The IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) awards program recognizes WIE members and WIE Affinity Groups who have made outstanding contributions to IEEE WIE, their community, and the engineering profession, through their dedication and involvement in projects or activities directed toward fulfilling the IEEE WIE goals and objectives. Women engineers are among some of the most distinguished contributors to the engineering profession.
2019 Inspiring Member Of The Year
Lucia Pia Torres (R9, Argentina Section)
“It inspires me to think that I can really be a Change Maker, and thanks to volunteering I was able to use my skills, knowledge and experience to use technology as an educational tool, for social inclusion, integration, diversity and community growth. I am inspired that, new leaders can be supported and empowered to emerge and develop, and with this shared vision, we can work together to create technology-based projects that can help the social and economic development of people.”
Honorable Mentions
- Octavia Dobre (R7, Newfoundland-Labrador Section)
- Chidimma Ijeoma Ibeh-Dimnwobi (R8, Nigeria Section)
2019 Inspiring Student Member Of The Year
Naila Mukhtar (R10, New South Wales Section)
“Throughout the past several years, Elena has substantially and consistently contributed to the expansion of the IEEE WIE in the R7. She tirelessly worked on organizing multiple local- and regional-level activities, which promoted women in STEM, increased visibility of WIE in Canada, and grew WIE membership base. Elena built teams of volunteers to facilitate proper administration of growing WIE activity in London Section and in R7.She has also approached every Canadian IEEE Section without active WIE engagement to encourage and help them start WIE groups or invigorate the dormant ones. In addition, she set a personal example of a strong and vibrant leader for the WIE Canada Chairs to follow. Despite her busy schedule as a doctoral student, Elena enthusiastically takes on leadership of large IEEE WIE events in her Region.
For example, she has organized the WIE Canada Congress in 2016, and in the beginning of 2018, she took on a journey of initiating and co-Chairing one of the most prominent events in the IEEE Canada WIE – the WIE ILS Toronto’18. This is the first Summit of this kind in Canada. She also introduced new IEEE awards and grants to support WIE leadership in sections and nominated her peers for the IEEE WIE awards to recognize their achievements. In her commitment to promoting women in STEM, Elena does not restrict herself only to the IEEE activities. She engages in a diverse range of outreach programs to the general community, throughwhich she promotes engineering to the public and advocates for the important role of women in this field.”
Honorable Mentions
- Juhaina Bilal Eljuhani (R8, Jordan Section) – Honorable Mention
- Feryel Ksiksi (R8, Tunisia Section) – Honorable Mention
2019 Affinity Group Of The Year
WIE Kerala Section Affinity Group (R10)
“When WIE come together with a collective intention, magic happens! So glad to have an amazing team that made us believe once again that hard work & coordination can accomplish anything. A journey indeed, we had a dream, we had a plan, we executed it and we won – all in together with some perseverance. The secret in winning as a team is the cooperation, coordination and commitment, with these traits embedded in each one of us, there is no doubt that our team has reached another great level of success. A feat achieved as a result of the congregation of a multitude of ideas and efforts from our strong student, YP, Professional, Senior and LMAG members from across the section. We are thankful to all our members for their unwavering support and encouragement “WIE” did it! Thank you all. -Team IEEE Kerala Section WIE AG 2018”
Honorable Mentions
- WIE Argentina AG (R9, Argentina Section)
- WIE Toronto AG (R7, Toronto Section)
2019 Student Branch Affinity Group Of The Year
WIE Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology BUET (R10, Bangladesh Section)
“We have experienced more than 600% rise in WIE members over the past four years since we started our journey and the work of WIE BUET SB AG has been quintessential in it. We are working towards creating a strong platform which will encourage girls to further their education in STEM fields and help women professionals to develop their skills. As a developing nation and home to the biggest refugee population, Bangladesh has many challenges and we want to bring women entrepreneurs, professionals, academics and female students together to develop sustainable technological solutions to our problems.”
Honorable Mentions
- WIE Macquarie University SBAG (R10, Australia Council)
- WIE Universidade Federal de Campina Grande UFCG SBAG (R9, Brazil Council)