The IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) Affinity Group of the Year Award is given annually to one IEEE WIE Affinity Group that has shown outstanding leadership and initiative in organizing activities. The award is based on programs that took place during the period of 1 January to 31 December of the preceding year.
Schedule
The 2025 Awards submissions window is now closed. It will reopen January 2026 for the 2026 Awards Program.
Scope
A WIE Affinity Group cannot receive this award more than once every three years (as a general rule).
Basis Of Selection
- Quality of activities and programs sponsored/co-sponsored by the WIE Affinity Group
- Quantity of activities and programs
- The number of participants at regular meetings and other activities and programs
- Demonstrations of outreach programs to young women
- The number of people served by the outreach
- Communication with its members
- Growth of WIE Affinity Group membership
- WIE Affinity Group website (if available)
The above criteria take into account that IEEE WIE Affinity Groups vary in size and resources. In reviewing the number of participants in meetings, etc., the IEEE WIE Committee will take into consideration the percentage of participants from the available pool of members and individuals who could be served.
Selection Committee
- The winner will be recommended by the IEEE WIE Awards Subcommittee and approved by the IEEE WIE Committee.
Prize
- Certificate of Recognition
- US$500 subsidy for future activities
- Appointment of the WIE Affinity Group’s Chair to the WIE Committee from 1 January of the proceeding year to 31 December of the same.
Instructions & Guidelines For Award Nominations
Nominators can submit nominations, endorsers can upload endorsement letters all within the online system.
Please email wie-award@ieee.org if you have any questions about this award or the IEEE WIE Awards process.
2024 WIE Affinity Group of the Year 
Winner: WIE Hyderabad (R10)
The WIE Affinity Group of IEEE Hyderabad Section is inspired by its mission to empower women engineers through innovative programs that foster leadership, mentorship, and professional growth. This recognition as the WINNER of 2024 IEEE Women in Engineering Affinity Group of the Year highlights our commitment to making a meaningful difference in the lives of women in technology. – Dr. S. Harivardhagini, CHAIR, WIE AG IEEE Hyderabad Section.
Honorable Mention: WIE Egypt (R8)
Honorable Mention: WIE Madras (R10)
Winner: WIE Bangalore (R10)
“WIE Bangalore Affinity Group exemplifies IEEE Women in Engineering objectives. Our vision is to create a vibrant and dynamic WIE group while increasing our national and global visibility. We have been in existence for about 14 years and have grown to be the largest affinity group with over 3000 members across the state of Karnataka, India. We believe in collaboration and work with our sister groups, sections, and technical chapters to create events that Illuminate, Educate, Engage, and Energize. We support skill building & leadership of our members and in our community. WIE Bangalore takes its inspiration from and celebrates its many tech leaders who have championed the cause for Women in STEM and in the workforce.”
Honorable Mention
- WIE Kerala (R10)
- WIE Lahore (R10)
WIE Panama Section Affinity Group (R9)
Honorable Mention: WIE Northeast Brazil Section Affinity Group (R9)
Honorable Mention: WIE Turkey Section Affinity Group (R8)
Winner (pictured): WIE Ecuador (R9)
We are aware that women are still underrepresented in engineering and science careers worldwide, we are inspired to promote the active participation of professional and student IEEE WIE members in projects that allow girls and young people to be involved in STEM activities. Receiving the 2021 WIE Affinity Group of the Year Award is a commitment to continue working in volunteering. As a team we join efforts to develop activities, projects and events that generate an impact on our society and this recognition shows us that dedicating our time to increase the participation of women in engineering and science careers is important.
Honorable Mention: WIE Toronto Section (R7)
Honorable Mention: WIE Italy Section (R8)
WIE Ottawa AG (R7, Ottawa Section)
“Winning the 2020 WIE Affinity Group of the Year Award is so inspiring, making the experience with IEEE WIE Ottawa unforgettable. One of the greatest things that inspires my team and I to organize activities as part of IEEE WIE Ottawa initiatives is the feedback from WIE Ottawa members as well as non-members. It is magnificent to receive thank you messages from attendees of our seminars and workshops of how our activities help them in their professional development, whether it is getting a new job, learning new things, or as simply as doing the school work. We try to be as accessible as possible to deliver high quality seminars and workshops throughout the year as well as collaborate with other IEEE and non-IEEE groups to raise awareness of IEEE WIE Ottawa. It is personally amazing for me to see how through these collaborations and outreach activities the team grows with time, giving me the accomplishment feeling.”
Honorable Mentions
- WIE Argentina Section Affinity Group (R9)
- WIE Malaysia Section Affinity Group (R10)
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)
IEEE WIE London AG
One of the most significant accomplishments of IEEE London WIE was the increase in the WiE London Membership in 2017 (almost ~40% increase). We reached out many students and IEEE members through the annual Electrical and Computer Engineering Departmental symposium of the University of Western Ontario with providing a booth where they could stop by and get pamphlets, advertising goods and talk to one of our executive members and gain information about WiE objectives and goals, membership, perks and benefits and other related information. It was a very successful 2-day event where we promote WiE membership which results is significant membership increase. Increase in the number of activities (13 activities in 2017) with the variety of technical, professional and social events was another great achievement of IEEE London WIE affinity group. We were very successful in organizing events with the current trend technology topic and professional development events. We gain lots of great feedbacks from the attendees. Out team were highly motivated to provide the best experience for our members and to improve the quality of the events to attract more members to participate and, in fact, increase in the number of attendees was another achievement of our section WIE in 2017.
Honorable Mentions
- IEEE WIE Toronto AG
- IEEE WIE Honduras AG
- Winner: IEEE WIE Higher Institute of Applied Science and Technology of Sousse (ISSAT Sousse) SBAG
- Honorable Mention: IEEE WIE University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering SBAG
- Honorable Mention: IEEE WIE Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women SBAG
