Growing up, Maxine Fontaine knew she liked taking things apart and putting them back together. But it wasn’t until a women-in-engineering group from her local university (and future alma mater), the University of Texas at Austin, visited Fontaine’s high school that she was able to put a name to her interests: engineering. “This sounds perfect,” she thought.

Fontaine is now a teaching associate professor in mechanical engineering at Stevens, in the Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering and Science. She is also founder of Women in Mechanical Engineering (MECI), a Stevens group that brings women engineering students and faculty together to share experiences and mentoring.

“I was fortunate in not being met with some of the sexism and negativity that others have met in the field,” explains Fontaine. “I’ve been very lucky to have excellent male role models along the way, and I’ve never felt like because I was a woman I shouldn’t go into engineering. But I had heard stories from my friends about how they were discouraged in STEM because they were minorities. And sometimes, it’s just nice to talk to women who have similar viewpoints.”

Ava Wang ’25 has been active in Women in MECI and has mentored incoming freshmen through the group. She says she looks to Fontaine as an example of good teaching and leadership.

Like Fontaine, Wang came to engineering through a love of puzzles and problem-solving and was encouraged by mentors including her grandfathers, who were both engineers.

Wang took several of Fontaine’s classes, and the two have developed what each considers an informal mentorship. Fontaine has advised Wang on how to negotiate the dynamics of course group work and invited her to be a teaching assistant for her Statics class.

“It’s very evident to students when a professor deeply cares, and you can really tell that Dr. Fontaine deeply cares about her students,” says Wang, who serves on the Mechanical Engineering Student Advisory Council and on The Stute student newspaper.

Fontaine appreciates the student perspective Wang brings to their conversations. “I feel like I learn a lot from her,” says Fontaine. “By being open, she helps me to understand the student experience and hopefully helps me to be a better instructor.”

Fontaine, who won the Harvey N. Davis Distinguished Teaching Assistant Professor Award in 2020, says she’s heartened to see a growing presence of women in engineering classes at Stevens. “Compared to when I was going to school, the number has increased quite a bit,” she says. “For example, when I was an undergrad, there were a few classes where I was the only woman, or one of two, out of 50 to 80 students. In most of my classes now, there’s a critical mass of women.”

– Mary Zajac