Issue 23 - October 201 6

INWES Member Newsletter
Contents

President's Message
After the heat of the summer, we can feel the cool

Meanwhile the African Regional Network (ARN)

autumn breeze filling the air as it does every year,

regional conference has been postponed, but is inhere in Korea. I hope all of you have had a happyplanning to take place in Yaounde, Cameroon, inand relaxing summer from which you have returned

201 7, hosted by AFISC (Association Des Femmes

recharged and ready for the remaining days of theIngenieurs et Scientifiques au Cameroun). The theme

year.

of the conference will be “Expand horizons, overcome
obstacles and take up the challenges of a Women’s

The last few months have been full of activity. We

Digital Observatory (Veille Numerique Feminine) in

had a successful and enjoyable 201 6 meeting of theAfrica”. Please stay tuned for further information.

Asia and Pacific Nation Network (APNN - Chair,
Kayoko Sugahara) on 1 8th to 1 9th August in

INWES hopes that the seed for women’s solidarity in

Wellington, New Zealand. The 201 6 APNN meeting

African

was held in conjunction with the “Diversity in Action

organisation in the meantime; and that the ARN

Africa will be cultivated through the activities of the
Women

in

ScienceandEngineering

President's Message 1
INWES Member News 2
APNN Conference 8
Making Herstory 9
Upcoming Events 1 1
About INWES 1 3
Contact INWES 1 3

Events201 6 INWES Board meeting with DIB

2 - 3 November 201 6, Munich, Germany

Summit”, hosted by the Institution of Professional

meeting in 201 7 will serve as a forum for meeting

INWES Europe Constitutional meeting

Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) - a professional

regional problems with the collective wisdom of ourwith DIB

body for engineers, dedicated to building a strong andAfrican members.

4 November 201 6, Munich, Germany

trusted engineering profession in New Zealand. The
meeting and programmes were very well-organized

201 6 Regional Conference with DIB

and enjoyed by APNN participants from eight

Please mark your calendars for the INWES Regional
Conference which will be held from 4 th to 6 th

countries who actively contributed in presentations

November in Freising, Germany - hosted by theand discussions. We all learned a lot about New

German Association of Women Engineers (DIB -Zealand. Did you know that New Zealand was theDeutscher Ingenieurinnenbund). Freising is close to

ICWES 1 7

first country to allow women to vote in 1 893? It was

Munich, Germany, for those of you trying to make3 - 5 October 201 7, New Delhi, India.

also

travelwonderfultoexperience

New

Zealand’splans.

Under

the

theme

4 - 6 November 201 6, Munich, Germany
INWES ARN Meeting

Postponedof “Science,

beautiful natural environment and the influence ofKnowledge, Power,” these meetings will be held innative Maori culture.

conjunction with the Annual Conference of DIB, whichcelebrates its 30th anniversary this year. We arefor the year 2020. Since 1 964, many different

My heartfelt thanks to the President of IPENZ, Elenadelighted to share that this meeting has been

have successfully hosted the triennial event. By

Trout; the Organizing Chair, Tracey Ayre; and all

patronized by the United Nations Educational,

hosting ICWES,IPENZ members for organizing such a memorable

Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), who

benefit from a great opportunity to gain

event. It is inspiring to see how the ongoing activities

will be supporting travel awards for participants frominternational and national recognition,of APNN, which is the first Regional Network of

Africa. We appreciate Sylvia Kegel of DIB for all her

build

competence through the exchange of

INWES, are establishing solid close links between

efforts in preparing the UNESCO application, as wellideas

and themembers - providing members with the diverse

as in organizing the Regional Conference;andparticipants who will be travelling to yourperspectives we need to solve the problems our world

INWES members, including Monique Moutaud, forcountry from around the world. Please visit our

faces, and facilitating collaborations withinregional

supporting this UNESCO application. The new

INWES website (www.inwes.org) for more

networks as well as between members worldwide.

regional network, INWES Europe, will be chartered at

information.

We are cultivating "collective wisdom" to meet thethis regional conference. Members of INWES Europeorganizations from various parts of the world
your organization

shared passions

would
and

of theturbulence of the modern world, and improving ourhave had several meetings in Geneva, London, andThe current INWES board has reached thesocieties by extending our horizons to maximize

Krakow for developing the underlying framework andbeginning of its third year already. The board

diversity and openness. One of the speakers at therealizing INWES Europe. We look forward to seeing

has been working hard to promote committee

the many activities

activities,

201 6 APNN meeting emphasized theplace of

INWES Europe will undertake

which

includeConference,

wisdom in our modern complex society by saying,and I am sure they will take the lead in networking

Membership & Recruitment, Communications,“Dataamong women scientists and engineers in Europe.

Advocacy, and Regional Networks. We thank

is

not

information,

information

is

not

those of you who have volunteered and joined

knowledge, and knowledge is not wisdom”. We
anticipate that this APNN journey to wisdom will

I hope that you are already making travel plans toin our endeavor. If you have not had ancontinue on to Yokohama, Japan in July 201 7 andIndia for next year’s ICWES1 7. Please look out foropportunity to take part in these activities, it isbeyond.

more information in the coming months. INWES has

not too late to start now. If your company iscirculated a call for proposals on hosting ICWES1 8

not a member yet, why not try to join in ascorporate members or sponsors of INWES.

you can send your ideas and suggestions to info@inwes.org.

