11/13/2024 Eleanor Wyllie
This fall, students and faculty from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering attended the Society of Women Engineers’ annual conference in Chicago, WE24: Together We Rise. The world’s largest conference for women in engineering and technology, this three-day flagship event included opportunities to network, learn about career paths and connect with industry.
Written by Eleanor Wyllie
This fall, students and faculty from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering attended the Society of Women Engineers’ annual conference in Chicago, WE24: Together We Rise. The world’s largest conference for women in engineering and technology, this three-day flagship event included opportunities to network, learn about career paths and connect with industry.
“It’s an incredible experience to be in a conference with more than 20,000 women in engineering and technology, who are here to support and learn from each other,” said Yuting Wu Chen, ECE professor and Director of Women in Engineering. “With this year’s event held in Chicago, we’re thrilled to have a strong presence from Grainger, with a large group of faculty, staff and students participating.”
On the first day of the conference, ECE Professors Yuting Chen, Yang Victoria Shao and Olga Mironenko, together with ECE graduate student Garima Gupta (a Grainger Engineering Graduate Student Diversity Ambassador), spent time at The Grainger College of Engineering booth introducing the department and college to prospective graduate students, and reconnecting with alums. Shao and Mironenko also attended the Illinois Grainger Engineering-sponsored Graduate Student Reception the following evening.
ECE innovation and creativity was on full display during the conference. On October 24, members of the Kinetic Intelligent Machine LAB (KIMLAB, led by Professor Joohyung Kim) presented three demonstrations of their robotics research. This was followed by demos the next day from members of the Human-Centered Autonomy Lab (led by Professor Katherine Rose Driggs-Campbell) and the Interactive Display Lab (led by Professor Craig Shultz).
Eight members of the Registered Student Organization Women in Electrical and Computer Engineering (WECE) also attended the event.
“The support and encouragement towards younger women engineers was deeply felt, with such an amazing turnout of members, including the WECE group that I joined!” said Matilde Figueroa-Carillo, electrical engineering undergraduate and WECE Internal Vice President.
At ECE we are committed to recruiting and retaining engineering students with diverse experiences and goals. We will continue to participate in these events and support our students throughout their college experience.
Grainger Engineering Affiliations
Yuting Wu Chen is an Illinois Grainger Engineering professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Director of Women in Engineering.
Yang Victoria Shao is an Illinois Grainger Engineering professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Olga Mironenko is an Illinois Grainger Engineering professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Joohyung Kim is an Illinois Grainger Engineering professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a member of the Coordinated Science Lab.
Katherine Rose Driggs-Campbell is an Illinois Grainger Engineering professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a member of the Coordinated Science Lab.
Craig Shultz is an Illinois Grainger Engineering professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and an affiliate of the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science.