Beatrice Hicks

Beatrice Hicks, inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2012, decided to be an engineer when she was 13 years old after she learned that the Empire State Building and the George Washington Bridge were the work of engineers. The first president of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and one of its co-founders, Hicks invented a gas density sensor that could sense the actual amount of gas, instead of the pressure produced by the gas, within a container. Her sensor has been used in space, in aircraft, in communications, to monitor nuclear weapons, and in equipment for the electric utility industry. Gas density sensors are also used in fire extinguishers. Other sensors that she developed monitor pressure or fuel levels. She also developed sensors to monitor speeds for rockets, missiles, or planes to ensure structural component integrity standards are not exceeded. Her many awards included the SWE Achievement Award in 1963 and election to the National Academy of Engineering in 1978. She has been inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. This chapter also includes a discussion of the various types of fire extinguishers.