{"id":2404,"date":"2002-09-15T18:01:38","date_gmt":"2002-09-15T22:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/?p=2404"},"modified":"2014-12-15T18:02:13","modified_gmt":"2014-12-15T23:02:13","slug":"achieving-gracefully","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2002\/09\/achieving-gracefully\/","title":{"rendered":"Over-achieving Gracefully"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The exceptional achievements and straightforward approach of Georgette Gaskin \u201990 serve as a model as she mentors the next generation of women engineers.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just a regular person doing my job,\u201d says Georgette Gaskin \u201990. Well, maybe. In February, she was named 2002 Black Engineer of the Year in the category of Outstanding Technical Contribution in Government. The award honors Gaskin\u2019s leadership of the adhesives and sealants team for the Navy\u2019s aircraft division. Sponsored by Lockheed Martin Corporation and other groups, the Black Engineer of the Year conference has become a premier event for African-Americans in engineering, science, and technology.<\/p>\n

This year marks the second time in Gaskin\u2019s 12-year career that she has received this national award. Five years ago, she was honored in the category of Most Promising. In 2002, one might say, she won for promises fulfilled.<\/p>\n

In high school, the St. Louis native was attracted to Johns Hopkins University because of her interest in biomedical engineering. But once enrolled at the Whiting School, she \u201cfell in love\u201d with airplanes. She began asking her advisor more questions about materials science and engineering. \u201cMost of my friends were doing double majors anyway,\u201d she says. \u201cMy advisor told me that if I could handle the work, I should go ahead,\u201d and she did. Materials science is at the heart of aerospace engineering because of the quest for stronger, lighter, and longer-lasting aircraft.<\/p>\n

\u201cI initially loved to work hands-on in the lab, and I thought I would always want to do research,\u201d says the civilian aerospace engineer from her office at the Naval Air Station, Patuxent River in southern Maryland. It\u2019s the home of NAVAIR (the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command), which oversees the Navy\u2019s air operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo make aircraft lighter and stronger, we try to bind rather than connect parts\u2026 using traditional connecting methods such as riveting can compromise the structural integrity.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Gaskin\u2019s career began in metallurgy for aircraft applications, but soon turned to developing polymers for structural adhesive bonding. \u201cTo make aircraft lighter and stronger, we try to bind rather than connect parts,\u201d she explains, \u201cbecause using traditional connecting methods such as riveting can compromise the structural integrity\u201d of the ultra-thin skins of military aircraft.<\/p>\n

Her patent on a surface preparation for stainless steel that improved its adherence capabilities led to more research funding and \u201cmore people working under me,\u201d she says. And that brought her \u201cmore responsibilities as team and project leader.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gaskin\u2019s leadership qualities also have been nurtured through her drive to help young women gain confidence, choose engineering as a career, and network early on. In the \u201990s, she served as president for four years of the Philadelphia chapter of the Association for Women in Science. \u201cWe would help with an annual cience fair for middle and high schools,\u201d she says, as well as presentations at schools.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s well aware of the challenges she faces in a male-dominated profession. \u201cOne of the things I\u2019ve noticed,\u201d Gaskin says, warming to the topic, \u201cis that, while you usually don\u2019t hear a man being asked where he went to school, I get it all the time.\u201d She laughs in recalling how much fun it is to let them know where she earned her degree. As a woman, \u201cyou do stand out,\u201d she concedes. But, \u201cwith the Hopkins background, I have the technical competence and professional confidence to come right back at them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gaskin believes that \u201cYou easily overcome the doubt of coworkers and colleagues by being technically competent. Hopkins was a big help because it\u2019s such a tough program that it gave me plenty of strength to draw on.\u201d<\/p>\n

In February, Gaskin returned to campus for a visit. \u201cI talked to engineering students, toured the Whiting School, and spoke to high school students at a Baltimore City public school,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n

For someone who seems to rise naturally to the top, Gaskin remains low-key about her goals: \u201cI just want to continue to learn more about how the Navy works and help the fleet.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI\u2019m just a regular person doing my job,\u201d says Georgette Gaskin \u201990. Well, maybe. In February, she was named 2002 Black Engineer of the Year in the category of Outstanding Technical Contribution in Government. The award honors Gaskin\u2019s leadership of the adhesives and sealants team for the Navy\u2019s aircraft division. Sponsored by Lockheed Martin Corporation…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-legacy","issue-fall-2002"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOver-achieving Gracefully - JHU Engineering Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2002\/09\/achieving-gracefully\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Over-achieving Gracefully - JHU Engineering Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cI\u2019m just a regular person doing my job,\u201d says Georgette Gaskin \u201990. 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