Celebrating women featured in the Power Hall

Laura Hoang

Laura Hoang is a human factors engineer. That means she carefully studies how people use technology to design systems that are intuitive and efficient. She is passionate about using engineering to make technology more sustainable and accessible. She is also committed to inspiring young people, especially girls from ethnic minority backgrounds, to see engineering as an exciting career.

Laura has brought her expertise to amazing, varied projects in industries including aerospace and aviation, sustainability and clean energy. She was named one of the Top 50 Women in Engineering in 2023, and one of the five engineering role models for National Engineering Day 2024.

Marjory Littler

Marjory Littler (née Simm) started working as a tracer in a drawing office in 1947 at the age of 16. She worked at Vulcan Foundry, a company that built locomotives, based in Newton-le-Willows. Tracers like Marjory used precision drawing skills to create blueprints from engine drawings. The blueprints were used to make many copies of engine drawings. It was skilled work. In time, Marjory achieved the role of head tracer, managing the rest of the office.

Because it was the usually female tracers that produced the master copies that were retained by the drawing offices, the majority of the drawings that now survive in the Science Museum Group collection were produced by women. In the new Power Hall, one of the drawings that Marjory traced will form part of one of our new displays.

Dr Rhys Archer

Dr Rhys Archer is a research fellow in citizen science. It can also be called public involvement or participatory science. Rhys is passionate about creating opportunities for researchers and scientists to work alongside the public. Inviting people to come and have their say, and share their experiences to support research can be beneficial for communities and for society.

One of her projects involved co-designing a web app with schools so kids could monitor their own classroom air quality. Rhys leads a campaign called Women of Science, which she founded in 2016, to promote relatable role models in STEM fields.

Dorothy Smith

Dorothy Smith was one of the first women to have a full career as an electrical engineer. Born in 1899, she went to Manchester High School for Girls under a scholarship. Her favourite subject was maths. She was called up to work in the Metropolitan Vickers engineering drawing office during the First World War. She loved the work, but experienced prejudice and resistance from some male colleagues. Despite this, Dorothy’s career progressed, and she became part of a team improving electric motors.

Passionate about creating change for women, she led the Manchester branch of the Women’s Engineering Society from 1943–45, supporting girls and women to become engineers and technicians. In 1958, she became the second woman to gain full membership of the Institution of Electrical Engineers.

Kit Wolverson

Kit Wolverson is a senior engineer and chartered civil engineer. She’s passionate about putting people at the heart of her approach to design and engineering. She became an engineer because she wanted to problem solve and connect people. She works as part of a team to design infrastructure we all use in our daily lives—bridges, rail projects, large civil structures. Her team worked on the Ordsall Chord, a railway bridge next to the museum. Kit is now working on healthcare projects, continuing the desire to put people at the heart of her projects.

Kit is the Vice Chair of the Institution of Civil Engineers North West. She helps challenge perceptions to inspire more girls to consider an exciting, creative career in engineering.

Power Hall is due to reopen in Summer 2025. Find out more here.