Candidates for 2022 IEEE Women in Engineering Committee Chair-Elect.
The sequence of candidates was determined by lottery and indicates no preference.
CINZIA DA VIÀ
(Nominated by IEEE Women in Engineering)
Professor of Physics
The University of Manchester
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Manchester, United Kingdom, and
Visiting Research Professor
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, New York, USA
https://publons.com/researcher/4538234/cinzia-da-via
Cinzia Da Vià received her PhD in Physics at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, working at the European Center for Particle Physics (CERN) on radiation detectors and their spinoff applications to medicine, while being awarded a CERN fellowship. She formed and led an international collaboration to develop a novel detector design (3D) with unprecedented radiation tolerance and speed, which was successfully installed in the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in 2012. She is the Independent Committee co-chair of the EU ATTRACT Initiative which support innovative radiation imaging technology research projects in Europe and is the Chief Editor of the Frontiers in Physics, Radiation Detectors and Imaging Journal. She has co-authored more than 500 papers and one book on 3D-radiation detectors. She is a regular Speaker, Chair, and International Scientific Committee Member of several conferences and instrumentation schools. She regularly supervises PhD and Master students and mentors young researchers.
IEEE Accomplishments and Activities
(A’04-M’05-SM’20)
Statement
The first time I attended an in-person IEEE WIE meeting, I felt the power of discussing common interests with women from many professional fields and different cultural and geographical backgrounds from around the world. We were all talking the same language and we understood each other. Only a global organization like IEEE can offer such opportunities. Equality for women and minorities is an issue requiring attention more than ever after the pandemic that has exposed inequalities in the global population at many levels. As the IEEE WIE Chair-Elect, I would promote strengthening a sense of community among women working in STEM fields globally. I would also use my leadership experience to gather women in all fields to discuss new opportunities in science and innovation and on promoting effective ways to practice equal opportunities in education and jobs, equality in salary, career progression, and open recognition of excellence and role models
CELIA SHAHNAZ
(Nominated by Petition)
Professor
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET)
Dhaka, Bangladesh
http://www.celiashahnaz.com
Celia Shahnaz, SMIEEE, Fellow IEB, received Ph.D. degree from Concordia University, Canada and is a Professor, Department of EEE, BUET, Bangladesh since 2015.
She has published 150+ international journal/conference papers, a recipient of the Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship/Fellowship and Bangladesh Academy of Science Gold Medal for her contributions in Science and Technology. Her papers have received best paper awards in IEEE BECITHCON 2019, Biomedical Engineering tracks TENCON 2017, IEEE WIECON-ECE 2016, and Humanitarian Challenge track R10 HTC 2017.
She was the mentor of 1st/2nd prize winning projects in IEEE IAS CMD Contests (Robotics, Humanitarian) in 2017-2019, USA, the supervisor of 4th/5th rank winning teams in SPCUP and VIPCUP competitions, ICASSP 2020 (Spain)/2015 (Australia)/ICIP 2020 (UAE). She has 20+ years of experience (20 years as an IEEE volunteer) of leading impactful Technical, Professional, Educational, Industrial, Women Empowerment, and Humanitarian Technology Projects at national/international levels.
IEEE Accomplishments and Activities
(S’02-GSM’06-M’10-SM’16)
IEEE Activities:
Committees/Boards:
Region:
Section, Student Branch (SB), SB Chapters:
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Conferences:
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Recent Accomplishments:
Statement
My vision is to enhance collaboration among IEEE WIE, WIE AGs, and other OUs, such as councils, sections/subsections, student branches, AGs (YP, LM) and SIGHT to enhance member engagement, develop technical skills, promote research and innovation, ensure recognition and representations of WIE members in leadership positions across all OUs. If elected, my priorities will be:
More information: http://www.celiashahnaz.com
SIMAY AKAR
(Nominated by IEEE Women in Engineering)
CCO & Co-Founder
INNOSES
Istanbul, Turkey
https://www.simayakar.com/wie
Simay Akar is an entrepreneur with corporate industrial background and experience in the energy industry. She specialized in photovoltaic manufacturing, battery storage for electric vehicles and other renewable energy technologies and the clean energy markets development.
Akar is currently the Chief Commercial Officer & Co-Founder at Innoses.
Additional past roles include Sales & Marketing Director of EkoRE – Eko Renewable Energy and Marketing & Business Development Director of GoodWe Turkey, Head of Overseas Marketing at Talesun Solar.
Akar has worked in China and Turkey and mostly focused on international commercial activities and has been employed by CSUN Eurasia, Schneider Electric, Arcelik (BEKO), and Lucida Solar.
In addition to her professional acclimates, she is an IEEE Senior Member, acknowledged volunteer since 2007 and recipient of several prestigious awards. Simay is a graduate of Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey and participated in the Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies Program at Stanford University.
IEEE Accomplishments and Activities
(S’08-M’13-SM’19)
Simay is volunteering for WIE since 2007. She served in a number of roles on various levels: from Student Branch Chair to Student Representative, Section WIE AG Founder-Chair, Regions 8 & 10 WIE Committees, MGA WIEC roles continuously for 8 years; Region 8 WIE Chair, PES Women in Power Liaison to WIEC, WIE YP Liaison (Voting Member), Chaired several WIEC Subcommittees (Awards, Travel Grants and Outreach). She was actively involved in the coordination of WIE ILC and 25th Anniversary Celebration. Simay currently has responsibilities in other OUs; TAB Diversity and Inclusion Committee member, and HAC Partnership Chair (leading WIE, YP, SAC, and EA initiatives). Simay has passion and deep understanding of the structure and operation of WIEC and knowledge of all the best practices over the years. Furthermore, a diverse IEEE OU experiences help her to have wider operational knowledge.
Simay also served in other leadership positions in various OUs including IEEE Day, IEEE Humanitarian Activities Committee & Steering Committees of IEEE SIGHT & IEEE Entrepreneurship, IEEE PES (Chair, YP 2021), IEEE SSIT, IEEE Smart Cities, IEEE Young Professionals (MGA Vice-Chair, Marketing & Outreach), IEEE Student Activities (MGA Vice-Chair, Membership), and positions in Regions 8 & 10. Simay has operational knowledge of Section Executive Committee (Treasurer) and Regional Operations Committee (Region 8 Vice-Chair). She is a VOLT graduate.
To learn more: https://www.simayakar.com/ieee-volunteer-experiences
Individual Awards:
Team Awards:
Statement
IEEE Women in Engineering is a diverse global network that enables and recognizes success for all members in STEM fields to interact, empower, unlock their own potential, develop their careers, increase their self-confidence, improve their professional skills, and accomplish their dreams.
If elected as IEEE WIEC Chair, I would work diligently to support and drive this mission and efforts by:
I kindly ask for your vote, and I look forward to serve you!