January 8, 1996

Triple Major Thrives on Challenges

While many college students have difficulty deciding on one major, North Carolina State University senior Catherine Rose has settled on three. A triple major in mechanical engineering, applied mathematics and Spanish, Rose has a sense of humor about what this undertaking means to her future.

"My big joke is that I'm going to get my Ph.D. and teach math to mechanical engineers in Spain," she said.

Her dedication to learning and endless energy have earned Rose the 1995 College of Engineering Faculty Senior Scholarship, which is awarded for academic excellence, intellectual breadth and impeccable character.

Her diversity of interests and determination to pursue them can be traced to her parents, who encouraged their children to nurture curiosity and did not force them to conform to expected gender roles.

Rose will receive her degrees in May 1996, the 30th anniversary of her father's graduation from N.C. State. It seems fitting, then, that she started her road to engineering by spending time at work with her father when he was a mechanical engineer at Duke Power. Bill Rose took his daughter to work long before doing so was a nationally sanctioned event.

"I grew up pretty much at the power plant," Rose said. "I was probably the youngest person who had seen a turbine."

The youngest of four children, she admired her brother and father and preferred to join them working in the yard rather than baking cookies in the kitchen. Her father even encouraged her to work with tools.

"My dad welcomed us all into his shop, and I took advantage of that to help him make Christmas gifts, repair the car or anything else I could get my hands on." She says that most of the other women engineering students she's met have had similar positive experiences and support, resulting in "go get 'em attitudes."

Her mother was an equally important influence. Nell Rose volunteered for ten years at the junior high school her children attended, and she took Catherine along to work with her in the summers. This experience helped Rose appreciate the importance of volunteerism and fostered a desire to teach.

When she came to N.C. State, she started out in math education and engineering but soon found that she was excited about the elegance and theory of the applied math. That's when she switched to mathematics, though she does hope to teach one day.

She added Spanish as a third major to provide a break from her technical studies. She enjoys studying the language so much that she even thinks of it as the vacation in her education.

After high school graduation, when most kids goof off a little before heading to college, she was in Cuernavaca, Mexico, for five weeks studying at a foreign language institute.

She seizes opportunities to study abroad and encourages other students to do likewise. She spent the fall semester of her junior year at the University of Cantabria in Santander, on the northern coast of Spain. There she studied art, history and literature and stayed with a Spanish family.

"It was a living classroom," Rose said. "My study abroad experience allowed me to learn about a different culture through daily interaction with my extended family in my 'home away from home.'"

When Rose first came to N.C. State she met a situation young women in engineering all across the country encounter: only a handful--if any--women professors. For example, the mechanical and aerospace engineering department at N.C. State has only one woman professor. This lack of role models can be very discouraging and frustrating for women in engineering. Rose is characteristically upbeat about the situation because she believes women, who generally are more communicative and expressive, have an advantage. They tend to seek out professors more often for advice and assistance, and they participate in other activities in greater proportion than do men. Overall, though, she says it's not gender that determines success in engineering but rather persistence and dedication.

Rose is the personification of persistence and dedication. As president of the N.C. State chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the largest student section in the country, she presides over at least two meetings a week, helps with fundraising, organizes events, manages volunteers and recruits other students to get involved.

When asked how she handles all these duties as well as her course work, she said, "I've come to realize that I manage to get things done, whether I have ten hours or two. I just get it done."

Dr. Richard R. Johnson, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and student section ASME advisor, said, "It is not only that Catherine is super at getting things done, but that she has a good time doing them. Catherine really enjoys learning, studying, socializing and interacting with others. She is chair of the ASME student section because of her enthusiasm for volunteerism and her motivating attitude."

After completing her education, she sees herself enabling others, whether she works as a researcher in industry or as a university professor. Of course, that's after she's gotten her Ph.D. in the year 2000, before she's 25--another of her goals.

"I don't want to make my life impossible," she said, "but I like a challenge."

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