Angona Biswas
Vice-Chair, IEEE Chittagong University of Engineering & Technology (CUET) WIE AG SB
Greetings! I hope that those who are reading this are wholly safe and sound. I am Angona Biswas from Bangladesh. I am now at the final stage of pursuing a B.Sc degree. In this writing, I’m proceeding to share my voyage with WIE. In 2018, I learned about IEEE and after some probing, I discovered IEEE WIE. It astonished me to observe a community full of scholarly women. As a young woman, this was beyond me. In 2019, I decided to join IEEE as well as WIE. As a student member, I started to engage with our IEEE student branches. I observed that WIE is a global platform for women and provides an opportunity for networking with professional women like myself.
In 2020, I was elected as the Vice-Chair of the IEEE CUET WIE Student Branch Affinity Group which started my journey with WIE. I started to learn how to work with a team and encourage them to increase their efficiency, and how to organize or plan for technical programs. I found a group of enthusiastic members in my WIE Affinity Group that I was excited to work with. IEEE and IEEE WIE had given me diverse knowledge of the world and various opportunities. I tried my best to use IEEE and IEEE WIE organized scopes to elevate my profile a bit. Though we were confined in the pandemic situation, I got the courage from the exuberance of student branch members. We all together (IEEE and WIE branch members) celebrated “IEEE Day 2020” during the pandemic with the effectual virtual programs.
This year, I was elected as IEEE PES (Power and Energy Society) Day ambassador for WIE in the (Women in Power) category which was monumental for me. I, along with other PES Day ambassadors, Sirazam Munira and others, organized programs to celebrate PES Day. I must mention that the entire PES Day organizing team worked hard to make those events successful. I delightedly share that Professor Celia Shahnaz Ma’am and honorable speaker Dr. Surekha Deshmukh Ma’am enlightened that last program of the day. I always try to participate in WIE programs which help me gain lots of knowledge. I am always inspired when I hear the stories of other members in WIE making a difference. The stories of WIE scholars have the power to motivate positively for the betterment and innovation of humanity.
I want to encourage new WIE Student Members to engage in volunteer work. As an IEEE WIE Volunteer, I believe that WIE has no gender discrimination or other biases. In contrast, I’ve met with some enthusiastic and knowledgeable people. WIE has given me wonderful experiences and motivates me. IEEE WIE helped me to find an identity. I was once an introverted person who never spoke in public. I have since improved a lot and try to express the benefit of WIE and my knowledge to others. I encourage all women in IEEE to connect with this outstanding community and help build a strong network. Women in STEM can lead the next generation.
