Dear Members,
Welcome to our December IEEE WIE Newsletter.
Congratulations to 2024 IEEE WIEC Chair-Elect, Winnie Ye and 2024 IEEE WIEC Treasure, Neeli Prasad
IEEE WIE Membership and AG Status
There were 45,783 WIE Members as of December 2023, a 17.1%+ increase in WIE membership Year-over-Year (YoY). There are 1200+ WIE Affinity Groups and WIE Student Branch Affinity Groups as of November 2023, and 50+ new WIE AGs formed in 2023 compared to 37 in 2022.
A Recap of Important IEEE WIE Happenings
There were 4255 WIE events in vTools from Jan-Dec 2023.
The first IEEE WIE Summit at IEEE FUTURE NETWORKS WORLD FORUM (FNWF) 2023
The first IEEE WIE summit was organized as part of the IEEE Future Networks World Forum. IEEE WIE was the technical co-sponsor of the event. This was an in-person event being held at “Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbour”, Baltimore Maryland USA during Nov 13-15, 2023. The theme for the WIE summit this year is “Game Changers for Sustainable Future Networks: Collaborative Research, Open Innovation, & Open Source”. There were Keynote talks. Panels, Pecha Kucha talks, and networking events in the summit and co-organized/partnered by women in several technical societies, such as ComSOC, CAS, RS, VTS, etc. Access the details here.
IEEE WIE Family Cares Grant Program
The new IEEE WIE Family Cares Grant Program (FCGP) Fund was established by the IEEE Foundation in January 2023. The FCGP is a program highlighted in the IEEE Foundation 50th Anniversary Celebration. In the whole year 2023, IEEE WIE has worked for the establishment of the FCGP to support persons of any gender with primary responsibility for caring for family members (children, seniors, partner) to attend IEEE conferences. This grant is independent of receiving any other funds from IEEE such as a travel grant, as the FCGP serves a different purpose for the applicant. To date, the IEEE Foundation has received a $5,000 USD lead gift dedicated to this program. The FCGP motion was approved in the IEEE MGA 2023 November Board meeting for launching it in January 2024. The IEEE Foundation and WIE can now begin to actively pursue donations for this Fund in earnest.
IEEE WIE Distinguished Lecturers Program
IEEE WIE Distinguished Lecture(DL) Program is launched in collaboration with 13 technical Societies/Councils, such as CAS, ComSoc, CS, EDS, EMC, GRSS, IES, I&M, NPS, SC, SIT, SSCS and SYS). More than 30 distinguished lecturers have consented to offer their time and talent to speak virtually at IEEE WIE Affinity Groups. IEEE WIE hopes that the wealth of knowledge these DLs posses will help enrich WIE AG events and strengthen IEEE WIE’s endeavor to provide support to its members.
IEEE WIE Regional Meet and Greet Networking Events 2023
IEEE WIE regional meet and greet networking events at IEEE R9 RSR Rio, IEEE TENCON, WIE ILS R8 Morocco, 2023, WIE ILS Detroit, WIE ILS Karachi, WIE ILS ALLAHABAD, WIE ILS Visakhapatnam, and IEEE WIECON-ECE, Kerala, India for resource sharing and networking.
As Chair of IEEE WIE, I conducted a brief training session in each of the meet and greet networking events focusing on capacity building for the regional WIE AG Chairs and WIE members by embracing the program values offered by IEEE WIE.
IEEE WIE Climate Tech Big Idea Pitch Competition
IEEE WIE Climate Tech Big Idea Pitch Competition with a theme “Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability” was successfully conducted in two stages – 60 total submissions were received from the following regions: R1-1, R5-1, R8-13, R9-1, and R10-44. Five winners (3 R10, 1 R5, 1 R8) were selected out of 20 finalists (14 R10, 4 R8, 1 R9, 1 R5).
This competition is Sponsored by IEEE Life Members Committee and an industry SmartWTI. The vision behind this competition was to promote the growth of women-led startups in technical fields.
IEEE WIE Forum USA East
The IEEE WIE East forum held on 26-28 October 2023 in Pittsburgh, attracted 250 registrations, 25 exhibitor and career fair tables including a IEEE WIE booth. The WIE Chair (myself) provided a keynote and the IEEE WIE Regional Representatives arranged a meet and greet for the Affinity Group Chairs from Regions 1, 2, and 3 who were in attendance at the event. IEEE WIE presented the inaugural IEEE Women in Technology and Leadership Award to Noel Schulz . Please visit website including the final Schedule and the downloadable full Program Book to know more details about the Forum.