I’d like to highlight that you may want to contact the UNESCO National

By collaborating with each other, sharing our experiences, and learning from one

Commission in your country and seek support for the activities of youranother, through INWES, we can expand our activities, pursue change moreorganization as a member of INWES. You can use the INWES factsheet toeffectively, and make a global impact - building a better world for the next

advocate for your organization and INWES. It is good time to raise awareness ofgeneration of women in STEM.

your activities as women in science and engineering, because the United
Nations, UNESCO and the G7 have all expressed the importance of supportinggirls and women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM);
and are currently developing programmes and projects for women in STEM.
Please share with us your ideas and any challenges you face in the process. We

Kong-Joo Lee, Ph.D.
INWES President

would love to see your progress and help support you along the way! As always,

INWES Member NewsAWESC prepares for the
African Regional
Conference

mathematics (STEM) - so they were keen
to work with AWESC to make theconference a success. MINPROFF inparticular, is committed to gender
Cameroonmainstreaming, and they were happy totake responsibility for the general
The Association of Women Engineers and supervision of the committees.
Scientists in Cameroon (AWESC) has been
excited to collaborate with regional and The conference will be an opportunity tointernational peers. It was elected to the launch the Women’s Digital Observatory INWES Board of Directors in Los Angeles, “Veille Numerique Feminine” - an exciting
USA, in 201 4 and was chosen by its African project which will use scientific andsister-associations to organize a regional technological developments to highlight
conference. Although the decision has the actions and talented initiatives ofbeen made to postpone the meeting, due women across the country and improve
to unforseen circumstances, we wanted to their regional and international visibility.
share some of the planning activities thathave already taken place.
The first preparatory meeting took place
on 22nd July 201 6 with participants fromthe United Nations Educational, Scientificand Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), theCameroon Ministry for the Empowermentof the Woman and the Family(MINPROFF), and the Prime Minister’s
Office, joining AWESC to start organising
the necessary committees.
The
Cameroonian
government is currently
trying to improve theparticipation of all socialgroups in nation building.
One vital aspect of thisoverall strategy is thepromotion of women’shuman resources in all
sectors of development,withaparticularemphasis on fields
related to science,technology
andIssue 23 - October 2016

the engineering team. Both industry andacademic collaborators were invited todeliver speeches at the luncheon, including
Sharifah Azlina Raja Kamal, COO of HSS
Engineering Sdn. Bhd; Immediate Past
Chair of the Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE), Dr Norliza
Mohd Noor; and 201 5 IEM WomenEngineers Award Winner, Professor Hayati
Abdullah.

The invited guests and delegates were
impressed with the insight and experiences
shared by the speakers. This Outstanding
Women Engineers Luncheon helps raise
the profile of women in engineering andfocus attention on the amazing career
opportunities available to girls in the
IEM Outstanding Womenindustry. It was great to see the speakers
Engineers' Luncheoncoming together in the name of equalityand diversity to celebrate the
Malaysiaachievements of women engineers and
The Institute of Engineers Malaysia Women encourage more girls and women toEngineers (IEM-WE) Section organized an consider engineering as a career.
IEM Outstanding Women Engineers
Luncheon on 28th May 201 6. The
luncheon was to appreciate, support, and TWiST is active at home andcelebrate the contributions of women in abroad
TaiwanMembers of the Society of Taiwan Womenin Science and Technology (TWiST) havebeen involved with a number of events inthe last 6 months both in Taiwan andinternationally. On 22nd April 201 6 TWiST
members organized a workshop on
gendered innovations in different science
research areas under the auspices of the
Taiwanese Ministry of Science andTechnology. We also took the opportunity
to hold a board meeting together over tea
and coffee in the southern city ofKaohsiung. In May, a small reading group2

New Tunisian Women Engineers Association
In June 2007, the World Federation of Engineering Organizations(WFEO), chaired by Kamel Ayadi (who is now Minister of Public
Administration in Tunisia), held the International Colloquium on
Empowering Women in Engineering and Technology - the firstinternational training workshop by and for women engineers,
under the patronage of the Tunisian Government. The objective of
the workshop was to help participants from development regions
acquire knowledge and share experiences on these topics, with aninternational perspective, and a strategic approach. It was attended
by several members of INWES, and INWES showcased thedifferent women engineers and scientists networks around theworld.

Tunisia

Research, and an official representing the Minister for Women andthe Family, together with the CEO of Tunisair (a Tunisian civil
aviation company), and representatives of WFEO and INWES
attended. A number of other speakers were there to paint a full
picture of the current situation of women and engineering in
Tunisia.

Conclusions and recommendations reached at the end of theGeneral Assembly included the decision to become anorganizational member of the INWES, and try to raise funds for adelegation to come to the Munich conference in November 201 6,
as well as to the ICWES1 7 in Delhi in October 201 7. Nadia
Souissi also expressed a wish to apply and host ICWES1 8 in Tunis,
As we all know, the Revolution radically changed the political seeing it as a fantastic opportunity to continue the work started
landscape in December 201 0, and five years later, an official by women engineers before the Revolution!
Women Engineers association was born - the Association
Tunisienne Femmes Ingénieures (AFTI).The first General Assembly Yvette RAMOS, President of the Swissengineering Geneva chapter,
was held in Tunis on 7 May 201 6, chaired by Nadia Souissi, elected Director INWES Europe West
president of the association, and moderated by Amel Ben Farhat, a Nadia Souissi, President of the ATFI, Association Tunisienne desmember of the committee.The Minister for Higher education and Femmes Ingénieures.
her experiences in Uganda.
In August, five TWiST members attended
the Asia and Pacific Nations Network(APNN) Meeting and the following
Gender Diversity Summit, sponsored by
the Institution of Professional Engineers
New Zealand (IPENZ), in Wellington,
New Zealand. Along with three relatives
and Dr. Wai-Yee Leung from Malaysia, wewere also able to take part in a tour ofSouth Island, which gave us a chance towas organised to share opinions on the appreciate the beautiful scenery andbook “Lean In” authored by Sheryl interesting history of New Zealand. It was
Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of a great end to a trip filled with friendshipand interesting discussions.
Facebook.
Last October, three members went to
Kampala, Uganda for the African Regional
Conference, and met an aboriginal
Taiwanese girl called Yoshiku, who had
been volunteering in a poor area of
Uganda as a volunteer worker. Yoshiku
returned to Taiwan in July to raise more
funds and gave us a talk in Taichung on

Issue 23 - October 2016

in touch (http://www.mentorset.org.uk).

