ArticleslgStudy

engineering

Margaret Ingels

Margaret Ingels is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Margaret Ingels rather than just read about it. In short: Margaret Ingels (October 25, 1892 – December 13, 1971) was an American engineer. She is known as the first female engineering graduate from the University of Kentucky, receiving her Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering in 1916.

Margaret Ingels — main illustration
Margaret Ingels — illustration

Key takeaways

  • Margaret Ingels belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect Margaret Ingels to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Margaret Ingels from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Margaret Ingels (October 25, 1892 – December 13, 1971) was an American engineer. She is known as the first female engineering graduate from the University of Kentucky, receiving her Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering in 1916. She was also the second woman engineering graduate in the United States and the first woman to receive a professional degree of Mechanical Engineer. Her work on air conditioning included "developing the “effective temperature” scale to incorporate humidity and air movement in the equation for human comfort".

Early life Margaret Ingels was born on 25 October 1892. She attended school in her home town of Paris, Kentucky and was fascinated by scientific and engineering subjects, her interest having been sparked at a young age when she noticed moisture collecting on cold glass and learned about condensation. She continued her education at the University of Kentucky, receiving her Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering in 1916. She was the first woman to graduate in engineering from the university.

Career Following graduation, she worked for the Chicago Telephone Company in the traffic engineering department. She then left Chicago in 1917 for Pittsburgh and the Carrier Engineering Corporation, where her interest in air conditioning began. She received her Mechanical Engineering professional degree in 1920 and the next year she joined the American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers research lab, where she studied air conditioning for six years. "She perfected a new portable machine that determines the amount of germ-laden dust in schoolrooms and public places" while conducting field tests for the New York Commission on School Ventilation. In 1931, she returned to the Carrier-Lyle Corporation where she stayed until her retirement. At Carrier, she "helped perfect the sling psychrometer, which is used to read the relative humidity of the air". She was a spokesperson for the profession, speaking to more than 12,000 people during more than 200 speeches from 1932 to 1952. In 1937, she was included in an article by M. Elsa Gardner on Women Engineers in the journal of the Women's Engineering Society, alongside Kate Gleeson, Elsie MacGill, Frances Hurd Clark, Mary Olga Soroka, Marie Lurhing, Marie Reith, Olive Dennis, Isabel Ebel, Hilda Lyon and Amy Johnson. In 1940 she was selected as one of 100 women in the United States who had successful careers in fields not open to women in 1840.

Works Ingels, Margaret (1972). Willis Haviland Carrier, father of air conditioning. Technology and society. New York: Arno Press. ISBN 0405047088. Ingels, Margaret (1925). Comparative tests of instruments for determining atmospheric dusts ... Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. LCCN 25026420. She wrote more than 45 technical papers, as well as an article titled Petticoats and Slide Rules, which documented "the pioneer American women of the engineering field".

Legacy and Commemoration A dormitory named Ingels Hall was opened in August 2005 at the University of Kentucky intended for women engineering students. The Collegiate Section of the Society of Women Engineers at the University of Kentucky established a Fellowship Fund in her memory for students enrolled in a Master of Science or Ph.D. program in an engineering discipline.

References

External links Margaret Ingels papers (University of Kentucky), circa 1845 - 1967 Photo of Margaret Ingels at the 1952 American Society of Civil Engineers Centennial of Engineering Margaret Ingels Residence Hall, University of Kentucky Margaret Ingels Society of Women Engineers Graduate Fellowship (University of Kentucky) Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine

Further reading Layne, Margaret E., ed. (2009). Women in engineering. Reston, Va.: ASCE Press. ISBN 9780784472354.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Margaret Ingels

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Margaret Ingels claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Margaret Ingels before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Margaret Ingels ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Margaret Ingels

In research
Margaret Ingels appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses Margaret Ingels in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
Margaret Ingels is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1892 births, 1971 deaths, 20th-century American mechanical engineers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Margaret Ingels outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.
Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Margaret Ingels” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Margaret Ingels in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Margaret Ingels means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Margaret Ingels out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Margaret Ingels in simple terms?

Margaret Ingels (October 25, 1892 – December 13, 1971) was an American engineer. She is known as the first female engineering graduate from the University of Kentucky, receiving her Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering in 1916.

Why does Margaret Ingels matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Margaret Ingels?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Margaret Ingels.

Tags

  • 1892 births
  • 1971 deaths
  • 20th-century American mechanical engineers
  • 20th-century American women
  • 20th-century American women engineers
  • Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning
  • People from Paris, Kentucky
  • University of Kentucky College of Engineering alumni

Keep exploring