The First Woman to Earn a Ph.D. in Automotive Engineering

Earlier this month Ala Qattawi, a native of Jordan, was awarded a Ph.D. in automotive engineering from Clemson University in South Carolina. According to the university, she is the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in the field. Her research focuses on the structural design of folded sheet metal to improve efficiency in automobile manufacturing.

Before coming to Clemson, Qattawi was the valedictorian of her class at the Jordan University of Science and Technology. At Clemson, she met her husband who is also a Ph.D. student in automotive engineering. The couple had their first child in November.