WISE members share theirexperience and knowledge
India

Women in Science and Engineering India(WISE India) is the brainchild of few likeminded individuals (both women and men)
who envisaged that a platform must be
created to inspire and promote the hugepool of women engineers and scientists
available in India. WISE India strives tobring about change for Indian women,
making them confident enough to choose
science and engineering field. The scarcity
of women in these fields is a matter ofMentorSet Energy Sector
concern in most countries, but especially
Mentoring Eventin India. This small number of women
receiving degrees in the sciences andUnited Kingdom
engineering translates to an even smaller
MentorSET, the Women Engineering percentage of women at top and middle
Society's (WES) mentoring scheme for levels of management.
women in STEM, held the first in a seriesof UK-wide events in London on WISE India has shared its experiences at a
1 5 th September. The event was number of seminars and conferences,
aimed at women in the energy including the Technical Education Quality
Programme(TEQIP)
sector, to raise awareness of the Improvement
benefits of mentoring in the sector - seminar on 26th April 201 6 at Delhi
and was sponsored by Alex Technological University (DTU), New
Chisholm, Permanent Secretary in Delhi; and the Trends and Recent Advancesthe, Department for Business, Energy in Civil Engineering (TRACE) 201 6& Industrial Strategy (BEIS). To find Conference, on 1 1 th and 1 2th Augustout more about MentorSET, or if you 201 6, at AMITY University, Noida.
think you have the skills andmotivation to mentor, please do get The Department of Humanities, at the3

WES make visible women’s historical contributions to engineering
The WES project to digitise and make available past copies of"The Woman Engineer" journal, which has been running since
1 91 9, is now complete. The journals contain a wealth ofknowledge, not only of women in engineering but also of social
history relating to employment, gender and innovation, amongst
many other topics, in the UK since World War I. The earlyjournals also contain technical papers
by female engineers. The Institition ofEngineering and Technology has madethe digitised journals available online(http://www.theiet.org/resources/libr
ary/archives/exhibition/women/wesjournal.cfm).
This facility will be launched to thewider world on the 1 1 th October, as
part of a wikithon. The wikithon willtake place in London, and is designed
to make the histories of women
Delhi Technological University (DTU)
conducted the World Bank-funded seminar“TEQIP-II” on 26th April 201 6. Sangeeta
Wij - President of WISE India, Managing
Partner of SD Engineering Consultants,
and an alumna of the Delhi College ofEngineering - was invited for thisimportant seminar. She presented an
inspiring lecture on her experience of
becoming an entrepreneur. The seminar

United Kingdom

engineers in the First World War more visible by putting them on
Wikipedia. The one day collaborative project will look back at therole of women in engineering and technical disciplines during theFirst World War and beyond, and will start to bring out some ofthe stories documented in the newly digitised Women'sEngineering Society archive.
WES was recently involved in a two-day animation of Waterloo
Bridge from 22nd to 24th September to highlight and celebrate
the women who worked to rebuild the bridge during the Second
World War. Labour records show there were as many as 25,000
women working in construction during the Second World War.
The aim of the event was to make visible the invisible and toencourage and inspire the much needed new generation of
women engineers. At dusk, a collage of photographs and moving
footage were projected in epic proportions filling one side of the
National Theatre's Lyttelton Theatre fly tower. WES provided oneof a series of short films which were screened near the bridgecelebrating women’s contributions.

chaired the session on “Ethics in Structural
Design in the Indian Context”. Kamini
Gupta, a Board Member of WISE India alsopresented a lecture on “‘A Study ofPedestrian Crossing Behaviour at
Signalized Intersections’; ‘Volatile Organic
Compounds (VOC) Concentration in an
Area with Heterogeneous Traffic: A Pilot
Study’; and ‘Lack of Coping Behaviour as
Related to Crash Characteristics among
Commercial Drivers inIndia’”. Ishita Manjrekar, amember of WISE India,
delivereda talk on“Corrosion Mitigation in
RCC: much ado, somesolution’s”

similar to this, although each country has adifferent slant on it, and you will see that itis still referring to the British Empire –which of course no longer exists!
After gaining a BSc in Applied Physics atCoventry Polytechnic, Sue Bird went towork at the British Aircraft Corporation as
an acoustics engineer, where she worked
on noise from planes such as the BAC 1 1 1 and Concorde. She then spent twelve
years at the GLC Scientific Branch in their
Noise and Pollution section. She later
started Bird Acoustics with her husband(also an acoustics engineer) and worked
mainly on environmental and architecturalnoise, as well as litigation work on noiseinduced hearing loss.

INWES MemberAwarded National
Honourwas attended by the students of DTU and
WISE India members.
TRACE 201 6 was an international
conference hosted by the Department ofCivil Engineering at the Amity School ofEngineering & Technology, Amity University,
in Noida, India on 1 1 th and 1 2th August
201 6. The conference was attended byresearchers,
practicing
engineers,
government officials, and corporate leadersof international repute. The conference
sessions covered the entire spectrum ofrecent scientific research. Sangeeta Wij,

