IEEE Committee:Women in Engineering

Allan Johnston

NPSS Liaison

October 25, 2008

Overall Structure of the WIE within the IEEE

The WIE reports directly to the IEEE Executive Committee

• One of 22 such committees

• Others include Awards, Fellow, Nominations and Strategic Planning

The Executive Committee provides a limited budget for the WIE Committee

• Supports direct costs of 7 of the 10 voting members

• Also provides budget for certain activitiesLimited WIE functions at conferences and local chapters

Typically $300 to $600 per function

ADCOM has approved a separate path for funding WIE activities, providing up to $500 per conference. This streamlined process is far more effective than working through the WIE for funding. It also allow more flexibility.

Scopes of Interest

Facilitate the development of programs and activities that promote the entry into and retention of women in engineering programs

Promote IEEE membership and retention of IEEE women members

Enhance the career advancement of women in the profession

Voting Members of the WIEC

10 voting members (all appointed for 3-year terms, except the student)• Seven members appointed by the IEEE Board of Directors,

including one student (one-year term)• Three one-year appointments from organizational units (EAB, RAB

and TAB)• Jane Lehr (representing TAB) is a new voting member of the WIE• Organizational units must provide funding for travel and other costs

of their appointed members

The WEIC appoints one member to the IEEE Awards Board

Voting member locations• 6 from US• 2 from Europe (France, Spain)• One from Dubai• One from Australia

WEIC Committee Structure

WIE Committee10 voting members

SocietyLiaisons

10 RegionalCoordinators

Liaisons from:IEEE USA,EXCOM, Publication Services,

Standards, and Awards

There are also 136 Affinity Groups, located around the world

Society Liaisons

Circuits and Systems

Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology

Laser and Electro-Optic Society

Nuclear and Plasma Sciences

Oceanic Engineering

Power Engineering

Reliability Society

Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control

Only 8 of the 39 societiesappointed liaisons for 2007 – this has

increased to 17 in 2008

Committee Interaction

Monthly conference calls (normally one hour)• I participated in all the telecons last year, as well as in an

orientation telecon in January• The June telecon was cancelled (not enough voting members were

available• This illustrates one of problems in dealing with the WIE:

communication is very slow

The present plan is to have one face-to-face meeting (2 days)• The 2008 meeting was held in April in Anaheim

The committee cancelled the March telecon because of the April meetingThis cuts out the many members who cannot attend, and also delays

voting on funding requests by one month

• A great deal was accomplished at this meetingI raised several issues regarding liaison activities and establishing better

methods for publicizing WIE for working professionalsThe parent committee is still primarily focused on academia

Potential Ways to Support the WIE from the NPS

Promote WIE membership at conferences• The main emphasis of the committee is on recruiting students• We have several prominent conferences that provide access to working

professionals• A single travel display is available that could be shipped to conferences• I have prepared a WIE poster that will be available at the 2008 NSREC

This can be customized for individual NPSS conferences

I need contact information for NPSS conferences that would like this display

• I would also like to prepare an appointment calendar for 2009 that features women in the NPSS

Identify individuals for promotion to Senior and Fellow grades• Conference chairs could identify potential candidates from registration

information• AdCom and Conference Committees could recommend candidates

Identify prominent women in NPS as potential speakers for WIE functions

Membership Trends

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

~ 2.5% of IEEE members belong to the WIE

About 1/3 are male

~2/3 are students

Retaining students after graduation is a

key problem

A slight increase occurred in 2008, but the numbers appear to be near saturation

Work Discussed in Recent Telecons

Small funding requests ($300 to $600) for several conferences

Session adopted for E-WEEK Global Marathon

A scholarship was implemented to honor a WIE member who was killed in Africa during 2007

The first issue of the WIE Magazine was distributed in Jan. 2008• It contains several interesting articles• Distribution was by e-mail, but printed copies will be available for distribution

at conferencesShipping costs are a major stumbling blockWe could underwrite those costs (they are small) for specific

conferences

The second WIE issue was distributed in June, 2008• It received an APEX Award• Unfortunately only limited hard copies are available

Articles and content of the monthly newsletter

Participation and organization of Affinity Groups

Feature Articles in the WIE Magazine

Iconic WomenBattles, breakthroughs, and bridging the gender divide

Clementina’s Legacy

Imagineering Disney’s kingdom

From pets to NASA pilot

Meet JPEG’s mom

The brain behind video games

Vetruvian MachinesThe charm of Audio-Animatronics

Dubai’s engineering oasis

From R2-D2 to iRobot entrepeneur

Making beautiful electronic music

Chemical connection with robots

Recommendations for NPSS Involvement

Our own funds will be used to support to WIE functions at our conferences ($500 was approved)

• More streamlined process• Easier for conference chairman (as well as liaison)• $1000 was approved for a reception at the MIC/RTSD Conf. (Dresden)

Conference functions must be planned by individual conference committees• The WIE chairman needs contact information for NPSS conferences in order

to make this happen

Encourage distribution of WIE information at the IEEE membership booth at our conferences

• We could underwrite half of the $25 WIE membership cost for those who sign up at our conferences (only for the first year)

Determine if we have potential IEEE Fellow candidates as well as IEEE members who could be elevated to Senior Member status

Suggestions and Lessons Learned

The WIE committee is well established in academia, but not in the broader world of engineering• The societies are in a better position to get WIE membership and

participation from that segment

We need a point of contact for each conference to encourage a WIE-related function• A point of contact is needed from the conference, not just through

AdCom

The WIE liaison should have WIE brochures (and hard copies of the WIE magazine) on hand for distribution to our conferences• A poster has been prepared for trial purposes at the 2008 NSREC

• Similar posters can be made available for other conferences, but I need the information as well as the point of contact

• The easiest way to ship these is hand carry by the point of contact

Suggestions and Lessons Learned (cont.)

The one-hour monthly telecons are not very effective, given the large number of people involved with the WIE

The annual face-to-face meeting is a much better venue

The role of society liaisons is only loosely defined• They are not within the core group that determines issues within the WIE• Setting up periodic telecons (quarterly?) between the society liaisons may

be a better way to establish the interaction between liaisons and the parent committee

• This was discussed at the April face-to-face meeting, but only 4 society liaisons attended

• NPSS has been more proactive than the other societies, and I am keeping the WIE informed about our conference functions

It would be useful to have a list of women who attend the various NPSS sponsored conferences to develop more interest in the WIE

• It is not possible to get this information from the IEEE• I need point of contact for the NPSS conferences in order to proceed

Summary

We had some success last year in working with the WIE• WIE sponsorship was obtained for the evening function at the Pulsed

Power Conference• We learned what the WIE expects when they sponsor an event

The $500 “allowance” for WIE activities from AdCom is a better approach

It allows us to bypass micromanagement by the WIE, and allows NPSS conferences to count on a basic level of funding

• WIE literature is available for distribution at our conferences, but they only have one set

I have prepared a poster that can be customized for individual conferences, and is inexpensive enough so that it does not need to be returned

The WIE communication process is slow and cumbersome, with no specific agenda for society liaisons• It takes about 6 months to learn how the WIE functions• I attended the face to face meeting in April, and plan to establish a

more direct communication channel between society liaisons