Nau mai, haere mai ki Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa!
Nau mai, haere mai ki Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa!
Welcome to Auckland, New Zealand!
Welcome to Auckland, New Zealand!
Kia Ora! Welcome to the IEEE Women In Engineering International Leadership Summit!
We’re thrilled to announce that the University of Auckland, New Zealand will host this year’s IEEE Women In Engineering International Leadership Summit on December 11th and 12th, 2023. The summit will bring together women in engineering, technology, and science from around the globe to share knowledge, experiences, and ideas, and empower them to become leaders in their fields.
The summit’s theme, “Empowering Women Leaders in a Changing World,” highlights the critical role that women play in shaping the future of engineering and technology. The event will feature keynote speeches from influential women in engineering and technology, as well as panel discussions, workshops, and networking events.
The summit gives you opportunities to connect with other women (and men) in your field, exchange experiences, and learn from experts in a supportive and collaborative environment. We warmly invite you to join us at the University of Auckland to shape the future of women in engineering and technology!
IEEE WIE ILS Registration ...
Join IEEE and enjoy discounted registration to the upcoming IEEE Women in Engineering International Leadership Summit in Auckland 2023! And if you become a member of IEEE WIE, you can save even more on your registration fee!
Spotlight on speakers
Juliet Gerrard, DPhil, is a graduate of Oxford University and a researcher with a broad and interdisciplinary background in fundamental and applied protein science. She has held various roles in both Crown Research Institutes and universities since moving to Aotearoa in 1993. Juliet has chaired the Marsden Council and served on the Board of Directors of Plant and Food Research. She founded a start-up company and held an Industry and Outreach Fellowship with Callaghan Innovation.
Nita Patel, MSCpE, is Senior Director at Otis's lead design center in Farmington, where she is leading global engineering development and providing new capabilities in connected, smart, IoT-based platforms. Nita is 2023 President of the IEEE Computer Society. Nita has served in many IEEE volunteer roles: IEEE Foundation Director, founder of the IEEE Women in Engineering International Leadership Conference (WIE ILC)
Takako Hashimoto, PhD, is a Vice President and Professor of the Faculty of Commerce and Economics at Chiba University of Commerce. With over 24 years of experience as a technical leader at Ricoh Co. Ltd. in Japan, she has made significant contributions to the development of various software products. Her research interests include data mining and social media analysis, with a focus on topic extraction from large volumes of tweets related to disasters and current events such as COVID-19.
Celia Shahnaz, SMIEEE, Fellow IEB, is a distinguished academic and IEEE member with over 22 years of experience. Holding a Ph.D. from Concordia University, Canada, she serves as a professor at BUET, Bangladesh. Celia's achievements include winning the Canadian Common Scholarship, receiving the Bangladesh Academy of Science Gold Medal, and being elected a Fellow of TWAS. She's an active IEEE contributor, serving as IEEE WIE Committee Chair and having various roles within IEEE committees. She's also known for her editorial work, having been an Editorial board member for IET Signal Processing since 2018.
Mahsa McCauley, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer and Director of Women in Tech at AUT's School of Computer, Engineering, and Mathematical Sciences. As a renowned leader in AI and machine learning, she founded the charitable trust She Sharp to encourage young girls in New Zealand to consider a career in technology. Mahsa has received numerous awards and accolades for her work, including being named the winner of the Emerging Leader category in the 2013
Rachel is a sport business growth and social impact specialist, director, and equity advocate. With 20+ years of experience in international commercial, sponsorship, and brand roles, she has worked in various sports such as Formula 1, golf, rugby, cricket, and football, as well as the global and local Olympic and Paralympic worlds. Her work on the London 2012 Paralympic Games
Kerry Emm is a dynamic leader and accomplished executive with 17 years of experience in the power delivery industry. As the Regional Vice President for ENTRUST Solutions Group, Kerry drives business growth and delivers exceptional customer experiences across the company’s accounts in the Northeast Region of America. Kerry began her career as a drafter/designer, drawing gas and electric installation plans for new housing developments
Bryony James is a materials engineer by training, who strayed from the true path of metals, plastics and ceramics, when she realised that food was just a material too. She has developed an internationally recognised research programme in the structure and properties of food, particularly what goes on when we chew. This includes chocolate. Seriously.
Craig Sutherland is a senior lecturer in the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Software Engineering, where he is interested in the “human” side of technology. His research interests fall into three categories: how do children use robots, what do Māori think of robotics, and how will robots influence our society in the future? Throughout his career, Craig has worked as a programmer, an early childhood educator, and an ambulance officer, before ending up in academia.