Issue 23 - October 2016

She has always felt that there are too few
women in engineering, and that an increase
would benefit women themselves, but also
industryand society. She joined theUnited Kingdom
Women’s Engineering Society in the early
Sue Bird, former President of INWES, has 1 970s, and has twice served as its
been appointed as a Member of the British President. In 2002 she was instrumental, as
Empire (MBE) in the Queen’s Birthday part of WES, is setting up the International
Network of Women
Honours List. Sue Bird has a Masters
Engineersanddegree in Applied Acoustics, is a
Scientists (INWES).
Chartered Engineer and is a Fellow
She served
asof the Institute of Acoustics. The
President for INWES
citation is for ‘Services tofrom 2008 to 201 1 .
engineering and to women into
She has attended
engineering both in the UK and
ICWES Conferences
abroad’. It will be presented to Sue
since 1 999 and hasin October by a member of themade many valued
British Royal Family, possibly thefriends
through
Queen. Many countries have honours

4International

UNESCO STEM and Gender Advancement Project

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has recognised the importance ofincreasing the participation of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and has
established the Stem and Gender Advancement (SAGA) Project to address some of the issues. SAGA is a global
UNESCO project supported by the Government of Sweden through the Swedish International Development
Cooperation Agency (SIDA).
The general objective of SAGA is to contribute to reducing the gender gap in STEM fields in all countries at alllevels of education and research - by determining, measuring and assessing sex-disaggregated data, as well as
supporting the design and implementation of policy instruments that affect gender equality in STEM.
SAGA aims to analyse how policies affect the gender balance in STEM, undertake inventories of science, technology
and innovation (STI) gender equality policies, develop new and better indicators to provide tools for evidencebased policy-making, build capacity in member states for data collection on gender in STEM, and prepare
methodological documents to support the collection of statistics.
It is anticipated that improving the collection of policy-relevant indicators on all aspects of the role of women in
STEM will indicate gaps and drive more effective policies that support theparticipation of women in STEM. SAGA has developed a SAGA Science,Technology
and Innovation Gender Objectives List (STI GOL) and is currently developing a
SAGA Toolkit.The SAGA Toolkit is designed to address areas where sexdisaggregated information is still lacking.
SAGA has stabilised an international advisory committee for support and advice. Dr.
Marlene Kanga,Vice President of INWES, is a member of the committee.The SAGA
Advisory Committee met in Montreal in 201 5, and Montevideo in 201 6. It is
anticipated that the SAGA toolkit will be available for testing in 201 6-1 7 and the final
project outputs will be delivered in 201 8.
contributed in cash and kind. IEM-WE school helps these children feel more
fundraised among committee members to excited and motivated to attend school
everyday.
She has also been involved with the contribute to the initiative.
Institute of Acoustics where she was Chairof the CPD Committee; and with the The development of the Fun Learning Toy The project has also helped strengthen
Association of Noise Consultants, where Library is beneficial in many ways. It networking and bonding between
she served as Chair and President over the provides an environment for pre-school volunteers, partners, and the local
years. She has been a Governor of children to develop their curiosity and community - particularly the school;
Welbeck Defence Sixth Form College for their understanding of basic concepts in teachers and students alike. The teachers
over 20 years, and is now a local parish science and technology from a very young are enthusiastic and committed to helping
age. It is hoped that with the facility in implement activities.
councillor.
place, these young children will be
encouraged to develop a lifelong interest The team is planning its third visit to the
IEM-WE help Dabong floodin science, technology, engineering and school to monitor and follow-up withaffected school
several other activities. IEM-WE will takemathematics (STEM) education.
partagain, and plans to collaborate with
Malaysia
Making learning fun, particularly in subjects future activities that reach out to andFollowing on from an earlier successful perceived as difficult, like sciences and support rural society.
isproject in 201 5 a team from the Razak mathematics,
important
School of Engineering and Advanced particularly
Technology at the Universiti Teknologi given the stressful effects
Malaysia, supported by IEM-WE, pursued a of the natural disaster,
second social initiative - developing a Fun and the impact that can
Learning Toy Library for pre-school have on learning. Many ofstudents in a rural primary school, called these young children lost
homes
and
Sekolah Kebangsaan Kuala Geris, in the their
town of Dabong in Kelantan. The region experience difficulty going
was badly affected by a flood in 201 4 and to school, due to fears
the team was keen to help local people. around being separated
The team was supported by a number of from their families. Having
NGOs and groups of people, who the toy library in the
INWES.

Issue 23 - October 20165

Dr. Ursula Martius Franklin (1921-2016)
Dr. Ursula Franklin passed away at 3pm on Friday, 22nd July 201 6,
at the age of 94, after a trailblazing career - as a philosopher,scientist, pacifist and educator - paving the way for women in
STEM in Canada. Ursula Franklin was Professor Emeritus at the
University of Toronto, a Companion of the Order of Canada, andFellow of the Royal Society. Over the course of her life, she wasawarded the Order of Ontario, the Pearson Peace Medal, the Cityof Toronto Award of Merit, and a number honorary degrees from
Canadian universities and many other awards. On a personal level,
she was my mentor and friend, and the woman I admired most in
the entire world. She will be missed by many, but we have theconsolation of what she left behind: books, speeches, wise words,
and all her archives.
The first time she helped me was on 9th November 1 989, I wasat the airport in Toronto, waiting for my flight to Seattle. I had justbeen appointed to the Northern Telecom and Natural Sciencesand Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Women in
Engineering Chair at the University of New Brunswick. The
mandate was to increase the participation of women inengineering education programmes and the profession, acrossCanada - no small task. So while waiting in the airport, I called Dr.
Franklin at the University of Toronto to discuss the new position
and ask for some advice.

Canadanext decade - real changes to make engineering a friendlier place
for women. Ursula wanted women to be able to fully participate
in and contribute to the engineering field - able to bring anddevelop all their strengths as human beings, rather than forced toconform to a narrow traditionally “masculine” model:“Women must have the education and technical literacy that willallow them access to decision-making and to meaningful work in
the continually evolving technological society. But women will also
have to survive as human beings, as creative, spontaneous, andcheerful persons.” (Dr. Ursula Martius Franklin, O.C. 1 984)
Over the years, she has been quick to offer her support to othersin the field, whether in a formal or informal capacity. I remember
her readiness, when I was working on my first book “The Boldand the Brave”, with Nadine Faulkner, to sit down over coffeewith us and discuss our research so far. Support like that can beinvaluable.

