Problem solving and positive thinking
by Donica Kaneshiro | July 11, 2023
When you hear that all Emily Smith’s father and grandfather and six siblings all went into engineering, you may think her career path was a given. But Emily didn’t always want to be an engineer.
“It wasn’t like a lifelong dream,” she admitted. “I kind of stumbled into it.”
Emily said her dad told her and her six younger brothers and sisters that he would pay for their college but only if they pursued a technical degree.
Emily started taking science classes but quickly discovered she preferred the proactive problem solving of engineering to the scientific method employed in courses like chemistry and physics that requires you set hypotheses and disprove them.
Emily said one thing that helped her through the rigorous courses at Portland State University was making a good female friend that she could study with and lean on as there were only four women in the electrical engineering program. That friend from college later moved to Hawaii briefly and worked at Hawaiian Electric.
“You definitely feel a little bit more pressure,” Emily said. “You immediately put it on yourself to show that you belong.”
But she says she rarely feels as though anyone treats her differently just because of her gender, something she attributes to the women who came before her.
“I’ve spoken to women just 10–15 years older than me with a completely different experience,” she said. “It’s amazing to me how far society has come. I’m super thankful for what they did. They were trailblazers.”
Emily said she feels her gender can be an asset when she’s working with others.
“I do think if you work on a team with men and women, it ends up making the team better, because we’re not all the same,” she said. “You can see things from different angles.”
People think that Emily’s family legacy means that engineering is in her blood, but she thinks it shows that anyone can be an engineer if they have determination.
“I feel like it just shows if you want to do it, you can,” she said. “Sometimes people think it’s a personality type or how smart you are, but my siblings are all totally different. I think engineering is about a work ethic, and you want to be a problem solver.”
Emily has translated her ability to problem solve to her off-hours passion of gardening.
“When you go through the engineering school, you’re taught more of how to think through things, not just memorization,” she said.
She channels those skills into researching plants for her garden, where she grows fruits and vegetables, such as lettuce, tomatoes, beans, onions, strawberries and cilantro.
“I love food, so I’m trying to keep that a healthy aspect of my life,” Emily said. “I’m trying to eat at least 10% to 20% of my food from my garden.”
This year, she has been experimenting with air grafting trees and plans to expand her garden to include watermelons and pumpkins.
“I thought wouldn’t it be cool if I could make my own pumpkin to carve, but it takes 100 days, so I have to backtrack it,” she said.
She finds it’s always rewarding watching her garden grow. “You plant the seed and water it, and you get something out of it.”
Another endeavor she hopes will be fruitful is her recent work restarting the Maui United Way golf tournament, which was discontinued more than a decade ago, and will return in March 2024.
“It’s unbelievable to me that our Maui United Way has seen a decrease of 40% in donations, and needs are going up, so it’s less money and more needs,” Emily said. “We’re trying to find ways to get more money into their basket to help out our community. I know the golf tournament is going to be successful.”
Donica Kaneshiro is a communications consultant at Hawaiian Electric Company.