Jeewika is an engineer, an author, an illustrator, an inventor, a sustainability champion, a frequent conference speaker, and an avid volunteer for IEEE and various women in tech organizations. She is an IEEE Senior Member, an ABET PEV, the vice chair for IEEE Future Directions Committee, a member of the ABET team and the Committee on Engineering Accreditation Activities (CEAA). Jeewika authored an eBook about her engineering journey for IEEE Women in Engineering to inspire others to follow STEM careers and illustrated the 1st children’s book published by IEEE.
Catherine is currently Associate Dean of Equity and Diversity in the Faculty of Engineering, University of Auckland and an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical, Computer and Software Engineering. She has a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Canterbury, and was Director of the Software Engineering program for nearly 10 years. She does research at the intersection of speech processing and phonetics, focussing on New Zealand English and te reo Māori.
Jo Scott, a Senior Technical Leader at ENTRUST Solutions Group, is a seasoned professional with 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and energy industry. Jo’s journey throughout her career has shown her that struggles can be redefined as hidden strengths. As she supported her son on the autism spectrum, Jo realized that diversity of our brains and experiences can bring unique talents. Now, Jo is passionate about mentoring and helping others harness their strengths. In particular, she focuses on empowering females in engineering who face additional barriers and biases.
Lynne is a senior manager with over 30 years experience in the rail and roading industry in New Zealand and the UK. She has worked in both the public and private sectors, specializing in operations and maintenance and asset management. Lynne has strong leadership, management, and influencing skills, as well as a proven track record in building high-performing teams and driving positive culture change.
Alison joined Transpower in 2014 as Chief Executive. She has held a number of senior executive roles across various industry sectors, most recently as Global Head of Chemicals for Orica PLC. She is currently a Director of Ports of Tauranga, CIGRE, and has also been a Director of Genesis Energy.
Dr Perez specialises in autonomous vehicles at The Australian Centre for Field Robotics at the University of Sydney. With a Ph.D. in Engineering, her work focuses on scene understanding and map maintenance for autonomous vehicles. She leads several significant projects, including Data Analytics tools for developing and testing autonomous urban road vehicles.
Tracey Ryan is Managing Director, New Zealand for design, engineering & advisory company Aurecon, and is responsible for the leadership and performance of approximately 900 people across five locations. This includes health, safety & wellbeing, client engagement, staff engagement and project, financial and operational performance to meet Aurecon’s strategic and operational business goals for New Zealand.
Julia holds the position of Team Lead – Integrated Operations Team X, where she oversees a functional team of test and operations engineers. She has been with Rocket Lab New Zealand since 2019, holding roles as Propulsion Test Engineer, Senior Test and Operations Engineer and Test and Operations Team Lead. To this date, she has continuously operated as either sub-system expert, Test Lead, or Launch Director for over 50 launch vehicle stack tests and 28 consecutive space launches
Josie is Aurecon’s Land & Water Leader for New Zealand. With over 25 years’ experience in delivering a range of urban development and infrastructure projects, Josie leads a team of 170 people across five locations. Josie is passionate about looking at infrastructure from a broader social outcomes perspective and understands the importance of reflecting the diversity of our communities in infrastructure that will impact many generations to come.
Cecilia is a Programme Manager for the Corporate Social Outcomes team at Downer. A unique team which works towards shaping and evolving the culture within the civil infrastructure industry. These are delivered through programmes which creates talent pipelines into the business and also working towards building an infrastructure workforce that reflect the local communities and values associated with socially responsible organisations. Cecilia is also a Board Member for the Auckland Māori & Pacific Trades Initiative which is a scholarship and workforce development programme which has seen more than 3000 Māori and Pacific peoples take on traders since 2015.
Karen’s team manages our electricity network, responsible for planning, designing, constructing, maintaining and operating our network 24/7. Karen has an electrical engineering degree and a diploma in management. She’s a chartered engineer with over 25 years’ experience in electricity generation, distribution and large industrial sectors in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
She manages multiple projects for this innovation hub that trials and develops community-based solutions for equitable, life-long learning. Ying chairs the STEM Alliance Aotearoa (a COMET-led initiative). The alliance brings together STEM industry leaders and educators, working in partnership to advocate for, and innovate towards, more effective STEM outreach and engagement.
Megan is a Senior Associate – Planning with over ten years of specialist experience in the planning, consenting and consultation for infrastructure projects. She has extensive technical skills in the preparation of resource management documentation including designations and resource consents and in supporting clients in engagement. Her projects include water supply and wastewater transmission infrastructure and transport (rail and road) process across NZ.
Sneh is the project manager for the WeSTEM science in action programme at Te Hononga Akoranga COMET. This programme engages Pasifika youth in STEAM learning through hands-on scientific research experiences. Sneh also contributes to COMET’s data & advocacy work on campaigns including STEM outreach, attendance and Māori and Pasifika education.
