Mary Kasarda Ohio
Born at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base , Ohio to a former World War II navigator and a mother who was an Air Force nurse , Kasarda ’ s earliest memories involve the New York World ’ s Fair and a brand new car produced by the Ford Motor Company – the Mustang .
“ I was two years old and was taken to the World ’ s Fair by relatives because my sister was being born and they wanted me out of the way ,” Kasarda recalled . “ I remember the 1964 Mustang spinning around on a turntable and I thought it was beautiful . I loved the idea of motion and the freedom vehicles could give you – be they cars or trains .”
As a youngster the family would sometimes eat lunch at the local Woolworths where large windows overlooked a train yard . There Kasarda loved spending her time watching the trains .
“ I remember being fascinated by the wheels and mechanisms and linkages ,” she said . “ As I got a little older I also realized that if I wanted to do math and support myself , then engineering was the way to go and I liked the idea of solving problems , improving systems , and making things more efficient . It was the application of math and science that appealed to me .”
With a cousin who had started in engineering but moved to sociology , Kasarda heard horror stories about how difficult engineering programs were , so she decided that she would
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