# Kathleen Mary Cook

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{{Short description|British mechanical engineer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Kathleen Mary Cook
| image =Kathleen_Cook_died_1971.jpg
| birth_date         = 25 August 1910
| birth_place        = [Wembley](/source/Wembley), England
| death_date         = 1971
| citizenship        = British
| education          = La Convent of the Sainte Union des Sacres Coeurs, North London
| occupation         = Mechanical Engineer
| employer           = Apprentice at Hercules Engineering Company; Director of Hercules Aircraft Construction Co. Ltd;  Founder member of Universal Equipment Co. Ltd; Owner of Kainder Ltd; Wilmer Engineering Co Ltd
| organization       = Women's Engineering Society
| spouse             = Dennis Goodwin
}}'''Kathleen Mary Cook''' (25 August 1910–1971) was a mechanical engineer who was president of the [Women's Engineering Society](/source/Women's_Engineering_Society) from 1955–1956.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kathleen Mary Cook|url=https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Kathleen_Mary_Cook|website=Grace's Guide to British Industrial History}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2019|title=75: Kathleen Cook|url=https://www.magnificentwomen.co.uk/engineer-of-the-week/75-kathleen-cook|website=Magnificent Women}}</ref> Her father, [P. V. Cook](/source/P._V._Cook), who was also a mechanical engineer, worked with the earliest aeroplane engines.<ref name=":4" />

== Early life and education ==
Kathleen Mary Cook was born in Wembley on 25 August 1910.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=imechearchive |date=2022-06-23 |title=FROM OUR MEMBERSHIP: KATHLEEN COOK (1910-1971) |url=https://imechearchive.wordpress.com/2022/06/23/from-our-membership-kathleen-cook-1910-1971/ |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=IMechE Archive and Library |language=en}}</ref> She educated at [La Convent of the Sainte Union des Sacres Coeurs](/source/La_Sainte_Union_Catholic_School) in North London and in Paris.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|date=1962|title=Mrs. D.I.H. Goodwin M.I.Mech.E.|url=https://twej.theiet.org/twej/WES_Vol_9.html|journal=The Woman Engineer|volume=9|issue=6 |pages=10}}</ref> In 1928 she became an apprentice at [Hercule Engineering Company](/source/Hercule_Engineering_Company), London, her father's company,<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|date=1971|title=Remembering Kathleen Mary Cook|url=https://twej.theiet.org/twej/WES_Vol_11.html|journal=The Woman Engineer|volume=11|issue=3 |pages=3–4}}</ref> where she stayed for 7 years, completing her apprenticeship in 1933.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":0" />

== Career ==
During the Second World War, Cook and three of her brothers developed and ran a factory in [Northholt](/source/Northolt), where they developed gun breech mechanisms and spare parts for aircraft.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":6" /> As a result of a government requested reorganisation, which Cook played a significant role in, production increased tenfold in four months. Cook remained in this role until the end of the war in 1945 

In 1942 Cook became director of [Hercules Aircraft Construction Co Ltd](/source/Hercules_Aircraft_Construction_Co_Ltd),<ref name=":1" /> and was a founder member of [Universal Equipment Co Ltd](/source/Universal_Equipment_Co_Ltd), which was established in 1945.<ref name=":4" /> She invented and patented a mobile bed called the Kainder Mobile Bed and set up a company called Kainder Ltd in 1949.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal|date=1949|title=News of Members|url=https://twej.theiet.org/twej/WES_Vol_6.html|journal=The Woman Engineer|volume=6|issue=16 |pages=295}}</ref> 

In 1951 she joined Wilman Engineering Co. Ltd, a small company making electronic equipment and automatic control units.<ref name=":5" /> She worked as chief mechanical engineer and chairman of the company,<ref name=":4" /> and helped it to survive financial difficulties.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|date=1954|title=News of Members|url=https://twej.theiet.org/twej/WES_Vol_7.html|journal=The Woman Engineer|volume=7|issue=12 |pages=15}}</ref> After raising capital, she was able to buy out her partners in the company and begin modernisation.<ref name=":6" />

In 1962, she was one of only ten female engineers who were entitled to designate themselves as 'Chartered Mechanical Engineer'.<ref name=":4" />

