Momentum - The Magazine for Virginia Tech Mechanical Engineering Vol. 3 No. 1 Spring 2018 | Page 28

Front: Al and Sylvia Wag-
necz, Linda Vick's parents.
Back: Daughter Kristen,
Linda, and husband Brian
Vick, and sister Laura
Wagnecz.
“I was older than the others in my group,
but I received a lot of support from my family
and friends,” Vick said. “Toward the end of
the program, I found out I was pregnant with
twins. Since twin pregnancies are high risk,
the doctors made me stay home for three
months before my due date. I knew my dis-
sertation would be about two hundred pages,
so I finished about three pages a day and got
it done
before
they were
born. The
home rest
worked
to my
advantage,
but it was
my advi-
sor who I
remember
being
really sup-
portive.
He always
was
friendly,
encouraging, and up-beat – even about the
pregnancy. He just had faith in his students.”
Earning her PhD in 1996, Vick began to
embrace the engineering side of her she never
had as a child.
“I didn’t really like to take things apart until
I had to teach ME 2024 – that’s when I got
brave,” Vick admitted. “While developing
hands-on labs, I was forced to learn how
things worked. It got easier and easier. Now,
at home, I’m the one who always fixes things.
Our family joke is that Brian (Vick, associate
professor of mechanical engineering) can tell
you why the water spins a certain way when
MOMENTUM
SPRING 2018
you flush the toilet, but I can fix the toilet.”
During her time in industry and getting her
doctorate, Vick said she never personally ran
into anyone who asked her why she was pur-
suing engineering. But she did see it happen.
“A friend of mine was asked why she was in
engineering and was told she had no business
being here. I got me really mad,” Vick said.
“My response was to try even harder to get the
top score in the class.”
As one of three advisors to more than 1200
students, Vick sees very different attitudes be-
tween male and female engineering students
in how they respond to criticism.
“When given external criticism I often find
female students take it more personally,” Vick
explained. For instance, we put students on
academic probation all the time and the guys
will get annoyed and ask, ‘What’s wrong with
you? Why’d you put me on probation?’ The
women are much more likely to think that
they’re not worthy of being in the major, so
we need to keep encouraging and letting them
know they can do it.”
During conversations with her female
students, Vick tells them to take the attitude
of their male counterparts. “I give them the
example that many women who may meet
nine of ten qualifications on a job posting may
think they aren’t qualified; where some men
who meet one of the ten qualifications think
they’re good to go. It’s a whole different atti-
tude. The female students are always a little
surprised at some of the stories I tell them and
tend to leave a little more confident.”
While teaching mechanical design, Vick’s
office doubles as a place where students can
get help with their schedules and a place
where they can get encouragement.
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