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Wynd's Background |
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I received my bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1979 and my master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1981. After graduation I briefly worked as a licensing engineer for Bechtel Power Corporation in San Francisco before being laid off. Having just returned from a maternity leave in which I taught part time at Chabot Community College, I decided to pursue my career as a teacher. In 1983 I became a full time faculty member of the Engineering & Technology Department at City College of San Francisco. I was tenured in 1987. During a leave of absence from 1990 to 1992 I taught at the California Maritime Academy when they (under court order) were trying to diversify and sensitize their staff. I became a tenured faculty member there before I was run off on a rail for my feminist and anti-militarist views. I happily returned to City College. In my teaching career I have taught standard Engineering courses (Statics, Dynamics, Thermodynamics, Materials Science, Mechanics of Materials, Circuit Analysis, Drafting, Descriptive Geometry, AutoCAD and AutoLISP) in addition to courses in Physics, Math and Computer Science. In 2003 I took a sabbatical leave and worked for a small engineering consultant firm to develop their data management capabilities. Among other projects, I was responsible for the design, implementation and maintenance of their Engine and Emissions Performance Database. The experience taught me that databases are an underutilized tool for engineers. My primary interest outside of work is
nonviolent activism. My focus had been on
Palestine where I worked as a human rights
volunteer as part of the International
Solidarity Movement and the International
Women's Peace Service. I co-founded
a small non-profit called the Friends of
Deir Ibzi'a in July 2002 whose mission is
to support Palestinians in their nonviolent
resistance to the Israeli Occupation by raising
money for scholarships for students. On my
sabbatical in 2012 I completed the second year
of college Arabic and was set to return.
But the Israeli's detained me, denied me entry
and deported me because I wanted to go to
Palestine. (See my Palestine blog for more
information about this.) Someday, I will return,
Inshallah! Currently I am very active in the faculty union
at CCSF and in the Save CCSF
Coalition. |
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