International Women in Engineering Day’s theme for 2021 is #EngineeringHeroes. We’re celebrating one of our favourite heroes – Hertha Ayrton – the first woman in Britain to be professionally recognised as an electrical engineer. We’ll also show you how you can explore some of the engineering she worked on.

Hertha was born in 1854 and has been described as an engineer, mathematician, physicist, inventor and suffragist. She overcame many setbacks during her career and fought for women’s right to vote.

She was the first woman to receive the Hughes Medal for her own work, and to be proposed for fellowship of the Royal Society. Unfortunately at that time, because the law did not view her as having a legal existence as a married woman, the fellowship was denied. She was not treated with the same respect as her male peers but she still went on to become the first woman to be elected to join the Institution of Electrical Engineers (the IET).

Her greatest achievements include invention of mathematical measuring instruments, work on electrical arcs and exploration of sand ripples on the shoreline. Her work on ripples and vortices led to her developing the Ayrton anti-gas fan – a device designed to clear poisonous chemical gases from WW1 trenches.

The activity below explores air vortices and pressure and is based on knowledge gained from Hertha’s work.

If you’d like to explore more Engineering and Science heroes why not look at our XX Factor show for schools and events?