As a teacher for four decades, she supported and inspired many leaving a lasting legacy. Ursula was a German-born Holocaust
survivor, a Quaker, and a committed pacifist; and throughout her
life was committed to contributing to peace. Her discovery ofradioactive substances in Canadian children's baby teeth - using
research carried out on her son’s teeth - helped turn world
She took my call even though she had never heard of me! I told opinion against nuclear weapons testing during the Cold War.
her about my new position and she offered me a piece of advice:
she said to be sure that, in the end, it was about more than just
numbers. In other words, women were to be recruited for theperspectives and approaches they could bring as womenengineers - not just to make up the numbers. This comment
stayed with me for the entire trip, and to this day.

Our paths crossed again in Victoria in 1 990, when we were bothon a panel to speak about women in science and engineering; andagain in May 1 991 , when Ursula was keynote speaker at a national
conference, organized by the Canadian Committee on Women in
Engineering (CCWE) I chaired (1 990-1 992) - set up after the
tragic massacre of women (almost all engineering students) in
Montreal.
The conference title was “Women in Engineering: More than just
numbers”. You can guess how we came to that title. In her
banquet speech - “Overcoming the Obstacles vs. Removing the
Obstacles,” - Dr. Ursula Franklin advocated firmly for the latter
option and gave us plenty of food for thought - as she would at all
our subsequent meetings over the years.

Another INWES member, Claire Deschênes, fondly remembers
meeting Dr Franklin during the Berkshire Conference on the
History of Women in May 201 4 - where Ursula presented her
new book: Ursula Franklin Speaks, Thoughts and Afterthoughts. It
contained twenty-two of Dr. Franklin's speeches and five
In May 1 995, at that year’s CCWE conference, she gave a interviews between 1 986 and 201 2, sharing her insights into thememorable closing speech - “Looking Forward, Looking Back” - social and political impacts of science and technology.
with the key message, that engineering must be made fit for
women, rather than women fit for engineering. She wanted to Ursula was a proponent of “the earthworm theory”- the idea thatavoid the situation where women in engineering classes have to little acts prepare the soil and nurture the seedlings so that bigger
adapt to a “masculine” culture and become “one of the guys” to actions can follow and flourish. Her life richly illustrated the truth
get by. Dr. Franklin was right in thinking that this happened all too of that theory. Both professionally and personally she was an
frequently. She and I had witnessed women enacting a sexist work inspiration to many.
culture out of desperate need to belong and fit in. Her speech
was a road map for what needed to be accomplished over the Monique Frize

Issue 23 - October 2016

6

What is deep learning all about?
In 201 6 deep learning started to get more attention outside of the the computer science field, with programmes
like DeepDream capturing the public imagination. So unsurprisingly, there is a growing curiosity about deeplearning. People are wondering what exactly deep learning is, and why is it one of the most hyped developments inthe branch of machine learning.
Deep learning is in essence, it a sophisticated machine learning technique, and a trending development in the field ofartificial intelligence (AI) - a thriving field with many practical applications and active research topics. We look to
intelligent software to automate routine labor, understand speech or images, make diagnoses in medicine andsupport basic scientific research. In layman's terms deep learning is the ability of a machine - like intelligent software- to learn how to become more accurate; to get better, for example, at identifying appropriate objects or sounds.
For recognizing objects, understanding concepts, spam detection, street view detection, or comprehending speech
appropriately we need a process called feature extraction. For complex problems like handwriting recognition
feature extraction poses a huge challenge.
Deep learning is one of the only methods by which we can work around this challenge of feature extraction.This isbecause deep learning models are capable of learning to focus on the right features by themselves, requiring little
guidance from the programmer - making it an extremely powerful tool for modern machine learning.
Deep learning is a form of machine learning that uses a model of computing that's loosely inspired by the structureof the brain.The basic foundational unit is a neuron and the model is known as a neural network. A neural network
has a number of neurons which have particular weights and basically compute answers from inputs that areprovided to them. Now finding out those weights is the hard part of the problem and is termed “training”.
During training, we show the network a large number of predefined results and iteratively modify the weights so as
to minimize the errors. Simply put we make the neural network learn through examples.That sound’s pretty
straightforward but even for a simple problem we need a lot of 'layers' of neurons to accurately find solutions. For
this we need to train the network with large amounts of examples - which means we need data. In fact, we require
a lot of data.That’s why when you use Gmail they are almost certainly using your emails as a corpus to train theneural networks of various machine learning algorithms how to better do things like suggest replies or correctspellings. No wonder Gmail provide so much free storage!
Beyond mastering games like 'Go' (a game even more complex than chess), deep learning has led to massive
improvements in the field of image, speech and text recognition. In 201 2, it was used to recognize a million images
with a 1 6% error rate, which has now dropped to a mere 5.5% - pretty impressive! This continuously evolving
nature is what makes deep learning such a fascinating subject - its applications grow with time making it able tocontinuously break new boundaries and allowing machines do things we never even imagined possible.
Anushree Shivani Patnaik
B.Tech (Electric and Electronic Engineer)
DELL India Ltd.
A Member of WISE India

