Hürriyet Sırmaçek (1912 - 2 January 1983) was

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

's first female bridge engineer.

Early life

Hürriyet Sırmaçek was born in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

in 1912 when it was part of the Ottoman Empire. She graduated from

Erenköy Girls High School Erenköy Girls High School (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Erenköy Kız Anadolu Lisesi'') is a public girls high school in the Erenköy, Kadıköy, Erenköy neighborhood of Kadıköy district in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded in 1911 during the Ottom ...

in 1929, then attended

Istanbul Technical University Istanbul Technical University, also known as Technical University of Istanbul (, commonly referred to as İTÜ), is an public university, public technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third-oldest technical university ...

, graduating in 1935 with a specialisation in road and bridge engineering.

Career

She worked as a senior engineer at various levels in the

Turkish State Railways The State Railways of the Republic of Turkey (), abbreviated as TCDD, is a government-owned national railway company responsible for the ownership and maintenance of railways in Turkey, as well as the planning and construction of new lines. TCDD ...

(TCDD). Roles included working as a control engineer for structural calculations, including concrete, at the Sivas Lokomotif and Wagon Factory. Other work included engineering the "T" deck beam supporting the

Haydarpaşa Haydarpaşa is a locality within the Kadıköy and Üsküdar districts on the Asian part of Istanbul, Turkey. Haydarpaşa is named after Ottoman Vizier Haydar Pasha. The place, on the coast of Sea of Marmara, borders to Harem in the northwest and ...

overpass at the 71km mark on the Izmir-

Manisa Manisa () is a city in Turkey's Aegean Region and the administrative seat of Manisa Province, lying approximately 40 km northeast of the major city of İzmir. The city forms the urban part of the districts Şehzadeler and Yunusemre, with ...

road. She calculated the requirements for the 2x45'lik steel truss bridge, the first such edifice in Turkey. In 1964, Sırmaçek was appointed as a General Technical Consultant in the Directorate. She later served as Deputy General Director of the TCDD. Between 1970 and 1971, she worked in the State Planning Organisation (DPT) on behalf of the Ministry of Transport, looking at transportation issues in preparation for the Southeast development plan. Sırmaçek retired in 1971.

Memberships

* Founder member of Türkiye Köprü ve İnşaat Cemiyeti - the Turkish Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering * Türkiye Yüksek Mühendisler Birliği - Turkish Engineers Association - board member and General Secretary *

Soroptimist Soroptimist International (SI) , founded in 1921, is a global volunteer service for women with almost 66,000 members in 118 countries worldwide. Soroptimist International also offers Associate Membership and E-Clubs. Soroptimist International h ...

Clubs Association - chairman of Turkish branch * Head of the Erenköy Girls' High School Alumni Association for 17 years * Member of the Board of Directors of the Istanbul Chamber of Engineers, including a period as president of the organisation.

Personal life

Hürriyet Sırmaçek died on 2 January 1983.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sırmaçek, Hürriyet 1983 deaths 1912 births Turkish civil engineers Istanbul Technical University alumni Erenköy Girls High School alumni Women engineers 20th-century women engineers