in computer science decreased by 23 percent. The Afghan Girls Robotics Team made history in 2017, following their love of engineering and robotics to take part in the FIRST Global Challenge in Washington DC. Members of the team, aged 12 to 18, overcame war and other hardships in the quest for national pride and as a symbol of a more Progressive Afghanistan. But the overthrowing of the Afghanistan government by the Taliban in August 2021 left the girls on the team fearful for their safety. On 21 August 2021 it was reported that nine Afghan girl robotics team members were safe in Qatar, having made it out of Kabul. The girls on the team were offered scholarships at 'incredible universities' to pursue their careers in robotics and engineering. Terminology Although the terms engineer and engineering date from the Middle Ages, they acquired their current meaning and usage only recently in the nineteenth century. Briefly, an engineer is one who uses the principles of engineering – namely acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge – in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes. Some of the major branches of the engineering profession include civil engineering, military engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, computer engineering, and biomedical engineering. Inventors Before engineering was recognized as a formal profession, women with engineering skills often sought recognition as inventors. Tabitha Babbit (1784–1853?) was an American toolmaker who invented the first circular saw. Sarah Guppy (1770–1852) was an Englishwoman who patented a design for bridge foundations. Naval engineer Henrietta Vansittart (1833-1883) held patents across the world for the Lowe Vansittart propeller and was the first female to write, read, and illustrate her own diagrams and drawings for a scientific article presented at Association of Foreman Engineers and Draughtsmen. Mary Dixon Kies (1752–1837) was the first American woman to receive a patent for her method of weaving straw in 1809. 19th century: entry into technical professions With the coming of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, new technology-based occupations opened up for both men and women. Sarah Bagley (1806–?) is remembered not only for her efforts to improved working conditions for women mill workers in Lowell, Massachusetts, in the 1830s and 1840s, but also for being one of the earliest women to work as a telegraph operator. Mathilde Fibiger (1830–1872), a Danish novelist and advocate