At age 8 Dall’Armi built a crystal radio from instructions in a book. Fascinated by science and electronics she has avidly pursued a wide range of interests – engineering, design, aviation (flying – and owning – planes) as well as studying piano and making wine. Dall’Armi has packed her life with these diverse achievements. She is the epitomy of a renaissance woman.
Over a glass of wine, she relates her life story in her slightly accented English, pausing to seek the perfect words. She talks with her hands and laughs often. It is a deep, guttural laugh – absolutely contagious.
Dall’Armi’s life began in post-war Italy in a small town, Avezzano, west of Rome. Her father drove trucks, moving gravel to construction sites. Her mother and aunt were both seamstresses.
So, as a young girl, did she do “girly” things?
“There were dolls, but they were so static. They didn’t do anything.” Looking for more active pursuits, she discovered that she was good with her hands, proficient at drawing, persistent with challenges when other kids lost patience.
At her father’s construction sites Dall’Armi took careful mental note of the activities. At home she drew and then built houses out of cardboard from shoeboxes; making roofs, cutting windows so they opened and closed. “We didn’t have scotch tape back then. Glue was not available, and I didn’t have the patience for glue. My mom was a dressmaker. She had straight pins. I would put things together like this. Two pieces of shoebox cardboard and I would pin them… to make 3-dimensional objects so they would stand.”
She and her brother, Carlo, scrounged for everything to create three-dimensional models – the straight pins – wood from the firewood bin – rope for wire – nails purchased with sparse savings.“Most of my creations came from the fact that I didn’t have them. We didn’t have the money to buy them so if I really wanted something I had to make it.”
The family moved to Milan. Dall’Armi borrowed a book on how to make a radio. She chuckles, “Of course, I had to try to make a radio. I was looking for components trying to make the first radio, twisting wire together. It was a crystal radio so didn’t need a power source. The radio never did any more than crackle in sound but for me that was something.This was what sparked my life-long interest in science and electronics.”
Career options for women were very limited in Italy. Dall’Armi says, “I went by default to a course that tried to make a secretary out of me…knew there was another direction that I could go but girls weren’t doing that.” She described her fascination with technical “stuff”, describing a room at her school set up for teaching electricals – all the desks had knobs and needles and power supplies – for the boys.
At this point in her education the Dall’Armi family emigrated to Canada – London, Ontario. Getting a start here didn’t happen overnight – there were hurdles, language and money. “I had taken three years of French in middle school and one year of English in the technical institute. I was the translator for the whole family.”
Formal education was unaffordable. Dall’Armi, still interested in electricity/electronics, took correspondence courses. Pragmatically, she concluded that with her rudimentary grasp of English, she would do better in programs where the material could be read in advance with the help of the dictionary.
Her mechanical talents and ingenuity quickly became evident when she started to work. Her first job was spraying paint on novelties made of plaster. If the spray gun stopped working or if the compressor failed, she fixed them. She took on engineering projects including designing an assembly line for polyurethane molding and presses. “I learned all this stuff on my own, just reading books, doing math and it got better and better.” That job lasted fifteen years.
Without a degree, Dall’Armi struggled to get recognition of her expertise in engineering and design. She attempted photography – unsuccessfully. “I wasn’t very good at photography. Good technically but didn’t have the creativity. Sometimes people see this tree in the middle of the field and they take a picture and it is a piece of artwork. That wasn’t me.”
Trojan Technologies, looking for somebody with electrical knowledge for an engineering job, interviewed and hired Dall’Armi. Here she worked on ultraviolet technology, learned about microbiology, designed test equipment, learned how to calculate the applications and dosages. One of her designs is patented and itenhanced Trojan Technologies’ competitiveness in ultraviolet technology.
To put Dall’Armi’s accomplishment in context – only 12% of practicing engineers in Canada today are women (2016 stat from Engineers Canada). What Dall’Armi achieved through pure tenacity and native talent is extraordinary!
She continued her studies – math at Fanshawe College. “I was always afraid of what I didn’t know.” She wanted to pursue an engineering degree. The CEO at Trojan Technologies insisted that a degree in business management would be better for her career. “UWO was offering a 4-year degree program in business management. The company was willing to pay for it in full. So, for the next 4 years I worked on my Certificate in Management and graduated in 1995.”Dall’Armi worked for Trojan for 16 years.
As if work and studies were not fulfilling enough Dall’Armi devoted spare time (and money) to hobbies.
“I can fly…”
As a young child, on the train to Rome with her mother, Dall’Armi passed an airfield. She was entranced by the planes Dreaming that someday she would fly, she started building model airplanes – from scratch.
“We were living on the 7thfloor. There was an empty field behind – lots of space. I would build the planes out of shoe boxes again and I would fly them out of the balcony. Some … flew so well I had to go and get them to fly them again.
