Humans of IEEE WIE highlights a dedicated WIE volunteer who is well known for his/her notable contribution to IEEE WIE.
IEEE WIE: Please give us a brief introduction about yourself and your family.
I am Jyothi Ramaswamy, from Kerala in India, and am an Electronics and Telecommunication Engineer with a master’s in Software Systems. I am a Cyber Security SME and have 28 years of experience in the IT Industry and also Academia. Teaching is my passion and I contribute as a trainer/speaker at IEEE conferences and in various academic institutions. I am working as a freelance Cyber Security Consultant / Trainer now.
I was the founder chair of the WIE Kerala Section, which was the first WIE Affinity Group in Region 10. Along with being the founder chair of WIE, I was also part of the then WIE Committee, for 4 years.
In addition, I was the treasurer for the WIE committee in the year 2023.
My husband is Ramaswamy, he is from a finance background and is also from Kerala. We have a daughter, Krishnaveni, who has completed her master’s in Law and is looking for an opportunity in Data Privacy Law or Intellectual Property Law in the UK. Our daughter is married to Jismon who is an Engineering graduate, also looking for the right job in the UK. Currently, both of them are working in temporary jobs.
My father retired as Chief Engineer from Kerala State Electricity Board. Seeing him work in generating stations and in transmission stations was the motivation for me to take up studies in engineering. I am the eldest of 3 daughters of my parents, both my sisters are doctors. My mother was and is a home maker without whose support 3 of us could not have come into professional careers.
IEEE WIE: What is your specific area of STEM?
I have completed Engineering studies, and had taken up a STEM sponsored project from IEEE Foundation, when I was the WIE Chair of Kerala Section. WIE team had supported multiple schools in setting up science labs and had also provided training in communication and personality development.
I used to motivate students to become ingenuine professionals and learn to upgrade their skills on an ongoing manner and grow in their science, engineering career.
Currently I am working in Cyber Security domain, which is the backbone of all business domains, and all facets of life.
IEEE WIE: Please tell us something interesting about your life that may be why you chose the STEM field.
While in my school, Biology was a topic, which was very difficult for me. There were only 2 options if studies that were expected of us back then, which was Engineering and Medical studies. I chose engineering to escape from Biology, but once I started the studies I got immersed in the same.
When I was studying in college, I used to wonder about the efforts put in by our teachers and professors and had thought that I am not fit to become a teacher, but fate made me start my career as a teacher for diploma courses and vocational courses. After the initial hiccups, I started enjoying teaching and teaching became a passion for me.
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 am a mentor in my workplace, and also work as volunteer in WIE, She Leads Tech (of ISACA), and Women Inclusive in Technology (WIIT) groups. I keep working with girl students, women in the early careers in providing guidance and support in career progression.
I share my knowledge by offering guidance and mentorship to younger women in engineering field. I always work towards promoting collaboration by making women support each other’s work.
Having been instrumental in handling inspire sessions in my organization and also in colleges, the main guidance that is given is how contribution in professional bodies help one gather confidence and make one empowered. I always ask the women members of my team to have clear focus in their careers and motivate them to become achievers.
As we know, empowering women is a continuous process, we need to work on creating a ripple effect of support and opportunity. I work towards creating such a chain of support in enabling women professionals, generation after generation, to get the required guidance.
IEEE WIE: How do you think diversity and inclusion help in boosting creativity and better problem-solving strategies?
Yes, definitely. Diverse teams bring together people with different backgrounds, experiences, and varied ways of thinking. Women and men complement each other’s creativity and this variety leads to a wider range of ideas and approaches to problems. We can facilitate diverse teams to challenge each other, leading to a clearer evaluation of existing solutions and identify doors to entirely new possibilities.
I always encourage male members of the team also to become spokespersons for women empowerment, this helps in all respecting the diverse ideas and contributions.
IEEE WIE: In your opinion, how can everyone ensure that technological advancements are used for the betterment of humanity?
Technology is improving keeping the needs of users in mind. IEEE Code of Ethics covers all the steps one should follow to ensure an innovation or an invention is completed with the intention of betterment of Humanity.
I ensure that we read IEEE Code of Ethics in all IEEE events, wherever this is not possible I point the audience towards this so that the intention of any discovery / creativity is clear in everyone’s minds.
IEEE WIE: What is one piece of advice you can give to young professionals who are IEEE WIE members?
IEEE Membership gives the value of membership only is we volunteer in the local sections, regions. I always share my experience and the experience of others from our local section to motivate the young professionals in contributing as volunteers.
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?
I always direct my learning towards Guidelines, Processes and learnings from industry benchmarks like IEEE standards, ISO standards, NIST standards etc. These guidelines definitely will provide help in getting solutions to all engineering problems.
We are taught to read between lines, beyond lines for finding the solutions, and are taught to challenge the easiest looking solution by bringing in alternative solution.
I try to motivate all professionals – students and early career – to use internet for gathering as much information as possible to understand the problem in hand. We ask the students to have debates around articles in Spectrum and other IEEE journals.
IEEE WIE: An empathetic leader helps promote a better work environment. Would you agree?
Yes definitely. Empathy is something which is the basic quality one needs to become a good leader. If one is a good leader, one can promote an enriched work environment where contributions from everyone will be appreciated.