Humans of IEEE WIE – Celia Desmond

Humans of IEEE WIE highlights a dedicated WIE volunteer who is well known for his/her notable contribution to IEEE WIE.

This issue, we feature Celia Desmond.

IEEE WIE: Please give us a brief introduction about yourself and your family.

Hi. I am Celia Desmond. I served as the Technical Activities Board (TAB) Representative to IEEE WIE in 2017. I have been on the IEEE Board of Directors multiple times, including twice as Division Director, as Region Director (for Canada, Region 7) in 2000-2002, as VP of Technical Activities 2006, Secretary 2007 and 2012, as well as President of Communications Society in 2003-2004.

I have worked mainly in telecommunications, but I started out teaching first kindergarten, then high school math, and finally at multiple universities. I can say that I truly enjoyed all of these employments. Within IEEE I have held many roles, at the local and international level. Involvement in WIE has allowed me to meet many VERY impressive women engineers! For the past two years, I have made a major direction shift opening a shop to sell my award-winning hand-painted and costumed porcelain dolls – some modern and most reproductions of antique porcelain dolls. But I will likely return as well to my previous work but also continue my artistic hobby. I have three children. The youngest now has 2 of his own, 7 and 3 years old. I enjoy working with math and geometry with them.

Based on the success that I see WIE is having bringing in wonderful women to active roles in IEEE, where they are forming positive relationships with other engineers, I am using this successful Affinity Group as an example of ways IEEE can also reach out to other areas, such as industry.

IEEE WIE: What is your specific area of STEM?

My areas have included both technology for telecommunications, and also project management.

IEEE WIE: Please tell us something interesting about your life that may be why you chose the STEM field.

In all my studies growing up I enjoyed math, and also making things. Although I was told that girls should go into teaching or nursing, I knew that I would teach, but that this was not my end goal as I loved the math, generally coming top in my classes. So for my first degree I majored in math. I was very lucky to find that it was possible to do a masters degree in engineering from this point.

IEEE WIE: As an empowered woman, please share how you plan to empower other women. How do you encourage them to take leadership positions?

I meet many women who are very capable of performing well in leadership positions. I try to show them that these positions can be fun, and that they have the skills and abilities to both enjoy them, and to learn by doing this work. IEEE is a good starting point for leadership experience and IEEE is very welcoming of women in leadership positions.

IEEE WIE: How do you think diversity and inclusion help in boosting creativity and better problem-solving strategies?

Problem solving involves considering multiple possible solutions and evaluating these to determine which might work best in given situations. Diversity brings more perspectives to the table, to make the considerations much richer – presenting more possible working solutions.

IEEE WIE: In your opinion, how can everyone ensure that technological advancements are used for the betterment of humanity?

This is a tough question. Technological advancements bring both benefits and problems to the table. This then requires considerable thought and planning to ensure that the new technology can be used to better humanity, and that any problems it brings can be solved in a positive way. Background, knowledge and leadership all play a role to ensure that the developers and users will design and use the new technologies for the benefit of mankind and the world.

IEEE WIE: What is one piece of advice you can give to young professionals who are IEEE WIE members?

Young professionals have the energy to do many things. They are bright, sometimes brilliant, so they can impact their own future and that of the world. My advice is to keep this in mind, and step up to make good things happen. Use your skills, time and energy to make the world a better place. You are the ones to do this. It won’t happen without you. IEEE is a great place to start, working with others with the same goals.

IEEE WIE: How do you challenge the status quo or how do you identify problems in your field and propose solutions to bring positive changes?

Even when things are going well, there is always room for improvement. Ask yourself and others questions – what’s working for you, what’s not working, what could be better with some tweaking. This will help clarify the problems and open the door to considering solutions.

Don’t give up when the first challenges start to emerge. Focus on the overall direction, and look into solutions that can help move in that direction.

IEEE WIE. An empathetic leader helps promote a better work environment. Would you agree?

Absolutely. One of the main requirements of a good leader is the understanding of the followers and how to bring them on board. Empathy is needed to do this well.