IEEE WIE and IEEE EAB Partnership
IEEE WIE organized the first Girls in STEM Panel during the IEEE STEM Summit, 24-27 October 2023.
IEEE WIE STEM Grant Program (IEEE WIE is sponsoring up to $1,000) with IEEE TryEngineering is launched for engaging IEEE WIE members in the STEM outreach programs, Please apply.
IEEE WIE and IEEE SA Partnership
A Panel: Women in Standardization was conducted during IEEE Standards Association(SA) General Meeting , Shenzhen, China, Nov 6, 2023.
IEEE WIE’s participation in IEEE Foundation LinkedIn Poll and Giving Tuesday
The IEEE Foundation executed four (4) LinkedIn polls during October 2023. IEEE WIE as part of the Future Piller was one of the programs featured in the poll. The WIE poll launched on Wednesday, October 18th and closed on Wednesday, October 25th. With 71% of the vote, IEEE WIE won the poll and will be receiving the $5,000 grant. Thanks every one to make IEEE WIE win!
IEEE WIE kicked off The Giving Tuesday campaign on Nov 15th. IEEE WIE provided a great outreach strategy and work on its fundraising page securing $4,500.
IEEE WIE Revitalization program
IEEE WIE AG revitalization program She Thrives is launched, -mentored 7 out of 11 section WiE AGs and recommend them to MGA to be out of dissolution
IEEE WIEC and IEEE LMC Partnership
IEEE WIEC in partnership with IEEE Life member committee (LMC) launched a pilot mentoring Program in a hybrid mode for all the WIE members and students organized by IEEE WIE Hyderabad section during IEEE R10 PES CHAPTERS ANNUAL GLOBAL WORKSHOP- 4th Edition at Hyderabad, India on 25th November, 2023. A wide range of eminent speakers including Life members (LM)s shared their insights and offered guidance to the participants. Such mentoring programs are being planned in Kerala, Bangalore, Madras , Singapore and Pittsburg targeting revival and retention of activities.
IEEE WIE ILC
The 2023 WIEC Future of the IEEE Women in Engineering International Leadership Conference ( ILC ) Ad Hoc Committee was created by the 2023 IEEE WIE Chair (myself) in Consultation with MGA VP and MGA Secretary in early May 2023, with MGA Vice Chair, Member Development as the Chair of the Ad-Hoc Committee.The committee held teleconferences and in-person meetings with past ILC chairs, MCE, MGA leadership & staff. After many internal discussions and meetings, a document consolidating the discussions held between different stakeholders of the WIE ILC over the past few months led by the Ad hoc committee and the gist of the meetings held by the Ad-Hoc was prepared. It was reported to IEEE WIEC monthly teleconference on NOV 30, 2023 by the adhoc committee Chair. The adhoc committee has come out with recommendations and working timelines from Dec 2023 through the whole 2024 for organizing successful IEEE WIE ILC by the IEEE WIEC in 2025.
IEEE WIE ILS
IEEE WIE International Leadership Summits (ILS)s at Asunción, Paraguay (R9), Detroit, Michigan, USA (R4), Ifrane, Morocco(R8), Visakhapatnam, India (R10) and Auckland, New Zealand (R10) were successfully organized. Special events related to climate change and clean energy were conducted in almost all ILSs. In Morocco and Allahabad ILSs, Special training on IEEE Standards were held with a view to encourage more women in Standards development in future.
IEEE WIE Manga Stories
Manga Comic released: Riko-chan:Cybersecurity Engineer & Riko-chan: Aeronautical Engineer.
IEEE WIE eNewsletter for the AG/SBAG
Created eNewsletter for the AG/SBAG, launched in November 2023, provided WIE AG/SBAG Chairs with key info about:
Future IEEE WIE Events/Opportunities
2024 Funds and Grants
Launched the call for: 2024 WIE Special Funding and 2024 Travel Grant Program, (January-March 2024). Please apply and advance your career!
Webinar for IEEE WIE Advancement
For Promoting and training WIE members in their career advancement, the webinar titled
Am I qualified to be Considered for an IEEE Fellow? will be held on January 11. Please join and embrace the opportunity!
Thank you all for your extraordinary contributions to IEEE WIE!
Celia Shahnaz