b'Gleason Works built this 24" bevel gear planer in 1907.blades simultaneously involved and an advanced high-speed, dry-cutting process, productivity is more than 150 times higher in 2018 than in 1915, Stadtfeld said.GleasonWe developed Todays process involves applicationsoftware and machines that take the of rotating face cutters fitted with 30 todifficulties of the past away from the bevel 50 blades made from coated carbide.gear manufacturer so that now [the gears] The blade speed is 20 times faster thanare very easy to machine, Stadtfeld said.with earlier planers. Because of the manyH. MartinKates Involvement understanding of machinery and After her older stepbrother died,sales. She described in detail a ta-11-year-old Kate volunteered toper-attachment lathe requested by help with bookkeeping at her fa- a customer, then advised James on thers machine shop. Kate musthow to make the sale.have inherited some of her fathersBy the time she was 25, Kate was mechanical ability. By 14, she wasofficiallynamedsecretary-trea-running the business office andsurer of the company, becoming a She knew her customers. She listened to them, and she understood their needs.reading engineering books at night. stockholder along with her two In 1884, Kate entered the Sib- younger brothers. Unfortunately for ley College of Mechanical Engi- Kate, family relationships began to neering and Mechanic Arts at Cor- disintegrate because of her uncon-nell University, making her one ofventional ways.the first women to study engineer- Kate lived in the Victorian era, ing in the U.S. Although she neverwhen women lived highly restricted earned a degree because of finan- lives.Yetin1888,shetraveled cial problems at home, she contin- alone for a 4-day sales trip to Ohio. ued to learn on the job. She alsoThough worried about how she took courses at the local Rochesterwould be treated as a single woman Athenaeum and Mechanics Insti- doing business in industrial shops, tute (later renamed the Rochestershe wrote to her brother that in Institute of Technology). every case I was treated with the A letter to her brother, James,most distinguished consideration.writtenin1889,showsKatesSoon,Kate,whohasbeen ctemag.com/cteguide.com59Women.indd 59 2/15/18 3:29 PM'