== Professional memberships ==
Cook was a fellow of the Institute of Production Engineering.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> She became a student member of the [Institution of Mechanical Engineers](/source/Institution_of_Mechanical_Engineers),<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|date=1956|title=News of Members|url=https://twej.theiet.org/twej/WES_Vol_7.html|journal=The Woman Engineer|volume=8|issue=1 |pages=22}}</ref> after being introduced by [Verena Holmes](/source/Verena_Holmes). Holmes also proposed her as a full member many years later in 1955, with [Caroline Haslett](/source/Caroline_Haslett) acting as an application referee.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Verena - Through the Eyes of her Friends|url=https://twej.theiet.org/twej/WES_Vol_9.html|journal=The Woman Engineer|volume=9|issue=13 |pages=2}}</ref> Cook was only the second woman, following Holmes, to hold full membership since it was set up in 1847.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":7" /> She was also the first female fellow of the [Institute of British Foundrymen](/source/Institute_of_British_Foundrymen), and a member of the [British Nuclear Society](/source/British_Nuclear_Society) and the [Royal Commonwealth Society](/source/Royal_Commonwealth_Society).<ref name=":4" />

Cook joined the [Women's Engineering Society](/source/Women's_Engineering_Society) (WES) in 1931.<ref name=":6" /> She joined the Council in 1936,<ref>{{Cite journal|date=1935|title=The Fourteenth Annual Conference|url=https://twej.theiet.org/twej/WES_Vol_4a.html|journal=The Woman Engineer|volume=4|issue=8 |pages=113}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|date=1943|title=Annual General Meeting: News of Members|url=https://twej.theiet.org/twej/WES_Vol_5.html|journal=The Woman Engineer|volume=5|issue=16 |pages=2}}</ref> on which she served for over 25 years.<ref name=":4" /> She became Vice-President  in 1951 and was President from 1955-56.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal|date=1954|title=From the President - Greetings|journal=The Woman Engineer|volume=11|issue=15 |pages=1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|date=1954|title=The 1954 W.E.S. Conference|url=https://twej.theiet.org/twej/WES_Vol_7.html|journal=The Woman Engineer|volume=7|issue=15 |pages=4}}</ref> She succeeded [Dorothy Pile](/source/Dorothy_Pile) in the role and was in turn succeeded by [Marjorie Bell](/source/Marjorie_Bell).<ref name=":0" /> In her 1955 presidential address she talked about her work as a mechanical engineer in production and how an engineering plant is run.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=1955|title=The 1955 W.E.S Presidential Address|url=https://twej.theiet.org/twej/WES_Vol_7.html|journal=The Woman Engineer|volume=7|issue=19 |pages=15–17}}</ref>

She wrote a number of articles for the WES journal called ''[The Woman Engineer](/source/The_Woman_Engineer)'', including one in 1935 reporting on a Shipping Engineering and Machinery Exhibition.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=1935|title=Shipping, Engineering and Machinery Exhibition|url=https://twej.theiet.org/twej/WES_Vol_4a.html|journal=The Woman Engineer|volume=4|issue=4 |pages=50, 52}}</ref> She also produced a report on the inauguration of the Marchwood Power Station at which Princess Margaret officiated.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=1957|title=The Inauguration of Marchwood Power Station by Her Royal Highness The Princess Margaret|url=https://twej.theiet.org/twej/WES_Vol_7.html|journal=The Woman Engineer|volume=8|issue=6 |pages=14–15}}</ref> She was appointed advertising manager of ''The Woman Engineer'' in 1953.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|date=1953|title=Editorial|url=https://twej.theiet.org/twej/WES_Vol_7.html|journal=The Woman Engineer|volume=7|issue=8 |pages=1}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Kathleen Cook married D H I Goodwin, a marine engineer, in 1957.<ref name=":4" />

She died in 1971 following a long illness.<ref name=":0" />

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Kathleen Mary}}
Category:1910 births
Category:1971 deaths
Category:British mechanical engineers
Category:Women's Engineering Society
Category:People from Wembley
Category:Presidents of the Women's Engineering Society
Category:20th-century English women engineers
Category:20th-century English engineers
Category:Engineers from London

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Kathleen Mary Cook](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Mary_Cook) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Mary_Cook?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.