“I never give up on anything that is the thing…. what do you have to lose. Just try…. how is this thing made?”
Dall’Armi never did get to fly in Italy. Her gender dictated against the military and money was scarce. However, once in Canada, she had a demonstration ride in a Cessna. She asked what it would cost to learn to fly – $1200 – too much.
Years passed. Dall’Armi recalled that her manager at Trojan took her aside. “Vivian, every time you talk about airplanes your eyes twinkle. You are not getting any younger. You are making good money now. You have to do it now. Go do it now.”
In 1993 she went to a flying club for lessons. Unfortunately, she had myopia and wore contact lenses. An over-zealous ophthalmologist stalled her plans, saying she had problems with her eyes. It was two years before she found an ophthalmologist who cleared her, so she could pass her medical to solo. She took her flight test in 1996 and got her pilot’s licence.
The same year she bought her first plane. She had invested in her employer’s company and when it went public, she had money to buy a plane. A Piper Cherokee – $30K.was located in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. She took a commercial flight there with a friend and they flew the plane back.
A couple of years later she bought another plane. She briefly had a “fleet” – two airplanes. Unfortunately, her first plane required costly engine repair in order to sell it. But she was addicted. “You lose touch with the value of money. You still complain because a beer is $7 but blow $30K just like nothing or $1500 on a repair without even thinking. It didn’t make any sense.”
This was glaringly evident when she had an accident with her new plane. This plane had cost $100K. The nose wheel collapsed on landing. “The propeller was like moustaches, all curled up, and then there was damage on the body.” A pilot had to have 25 hours of experience on that model for the insurance to be fully effective. An instructor was working with her at the time. “We did a landing at a different speed and the gear didn’t lock. No warning that it hadn’t. As soon as the nose wheel touches….” Dall’Armi throws her hands in the air to finish the sentence. She had to pay for the repairs out of her own pocket – mortgaged her house.
And, she is still flying, although questioning the sanity, but it is an important part of her life.
How about a hobby she could work with year-round? Well, why not model trains? A friend asked her help to put a model train under his Christmas tree. She bought one for herself.
A co-worker and a friend offered to work on a layout and did all the heavy work. Dall’Armi supervised. Her town has a train station, a gas station, an oil refinery, a mine (that fills the train cars with coal), a vineyard. A church is in the plan.
Often, after working for a couple of hours, the guys run the trains. Dall’Armi’s satisfaction is in building things. There is, of course, the train station. There is a bar with flashing lights, an appliance shop with appliances and a sales rep and customer, a music store with a grand piano – all made from scratch.
Wine making had been a family tradition. Dall’Armi’s father thought that Canadian wine was terrible – when they arrived in Canada in 1967, it probably was. All the Italians made wine. The grapes were ordered from California in September and picked up at the railyard in London. Her father made the wine at home with his daughter’s help. Dall’Armi said, “I wasn’t going to stomp on the grapes. I designed a press to crush the grapes.” She bottles her own wine now from juice. Falling back on her work expertise she uses ultraviolet light to disinfect the bottles. She says her wine is getting better.
In Italy music was a big part of family gatherings. A violinist mesmerised Dall’Armi. The violin was magic – the bow caressed the strings and made all these beautiful sounds. A student violin was 8,000 liras so her mother told Dall’Armi that she would have to put off a purchase and lessons. Dall’Armi then tried to make a guitar. “I had a piece of flat stick – cut a front and a back out of cardboard – put strings – and a bridge – strings were made of yellow rope that wasn’t the usual twine – nailed. I didn’t know about frets. If tightened enough the strings would actually make a sound.” It wasn’t really music but Dall’Armi was delighted that she had figured out how a guitar worked.
She had started clarinet in a school program so could at least read notes on the treble clef! New neighbours in Milan had a beat-up upright piano. Dall’Armi looked for every excuse to visit and try to play. The piano was completely out of tune. “I fixed some keys that weren’t working properly. I took apart the whole thing and I found out why ….. some were because people lifted the stoppers and they came out of the little hole. Some of them the little leather strap was broken so I made a strap out of rope. It worked.”
Dall’Armi has never lost her dream of making music. Now a baby grand piano graces her living room. Reading music is still a challenge for her. She painstakingly learns the pieces like Chopin Mazurkas and waltzes by memory. It is a passion. “Sometimes we are all guilty of not playing for fun. This little waltz I am working on is not very well known. I just like it.”
Her music is an essential part of her life – a neighbour complained about her playing the piano in the evening. She sold that house and moved.
Beyond doubt, Dall’Armi will continue to explore and experiment. The common threads to her many interests – curiosity, determination, never say die – if you want something, make it happen!
A story that deserves much wider distribution, whether to high school students just wondering what their lives can be or for the general public on tv or screen.
This is such an amazing story Catherine. It should be used to show girls and women that anything is possible if you work hard enough at it.