Issue 23 - October 2016

7

The APNN Conference
On 1 8th August 201 6, the INWES Asia Pacific Nation Network(APNN) held its annual meeting at the Institution of Professional
Engineers (IPENZ) in Wellington, New Zealand.
Twenty-five women from eight countries attended the meeting.
After a traditional M! ori welcome, attendees heard speeches
from the meeting’s chairperson Tracey Ayre, IPENZ President
Elena Trout, INWES President Kong-Joo Lee and APNN
Chairperson Kayoko Sugahara.
Country reports were presented for nine APNN countries.
Attendees discussed opportunities to increase gender diversity
in science, technology and engineering; as well as the challenges
faced.They heard from three invited speakers: New Zealand’s
Minister for Women, the Honourable Louise Upston; Cynthia Brophy, Chief Executive of the Human Rights Commission; and Gail
Mattson, INWES Vice President.
The INWES APNN was established in 201 1 as the first sub-network of INWES.The APNN has met annually since 201 1 topromote the sharing of information unique to the region among women scientists and engineers in Asia and the Pacific Nations.
Following the APNN meeting, IPENZ hosted an extremely successful “Diversity in Action” summit. More than eighty-five people
attended the summit, which was designed to present tangible ideas to help businesses increase diversity and inclusion. During thesummit,Australia’s APNN delegate, Marlene Kanga, presented a strategic framework for inclusiveness, wellbeing and diversity; andMalaysia’s APNN delegate,Wai Yie Leong, participated in a panel discussion focused on practical examples.
Members of the INWES APNN left the meeting energised and excited about continuing to advance gender diversity in theirrespective countries.We anticipate a busy year ahead and look forward to meeting again at the 201 7 APNN meeting, which will beheld on 1 4th and 1 5 th July 201 7 in Yokohama, Japan.

Nepal participates in APNN

Nepal

Representing Women in Science and Engineering Nepal (WISENepal), a national network in Nepal that promotes women in
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), I
participated in the annual meeting of Asia Pacific Nations Network(APNN) held in the office of the Institute of Professional
Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) in Wellington, on 1 8th August
201 6. I was so impressed by the commitment of the Honorable
Minister for Women, Louise Upston, who welcomed theparticipants and highlighted the importance of the APNN, inworking together to reduce discrimination against women in(OECD) member countries.
STEM in the region.
A keynote speech by the Chief Executive Officer of the New
Zealand Human Rights Commission was very insightful. She talked
about how New
Zealand has moved
forward in providing
equal
opportunities,
reducing discrimination,and tackling the gender
pay gap. She mentionedthat in New Zealand,
43% of women are

Issue 23 - October 2016

employed in the public
sector, which struck me
as quite significant. It wasalso interesting to notethat the gender pay gap
in New Zealand is thelowest among theOrganisationfor
Economic Co-operation
andDevelopment

The meeting was successful with the participation of delegatesfrom eight member countries. Although it was pretty far for someto fly to participate - it took me two days of travel to reach New
Zealand - it was definitely worth it. The sharing of member
countries’ experiences was really meaningful and allowed us tolearn more about good practice in promoting gender equality in
STEM.There were discussions on strengthening regional networks,
and increasing membership drives for national networks withsmall seed grant supports from INWES; and information sharing
on the next APNN 201 7 meeting, ICWES 201 7, and other regional
networking opportunities.

8

Making Herstory" Herstory" - Women's experiences in engineering: An interview with Monique Frize
What is your name?

Monique (Aubry) Frize
Where were you born?

In Montreal, Canada

Where did you grow up?

In Ottawa, Canada

Where have you lived?

& Biological Engineering (IFMBE) and responsible forcommunicating with the more than sixty societies in the IFMBE. I
am also on the Admin Council of the International Union of
Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine (IUPESM).
I am one of the three founders of INWES in 2002 and of the
INWES Education and Research Institute (INWES ERI) in 2007;
and I was president of INWES from 2002 to 2008, and of INWESERI since 2007.

In Montreal and Ottawa in Canada; What was is like to be an engineer or scientist when you
then London in the UK; and then started out?
back in Canada - in Moncton, Fredericton, and Vancouver; and Since I was the only woman student in my degree in electrical
now in Ottawa again.
engineering and the only woman in my first workplace as anengineer, I did not notice much difference. It was lonely as theWhat college did you attend?
only woman in my class or in my work department, and feeling
The University of Ottawa, Canada (BScA in Electrical Engineering); different from the men around - although my peers at school andImperial College of Science and Technology, London, UK, (M.Phil. at work were friendly for the most part. Later, I worked inand DIC); Université de Moncton in New Brunswick, Canada hospitals where there were many strong women (nurses, doctors,(MBA); Erasmus Universiteit, in Rotterdam, Netherlands, etc.) so the environment was quite different for me than for a(Doctorate).
woman in a mine or a plant.
Was there a moment when you decided you wanted to be anengineer/scientist? What was it?

How have you seen the impact of women in engineeringchange and develop?

In the second year of a science degree, I decided I wanted to In the years since my graduation, I’ve seen many more womenstudy electrical engineering.
enter engineering study programmes and in the workplace; but
there are still several obstacles, and some bias, discrimination, and
Did anyone influence you to enter the science or engineering harassment in certain workplaces. The culture in engineering
field?
schools is still male-centred and macho at times. But there has
Yes - a student called Philippe Arvisais, who was studying been progress, no doubt, in the past two decades.
electrical engineering, encouraged me to study for the same
degree.
Were there any historical events that dramatically impacted
What was your professional career and background in
STEM?

I spent one year as an engineer in the communications industry
after my undergraduate degree. Eighteen years as a biomedical
engineer (clinical engineer) in hospitals, eight in Montreal and ten
as head of a regional department serving seven hospitals in southeast New Brunswick. After earning my doctorate, I spent twenty
years in academia (six and a half years at University New
Brunswick (UNB), and thirteen and a half at the Carleton
University and the University of Ottawa).
What do you do for a living now/ what other careers haveyou had?

I was Chairholder of the first Chair for Women in Engineering(Canada-wide) between 1 989 and 1 996 at UNB; and Ontario
Chair for Women in Science and Engineering between 1 997 and2002.

women in engineering and sciences?

