FESTx – An awareness session on IEEE Women in Engineering
August 16, 2020 · 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM @ Online event
Description
FESTx is session organized to create awareness on Women in Engineering among the undergraduates of university of Moratuwa, mainly focusing on the freshers. FESTx was mainly carried out with the intentions of promoting WiE and its functions, gathering a larger volunteer base and boosting morale of the current volunteers and members. The event was started by giving the participants a sneak peek from the past events conducted by IEEE WiE Affinity Group of University of Moratuwa, such as Robotics workshop, Raspberry Pi workshop, Blossoming Smiles and HackDown .Then , a presentation was done by Miss Shakyani Jayasiriwardena, the former chair of IEEE WiE Student Branch Affinity Group of University of Moratuwa. She shared her journey with WiE, what she achieved and how WiE helped her to build herself up to become a confident and able woman engineer. Coming from a person with firsthand experience, her speech was really inspiring to all the participants. Next was the most awaited segment, a panel discussion with some women engineers who has climbed up the ladder successfully under the guidance and influence of WiE. Dilrukshi Gamage IEEE R10 Membership Development Committee IEEE R10 Student Development Committee Former Secretary, IEEE Sri Lanka Section Former Vice-Chair, IEEE WiE Sri Lanka Section Rasara Samarasinghe Vice-Chair, IEEE WiE Sri Lanka Section Treasurer, IEEE PES Sri Lanka Chapter Miss Yasumi Wickramasinghe Executive Committee member for IAS Strategic Initiatives 2020 Country lead for IEEExtreme 12.0 Former Secretary, IEEE CS Chapter of University of Moratuwa Miss Ayomi Gunasekara Event Chair, IEEE Techno Meetup 2019/2020 University Ambassador, IEEE SL Inspire 2019/2020 The panelists shared their views on how WiE can upgrade a woman’s career in STEM, quoting their personal experiences. They elaborated how WiE can help in creating new connections, building personality and finding opportunities. The session was very interactive as the participants also forwarded numerous questions to the panel members. Most of the questions were about how to join and excel through WiE, and the panelists explained how they first joined as undergraduates and moved up by being vigilant for all the opportunities that came in their way. FESTx was concluded with a quiz which was conducted to test how interactive and engaged the participants were with the session. It was delightful to see how enthusiastic the participants were, and how much they have absorbed from the session. FESTx was the first WiE awareness session conducted online by IEEE WiE Affinity Group of University of Moratuwa. It was beyond successful as the participant count exceeded 75 and comprised of both male and female crowd, disregarding the myth that WiE is only for females. It was indeed successful in creating awareness and inspiring young engineers to join and support WiE, in the journey of creating opportunities and platforms for women engineers to achieve their highest potential and be successful in STEM careers.
Agenda
Welcome Address - Miss Tharani Karunathilake (Chair, WiE AG of UOM) Sneak peek (Past events) Guest Speech - Miss Shakyani Jayasiriwardena Panel Discussion Q & A Game for Participants Vote of Thanks - Miss Dinithi Amarasinghe (Secretary, WiE AG of UOM)