It hasn't held her back - she is now one of IBM's few senior female engineers and recently won the Cisco Women In Technology award.

BBC: Women and tech: Why don't girls want to be geeks?

Mr. Clark, who is in his early 70s, started building Aviation Partners in 1991 by hiring veteran engineers like Louis "Bernie" Gratzer, his senior vice president of technology, who still goes to work daily at the age of 91.

WSJ: Air War: 'Winglet' vs. 'Sharklet'