Yes - in my lifetime, the massacre in Montreal.The massacre at theEcole Polytechnique killed thirteen women engineering students
and a secretary on 6th December 1 989. Shortly after, theCanadian Committee on Women in Engineering (CCWE) was
created and I was asked to Chair it. Our report is published on
the INWES-ERI web site. We followed it up twenty years laterwith a workshop (CCWE+20) organized by the INWES ERI; thenew report is also on our ERI website. (www.inwes-eri.org). TheERI Officers are: Monique Frize, President; Claire Deschênes,Treasurer; and Gail Mattson. Anna Szemik-Hojniak has been
Secretary General since 201 5.
Is there something you wish you had access to when you
started out that women today have access to?

Yes - I had some wonderful male mentors but it would have been
nice to have some women as mentors, role models, andprofessors. Also, I would have liked to have access to some of theoutreach activities for girls (summer camps in science andI have been on many committees at the international, national, engineering, classroom presentations made by role models andprovincial, and local level since 1 965. I am currently on the students in the field) that are available now.
Administrative Council of the International Federation of Medical

Issue 23 - October 20169

donations received, we managed to operate INWES and ICWES
successfully for six years. During this time, we managed to becomea partner of UNESCO and of WFEO. I hope INWES continues toAfter attending ICWES9, 1 0, and 1 1 , I thought we had to create develop and unite women from all continents in future years.
INWES to provide more structure and stability for the ICWES
conference series, so I organized a founding meeting in 2001 and INWES is a collection of societies - were you involved in any
created INWES at ICWES1 2 in 2002 with Claire Deschênes and others before become involved in INWES?
Gail Mattson. The three of us were officers for eight years (me as Yes - I was in WISE and CCWEST in Canada and Chairholder of
Women in Engineering for all of Canada (1 989-1 997) and for
President, Claire as Secretary General, and Gail as Treasurer).
Ontario (1 997-2002).
Was there a specific event or events that motivated you tostart ICWES/INWES? How did you become involved in
ICWES/INWES?

What was the process involved in creating ICWES/INWES?

The three founding members applied for a Letters Patent at
Industry Canada and incorporated INWES as a CanadianCorporation. We later applied for Charity Status but this wasdenied, as INWES receives member fees and has some advocacy
programmes, so we created INWES Education and ResearchInstitute in 2007, which does not, and so can have charity status in
Canada - on condition it remains separated legally from INWES.

How did the networking done by INWES impact your career?

I’ve acted as mentor to many women and students over the past
twenty years.
How do you want to see INWES grow in the next fifty years?

I think it is very important that organizations which are membersof INWES remain loyal to INWES, and not create competing
events or duplicate INWES’ international role. The ICWES
What are the major milestones, in your opinion, of the past conferences are key to the future of INWES. They bring women
together from all over the world to share best practices and their
50 years of ICWES/INWES?
ICWES has been an amazing series of conferences, but the women experiences, which is very enriching.
organizing them were getting quite old and we had to insure
continuation in the decades ahead, which is why INWES was What piece of advice would you give to young womencreated. Both have had a profound influence on uniting women in engineers and scientists today?
It is important to seek mentors prior to making important career
science and engineering around the world!
decisions and to support other women in these fields. Nominate
What were the major challenges that had to be overcome to deserving women for governing positions in mainstream
associations, for prizes and awards, and to be keynote speakers
create ICWES/INWES?
The most challenging point was financing the operations of and play visible roles at conferences. Believe in yourself and follow
INWES, but with income from the ICWES conferences and the your goals.

Issue 23 - October 201610

Upcoming Events
DIB Annual Conference & INWES Regional
Conference Europe
The dib 30th Anniversary Conference and the INWES
Regional Conference Europe 201 6
4- 6 November 201 6

student groups
1 3.00 Official conference end
from 1 4.00
Excursions(available for participants with a late departure)
The Venue:

Events will take place at the Kardinal-Döpfner-Haus - theThe dib 30th Anniversary Conference and the INWES Regional educational centre for the archdiocese Munich and Freising. It has
Conference Europe 201 6 will be held in Freising, near Munich, a a long and rich history, and is beautifully situated on the
Domberg hill, from which you have a great view over Freising.
from 4th to 6th November 201 6.
The 201 6 INWES Board Meeting will be held before the event on
2nd and 3rd November, and the Constitutional Meeting INWES
Regional Network Europe will take place on the morning of 4th
November.
The patroness of the conference will be Ilse Aigner - the Bavarian
Minister of Economic Affairs and Media, Energy, and Technology.
UNESCO patronage for the conference was also granted by the
UNESCO Secretariat on 29th August 201 6.

Address - Bildungszentrum Kardinal-Döpfner-Haus, Domberg 27,
85354 Freising, Germany

Accommodation:

Please note that rooms at the Kardinal-Döpfner-Haus can bebooked for board members and conference guests via our
website. Alternatively, we have also made reservations at two
further hotels for 4th to 6th November. Please refer to the
The conference schedule will include five keynotes; twenty-two keyword “Jahrestagung dib” when booking and contact them byspeeches; six workshops; and five open space discussions or 1 st November.
roundtables, in three different languages.
Registration, aswell as bookings for the board meeting,
The round tables cover the following themes:
conference, and accomodation at the venue can be made here:a) Experiences and views on the european project and ways to http://muc.inwes.net/book/.
enhance collaboration and realisation of future projects.
b) A panel discussion on “Young Leadership” - the future of Prices:
careers for women in technology and the future of ourassociations.
Accommodation at the Venuec) Insights on the various aspects of “Big Data“ – the risks andopportunities.
Price is per person and per night incl. tax. Breakfast included.
d) Exploring possibilities for academic careers in Europe.
Members of INWES or dib - 65€e) The situation of women in technology in Tunisia after the
Conference Guests Non-Members - 75€
Jasmine Revolution.
Children up to 5 years - freeChildren 6-1 1 years (full board) - 29€
All details on sessions can be found at: http://muc.inwes.net/
Friday 4 th November 201 6

