Every year, on March 8th, people around the world observe International Women’s Day — a day to recognize the struggle for women’s rights and celebrate the social, political, and cultural achievements of women throughout postmodern history. At Dassault Systèmes, we aim to spotlight the incredible accomplishments and contributions of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). In this year’s blog post, we highlighted Anousheh Ansari’s strides in space exploration and LEGO’s winning Women of NASA set. Ansari, a super-women in all aspects, has become the first female private space explorer and the co-founder of Prodea Systems. Although March 8th has quickly passed, we must never forget to appreciate the women of STEM, or any other field. That being said, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is doing just that – continuing the support of women and acknowledging that not all women wear capes.
Each year, the renowned Cambridge school releases a creative video to announce what day and time the long-awaited admissions decisions will be posted online. This year’s video features the character Riri Williams, a black teenage girl who the comic book franchise announced in July would take over for Tony Stark as the next “Iron Man.” In the short clip, Williams is shown stepping into her character and soaring into the sky delivering decision tubes to notify eager applicants. Brian Michael Bendis, author of the “Iron Man” comic, found his inspiration in an unconventional way. “One of the things that stuck with me when I was working in Chicago a couple of years ago was this story of this brilliant, young woman whose life was marred by tragedy that could have easily ended her life,” said Bendis in a TIME interview. “She went off to college. I thought that was the most modern version of a superhero or superheroine story I had ever heard.” In the Marvel realm, Williams is an MIT student who builds her own Iron Man suit in her dorm. Of course, no longer under the alias of Iron Man, Williams is dubbed the Iron Heart. Aside from the nitty-gritty details behind the character, MIT students graciously took it upon themselves to highlight the continuous presence of women in STEM, and their powerful role in the world.
