Hi everyone,

This is the December 2020 Newsletter by the UniMelb IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) Student Affinity Group. In this version, we share our upcoming election details, launch of our LinkedIn account, and an inspiring story of IEEE WIE volunteering and job landing experience because of women supported groups.

IEEE WIE UniMelb Annual General Meeting (AGM)

Following our announcement in the November 2020 Newsletter, the date of the UniMelb IEEE WIE AGM is decided now. If you are a female engineer interested in making BIG changes, join us at this event to begin your amazing journey!

We would like to invite all interested female students in the School of Engineering to nominate themselves for the following positions:

1. Chair
2. Vice-chair
3. Secretary
4. Treasurer
5. Activity Organizer
6. Webmaster

If you haven’t yet applied but excited to be a part of the IEEE WIE UniMelb 2021 committee, please nominate yourself here https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd819EQ8q8Xv9nGVyEYpbCMHWL7HEGlSCJWc50YMmeXSBftSg/viewform.

Date: 17th December, 2020
Time: 5pm to 6pm.
Zoom Link: https://unimelb.zoom.us/j/84325988130?pwd=SzM4aGFLclBkRUpsZm5HcUtGYitaZz09
Password: 842977

Launch of IEEE WIE UniMelb LinkedIn Account

In our one year journey of re-establishing IEEE WIE at The University of Melbourne, our Social Media Manager, Arni Dhar has created the LinkedIn account to complement our website and the Facebook account. Please follow it at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ieeewieunimelb/ to stay updated!

IEEE WIE and Women Support Groups

I am Soheila Ghane Ezabadi, PhD of computer science from the University of Melbourne and data scientist at BHP Billiton. My journey in IEEE WIE started when I was an executive member of IEEE Student Branch at the University of Melbourne and now, I am the chair of IEEE WIE Victoria. Due to my activities in engaging women in STEM, I was recognised as an inspiring woman in tech by AnitaB.org institute and was invited to the annual Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC) in 2018. This gathering was a great opportunity to get in touch with so many leaders from around the world. The career fairs held during the event was another opportunity for me to get a better understanding of various technology companies in the industry and potential opportunities for me as a data scientist. It was one year later in a similar occasion in Hopper Down Under (2019) that I got to know BHP and was invited to join the company as a data scientist. I could not imagine a better way of finding a job than you are recognised as a talent by the recruiter rather than you to reach out to them.

This was only part of the opportunities I got by joining IEEE WIE community. When I raised my hand to reactivate the IEEE WIE branch at the University of Melbourne, the global community strongly supported the initiative and we can see the result today – a group of passionate, determined and capable women working hard to empower women in tech. Being part of this global community exposed me to many new opportunities and made it possible to be seen by the broader community of IEEE. To name one of the results, I was honoured to receive the prestigious award of Richard Merwin, recognising my academic and leadership excellence.

Now that I am leading IEEE WIE Victoria, it has been about three years that I am actively part of the IEEE WIE global community. The goal of my team and I have been to empower women in tech through organising technical and non-technical events. We want to be a central hub for all women to guide them through potential opportunities. This year for example we adjusted our plan due to the pandemic conditions and successfully conducted a wide range of events including a panel discussion about online profiles, mental health workshops, technical talks, and knowledge sessions about managing superannuation. Looking forward to a time that all women in tech know their support communities and take advantage of provided opportunities in developing their career path.