ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT, Ala. -- Mischa Sharpe, likely the first female engineer at Anniston Army Depot, joined the workforce in 1978 as a cooperative education student completing her degree at the University of Alabama at Huntsville.
"I had never heard of Anniston," she said. "I had to look it up on the map."
Sharpe said a series of chance events brought her into her career, but once there she found her purpose.
She initially planned to go into medical technology, but a bad instructor in one of her courses led her to look elsewhere.
Then, in her senior year, when an electrical course was unavailable, she was instead given the option to design the university's robotics lab - experience which later led to the establishment of robotics in several processes at ANAD.
Though her time on the installation started in the Safety Office, she quickly moved into a position as an industrial engineer - first for the Directorate of Resource Management and later for the Directorate of Public Works. She is now one of DPW's mechanical engineers.
Sharpe understood the importance of the equipment produced here and saw, through e-mails and personal interactions with Soldiers and Marines, how effective it was for the warfighters.
"If it is not your son you are making this equipment for, it is someone else's son," she said.
Sharpe said she hopes up-and-coming engineers learn, as she did, that books and rules are wonderful in the classroom, but are useful primarily as tools, adaptable for the situation when put into practice. She is grateful for the experiences afforded to her throughout her career supporting the U.S. Armed Forces and plans to retire this June.
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