The IEEE MTT-S Student Branch Chapter IIT Kanpur and the Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Kanpur organized the second edition of Women in Microwaves. The theme of this year was “Empowering Women through Engineering Education: Challenges and Opportunities.” It was an enlightening one-day event, celebrating the accomplishments and contributions of women engineers in various fields including administration, academia, and industry. Around 100 participants attended the event from various engineering colleges around the region. The session was inaugurated by the Director of IIT Kanpur, Prof. Abhay Karandikar, who emphasized the importance of promoting gender diversity and inclusivity in the engineering profession. The workshop featured six distinguished speakers who shared their inspiring journeys and invaluable insights into the world of engineering and the role of women in shaping its future. The highlight of the event was the talk delivered by distinguished civil servant, IAS Saumya Pandey (Additional Labour Commissioner U.P.) titled “Mission Shakti-Role of Women Administrators”. She spoke extensively about how her engineering acumen helped her frame public policies and initiatives like Mission Shakti and Prerna for the upliftment of women in underserved communities. Prof Rachna Asthana, Director of AITH Uttar Pradesh, took us through a journey from the first female Indian engineer to the remarkable progress made by current female engineers leading the world. Dr. Anwesha Khasnobish, Scientist in TCS Research, Kolkata, spoke about the importance of unobtrusive biomedical sensing for children and elders. Dr. Seema Awasthi, Senior Project Scientist, talked about the EMI/EMC testing procedures and facilities available here at IIT Kanpur. Dr. Sulekha Chattopadhyay, Zero Emission Transportation Engineer, CalEPA, USA, also joined us virtually and spoke about climate change and its impact on the environment, which is also the IEEE focus area for the year 2023.
Throughout the day, participants engaged in interactive sessions with the speakers. The closing remarks were given by Prof. Jasmin Grosinger, Vice Chair of the IEEE MTT-S WiM. The workshop proved to be a remarkable platform for empowering aspiring women engineers and creating a vibrant community committed to advancing the role of women in the engineering industry.
