Foundation and Lancashire County Scholarship. Her favourite subject was mathematics, which would prompt her to apply for the apprenticeship at British Westinghouse when matriculating from high school. The engineering firm was beginning to take on female apprentices in response to the labour shortages brought on by conscription at the beginning of World War I, and Dorothy was among the first female apprentices taken on by the firm.