In celebration of International Women's Day, 十大国际老虎机平台将关注十大网赌靠谱网址平台的能源供应技术培训师丽塔·德哈特. Thanks to her courage, grit and perseverance, 1977年，丽塔打破了障碍，打破了刻板印象，成为TECO发电厂的第一位女性合作学生. As she gears up for retirement in April, 丽塔的遗产是一个鼓舞人心的证明，证明了作为一个传统上由男性主导的行业的开拓者的韧性.
你在电力行业从事职业生涯的最初灵感是什么, especially considering its male-dominated nature at the time?
我一直认为所有类型的机器都很酷，即使在我小时候也是如此. I was also fascinated by electricity from an early age.
Between the ages of 12 and 15, 我注意到，从坦帕的22街堤道(22 Street Causeway)很容易就能看到一个巨大的“像工厂一样的东西”，里面有多个烟囱. 后来我发现这个“看起来像工厂的东西”是十大网赌靠谱网址平台的加农炮站, and that it made electricity.
Gannon Station as it Appeared in the Early 1970s. Photo by Steve Gandy Commercial and Aerial Photography.
我被吸引住了，进入了南佛罗里达大学的电气工程专业, thinking it was the fastest route to the power plant. Although electrical engineering is a very honorable profession, 它没有呈现出我想要的机械和热方面的过程, so mechanical engineering was a closer fit.
然而, 我发现有一种更好的方法可以把电厂学到“n度”,” and that was operations. 有什么比实际操作发电厂更好的方法来了解细节呢?
In the late-1970s, 1979年，我离开了这个州，有幸被选中参加田纳西河谷管理局的学生发电厂操作员培训项目. 这是一个为期两年的项目，教会十大国际老虎机平台电厂是如何工作的——直到最后一个阀门. To date, that program is the best education I have received.
1979年田纳西河谷管理局学生发电厂操作员班.
Rita is fourth from the left on the top row.
It did not concern me at the time that operations was a male-dominated field; I was focused on the power plant and how it worked.
As the first female co-op student sent to our power plant in 1977, what was the atmosphere like, and what challenges did you face?
Actually, it went quite well. The day I walked on to the plant site, there was some good-natured humor and kidding around, which was to be expected. I joined in with the humor and had a good time. 如果在那段时间在胡克角车站有任何不受欢迎的感觉, I did not notice it, nor did I hear anything about it.
我最担心的是缺乏在手术中经常需要的体力. My best friend during that time was the valve wrench, 它使我能够打开和关闭阀门，这是我单独用手无法做到的.
1977年，丽塔在胡克角车站作为一名合作学生出现在TECO新闻中
At what specific moment or project did the courage, 你所表现出的勇气和毅力对你的成功起着至关重要的作用?
It is difficult to pin down one specific moment, 但我曾两次在全国锅炉和压力容器检查员委员会会议上发言(堪萨斯城和科罗拉多斯普林斯). 我还有幸在他们的杂志《十大网赌靠谱网址平台》上发表过两次文章.”
另一件有趣的事情是，在北卡罗来纳州立法机构选定的成员面前，他在听证会上发表讲话，讨论该州对锅炉操作员持有固定工程师执照的可能要求(这需要培训和经验来准备考试)。.
在20世纪90年代和21世纪初，我还担任美国机械工程师协会(ASME)规范和标准委员会副主席，负责化石燃料发电厂操作员(QFO)的资格. Unfortunately, that committee has undergone the sunset process.
还有各种其他的演讲和会议/听证会出席.
这些年来，你如何看待这个行业在多样性和包容性方面的发展?
According to the United States Census Bureau, 从事工程职业的女性从1970年的3%增加到2019年的15%.
According to Zippia, Inc.在美国(一个工作定位组织)，女性电厂操作员的比例为5%.1 percent in 2021. Between 2010 and 2021, the lowest percentage was 3.61 percent in 2012.
虽然我希望这些百分比更高，但我已经注意到积极的变化. In 1972, 作为一名工程专业学生的标志是携带一个t型尺和计算尺(是的, 就在那后面). 我记得，因为我是一个搬运这些物资的女人，我得到了一些奇怪的眼神(还有几声猫叫). 现在，在大多数组织中看到女性工程师并不罕见. This is a good thing.
What was one of the most rewarding aspects of your career?
1988年，我在另一个机构开设了我的第一堂“基础发电厂”课程. The visual aid was a flip chart with hand drawn images. 尽管视听设备很简陋，但这门课还是很成功的，而且还邀请了更多的学生. Through the years, 我曾在几个组织中介绍过这门课程的变体, both as an employee and an outside consultant. That class has been very popular, for which I am thankful.
Rita preparing for “Introduction to Power Plant Systems”
On a bittersweet note, 该课程的最新版本是“电厂系统概论”。, 我将在3月的第三周，也就是我退休之前，进行最后一次TECO会议.
You are retiring in April. 反思一下你的职业生涯，以及你希望为未来进入电力行业的女性留下什么.
回首往事，我有幸拥有不止一项令我满意的成就. 举个例子, 最近的一项成就是与其他培训师一起开发和介绍大本德新的联合循环单元培训.
我能想到的唯一可能的遗产是，女性可能会更自在地与他人讨论她们的技术知识，因为她们看到了我这样做. No one should ever feel apologetic for being smart.
My advice is this: focus on the pursuit of excellence. Learn and apply everything you can regarding the technical details of your field; make it a part of you. Know your stuff thoroughly.
“没有人应该为自己的聪明而感到抱歉。”——丽塔·德哈特.
