On June 1, Women in Electrical Engineering event took place for the first time. The EE Programme Director and an EE alumna Cora Salm herself and now 30 years in the EE profession - introduced the speakers.

The four speakers told an inspiring story of how their passion for Electrical Engineering began, why they chose their career route, and what they are currently working on. Their research projects were all different but certainly equally interesting. You could clearly see that the research area of Electrical Engineering is very broad.

Jorien (replacement for speaker Loes Segerink) indicated that math, golden hands, scientific knowledge, abstract/systematic thinking, curiosity, persistence, and cooperation are in a backpack of a true Electrical Engineer. You could recognise these aspects in her talk about her research.

Melissa talked about her graduation project on face recognition and showed that everyone actually has a lookalike. Her research was focused on forensics and showed how much certain people look alike. Features like the shape of eyebrows and noses are important in the measurements. Congratulations go to Melissa, she will start a PhD research in Electrical Engineering after the summer holidays.

Fleur explained how her choice of Thales had come about. After several years of working for two smaller companies, she thought it was time to work for a larger company. She found this job within Thales and is working within the Radar Front End Department, where she works together in a multidisciplinary team in which each has his/her own expertise.

The lecture afternoon ended with a lecture by Jelena Popovic. Besides her passion for her work on Energy Access, she is also very committed to having more female role models in Electrical Engineering. During her lecture, she also gave 7 lessons in 'How to be a (happy) women engineer'.

After the lectures, there was still time to talk over drinks and ask the remaining questions.

We can conclude that this first Woman in EE was a success due to the stories of the inspiring speakers and the audience asking interesting questions.

Why do women choose to make the Electrical Engineering research field their profession? What inspires them, what did their education offer them and how do they stand in society today?

We have invited four inspiring women Loes, Melissa, Fleur and Jelena who will give their vision of achieving success, career plans, and maybe change this traditional men's world into a world with more women. 

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This event is organised by the Department of Electrical Engineering (EEMCS) in cooperation with KIVI Students Twente (KST) and KIVI Netwerk Vrouwelijke Ingenieurs (NVI). We hope to welcome (PhD-) students, young professionals, career tigers, alumni, and everything in between. 

Programme 

14.45u   Walk-in moment 

14.55u  Welcome by Cora Salm, Programme Director Electrical Engineering, Faculty EEMCS. Alumna Electrical Engineering and Science Education & Communication 

15.00u   Lecture: Loes Segerink, Professor of Biomedical Microdevices, Faculty EEMCS, Department of Biomedical and Environmental Sensorsystems. Alumna Biomedical Engineering and Electrical Engineering 

15.30u   Lecture: Melissa Tijink, UT researcher, Faculty EEMCS, Department of Electrical Engineering. Alumna Electrical Engineering 

16.00u   Coffee/Tea break 

16.15u   Lecture: Fleur van Rossem, Digital Design Engineer at Thales Hengelo. Alumna Electrical Engineering 

16.45u   Lecture: Jelena Popovic, Programme Advisor Energising Development at the Netherlands Enterprise Agency and Associate Professor, Faculty EEMCS, Department of Electrical Engineering 

17.15u   Meet & Greet with drinks and snacks 

 

Location: Room Erlenmeyer in the Gallery (UT), Hengelosestraat 500, 7521 AN Enschede 

Costs: 5 Euro for KIVI members, alumni, UT employees and others. For students the entrance is free of charge. The price is inclusive of catering. 

Registration: via the KIVI website.

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