Blog Spot June18
SCV Women in Engineering Showcase Their Presence at the IEEE Women in Engineering International Leadership Conference 2018
Every year we ask ourselves: “What can we do to support more women in technical and leadership roles in the technology industry?” Our members brainstorm various events that can help foster growth in women and exploit their potential. For this reason for the last three years in May, IEEE SCV WIE members partner with the IEEE WIE ILC organizing committee and support the event held at the San Jose Convention Center.
We shared our ‘Santa Clara Valley Women in Engineering’ vibe with the attendees and engaged in meaningful conversations regarding empowerment, innovation, emerging technologies as well as leadership. Through volunteering, we interacted with numerous women engineers who wanted to make a difference in the tech! We discussed their inspirations and shared the common vision of how we can change the world together.
What we came away with was more than we hoped. As our chair Liliane said at the end of the event “it is so rewarding to be part of the women engineering movement and see how the network grows as well as support the next generation of engineers to join the engineering community“.
As always, this year too we decided to offer a scholarship to students to attend the WIE-ILC conference. We received many impressive applications, and after careful consideration, 10 students were awarded full scholarship. SCV-WIE members, the conference chair, Nita Patel, and the students receiving the scholarship immortalized the moment in a photo shot.
Three of them, Stephanie, Nagalohitha and Zee, shared with us their experiences at the IEEE WIE ILC 2018 conference.
Stephanie Lin
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I am a currently a third year Electrical Engineering student attending UCSC. My passion is helping others to be a better and healthier version of themselves which relates to my goal working in a biomedical field, hoping to specialize in prosthetics.
What was your main motivation towards attending this conference?My main motivation was the fact that I never attended this conference before. I was curious about what I could learn and takeaway from this conference full of engineering professionals.
Tell us in three words, what does it take to be a successful engineer today?Being fearless, smart, and curious.
Most memorable talk from the conference and why?
Guy Kawasaki’s talk on the Art of Innovation was the most memorable because it was insightful and optimistic. Kawasaki gets straight to the point by numbering his advice in white text on black backgrounds. His first point of “Make meaning” stood out to me since sometimes we can get caught up with what others want that we forget our original purpose. His wise words applies to everyone, even students like me. I also appreciated his personal anecdotes which lifted everyone’s spirits during the conference as we laughed with him.
Nagalohitha Chandupatla
What was your motivation towards attending this conference?
It is a great platform for networking. I met many people from various companies and had a very good knowledge from experienced professionals. As a student I got to know many things that I am not aware of before. The sessions were also brilliant in motivating the listeners.
What are your three takeaways from this conference?
Confidence, Boldness, Interaction with Industry leaders
Most memorable talk from the conference and why?
Fearless Girl on Day1
Zee Moffatt
Tell us about yourself
I am a third year Robotics Engineering major from UC Santa Cruz. I am the current Outreach Officer and next year’s chair for the UCSC IEEE chapter. As an engineer I hope to one day work with autonomous systems or embedded hardware. Outside of the technical side of the field I am invested in the inclusion of queer and gender nonconforming people in engineering.
Tell us in three words, what does it take to be a successful engineer today?
Openness, Drive, Respect
Most memorable talk from the conference and why?
The national lab panels were fascinating to me as they gave a lot of insight into a side of research and engineering that you don’t hear about very often. It was especially interesting to hear from the people who had been in both private and public jobs on the differing internal structures and expectations along with the perceptions of their work.
Make sure to check out the WIE-ILC conference next year! There is a spot for any and all women who are inspired to change the world!