9.00 - 1 2.00 Constitutional Meeting INWES Europe
1 4.00 Guided tours and excursions around Freising and Munich
1 7.30 Conference opening in Kardinal-Döpfner-Haus, Freising
20.00 Networking
Saturday 5 th November 201 6

Conference Fee

Members of INWES or dib - € 85.00*
Non-members - € 1 20.00*
Student Fee, dib or INWES - € 25.00*
Student Fee, non-members - € 49.00*
Accompanying person, meals per day Sat/Sun - € 29.00*
Dinner on Saturday - € 25.00*

9.00 - 1 8.00 Keynotes, workshops andpresentations
1 9.00 Networking
Sunday 6 th November 201 6

9.00 General Assembly dib
Along with workshops, presentations, andexcursions for international guests andIssue 23 - October 201611

* Dinner Friday, coffee breaks, lunch Sat./Sun. are included. Drinks
paid individually. Dinner on Sat. not included - to be booked
separately
Kid's Programme

Saturday 9:00-1 8:00 - €1 2.00
Sunday 9:00-1 2:00 - € 6.00
Robotics kit to take home after the workshop - € 75.00
Payments for the conference fee, programme, and accommodation
at the Venue can be done “offline”, via electronic transfer or
paypal.
Directions:
By “S-Bahn” or traintransportation system), Line S1 , and for trains.
From the Munich main train station (Hauptbahnhof) trains toFreising take approximately 20 minutes.
It will take 1 0 minutes to walk from the railway station to
Kardinal-Döpfner-Haus.There are also taxis available.
From Munich Airport Franz Josef Strauß (4 km to Freising)Take bus line 635 from the Airport bus station. In 1 5 minutes you
will arrive at Freising railway station. It will take 1 0 minutes towalk from the railway station to Kardinal-Döpfner-Haus. There
are also taxis available.
By carFreising is near the highway from Munich to Nuremberg (A9) andthe highway from Munich to Deggendorf (A92). Coming from theSouth it would be best to take the exit “Freising Süd”; from theNorth, the exit “Allershausen”.

In Freising there is railway station for the “S-Bahn” (urban

ICWES 2017 in New Delhi, India
Women in Science and Engineering India (WISE India) aims tocreate career opportunities for women by increasing awareness,
providing support, enhancing capacity-building, and by influencing
policies for promoting women in the field of science andengineering.WISE India is proud to be an organizational memberof INWES.

- Sustainable and Green Infrastructure- Alternative Renewable Sources of Energy- Role of Information and Communication Technology in
Infrastructure Development

The International Conference for Women Engineers and Scientists
201 7 (ICWES 201 7) will be organized by WISE India and INWES.

Sangeeta Wij, President,
E-mail: sangeeta.wij@wiseindia.org
Dillip Pattanaik,Vice President,
E-mail: dillip.pattanaik@wiseindia.org
Dr Seema Singh,Vice President,
E-mail: seema.singh@wiseindia.org
Event Organizer: info@meetingsnmore.com

Dates: 3rd to 5th October 201 7
Venue: India Habitat Center
The Focus of ICWES 201 7 :For more information contact:- Role ofWomen in Engineering- Smart Cities

Issue 23 - October 201612

About INWES
I.Executive Officers:

President: Kong-Joo Lee (South Korea)
President elect: Liette Vasseur (AFFESTIM - Canada)
Treasurer: Joan Graf (USA)Secretary General: Margaret Ajibode (WES - UK)
Vice President: Gail G. Mattson (AAAS - USA)
Vice President: Marlene Kanga (Engineers Australia - Australia)
Vice President: Roseni Dearden (UK)

Honorary members:

Dormer Ellis (Canada)
Joanna Maduka (Nigeria)
Kathleen Harer (USA)
Mahin Rahmani (Iran)
Monique Frize (Canada)
Nicole Becarud (France)
Renata Siemiens (Poland)Issié Yvonne Gueye (Ivory Coast)
Claire Deschenes (Canada)

II. Other Board Members:

Durdana Habib (WESTIP - Pakistan, Central Asia)
Rufina Dabo Sarr (AFSTech/Sénégal - Senegal, French Speaking
Africa)Claudia Bergbauer (DIB - Germany,Western Europe)
Caroline Thoruwa (AWSE - Kenya, English Speaking Africa)
Ewa Okon-Horodynska (Individual - Poland, Eastern Europe)
Seong Ok Han (KWSE - South Korea, Far East Asia)
Kayoko Sugahara (INWES Japan - Japan, Far East Asia)

Aude Abena (AFISC - Cameroon, French Speaking Africa)
Sangeeta Wij (WISE-India - India, South East Asia)
Chia-Li Wu (TWiST - Taiwan, Far East Asia)
Yvette Ramos (Swiss Engineering - Switzerland,Western Europe)

INWES Sponsors
Platinum Sponsor: SamsungGold Sponsors: KWSE
Silver Sponsors: AAAS,WES UK
Consultative status with UNESCO

INWES Member Newsletter
Deadline for Issue No. 23: 1 st January
Contact: Roseni Dearden, Communication & Newsletter Committee
Email: info@inwes.org

Contact INWES
General Information:

Website:Margaret Ajibode
INWES Secretary General
Email: secretariat@inwes.org
OR info@inwes.org

www.inwes.org

Sponsorship information:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/
INWES/1 221 44834530387?ref=hl

Joan Graf, INWES Treasurer
Phone: +(1 ) 303 992 881 1
Email: joan.graf@centurylink.com

Issue 23 - October 2016

Social media:

www.facebook.com/groups/inwes/

Twitter: @INWES_Engineers

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