Panel Discussion: Strategies to Create Supportive Academic and Workplace Experiences and Environments for Women Engineers.

Date: 29 Sep 2020

Venue: Virtual event

Name of the event: Panel Discussion: Strategies to Create Supportive Academic and Workplace Experiences and Environments for Women Engineers.

Panelist 1: Dr. Sinead O’Keeffe

Affiliation: University of Limerick, Ireland & Chair-WiSe, IEEE Sensors Council

Bio: Dr Sinéad O’Keeffe is a Royal Society – Science Foundation Ireland University Research Fellow within the Optical Fibre Sensors Research Centre, Department of Electronic & Computer Engineering at the University of Limerick, Ireland. She is leading a team that focuses on the development of optical fibre based sensor systems for biomedical applications. Her current research primarily focuses on radiotherapy for prostate and gynaecological cancer treatment. Sensors are being developed to measure the real-time radiation dose to the tumour and nearby critical structures and to measure the oxygen concentration of the tumour, which determines how resilient the tumour is to the radiation. She is co-ordinating the recently funded European H2020 Research and Innovation Programme Project “ORIGIN” developing an optical fibre dose imaging platform for adaptive brachytherapy.

Panelist 2: Dr. Jill I. Gostin

Affiliation: Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA & IEEE Region 3 Director

Bio: Dr. Jill I. Gostin is a Principal Research Scientist in the Software Engineering and Architecture Division of Georgia Tech Research Institute’s (GTRI) Sensors and Electromagnetic Applications Lab, and is past Deputy Director of GTRI’s Information and Communications Lab. She has worked at GTRI since 1985, where her work has focused on algorithm assessment and software testing and evaluation. In 2016 she was named the Women in Technology Woman of the Year. Dr. Gostin is the IEEE Region 3 Director. She received her BA in Mathematics from Greenville College and her MS in Applied Mathematics from the Georgia Institute of Technology

Panelist 3: Dr. Helen Mulvana

Affiliation: Professor, University of Strathclyde, UK & Web EiC, IEEE UFFC Society

Bio: Dr. Mulvana’s research focus is the development of advanced diagnostic tools for the earlier diagnosis and targeted treatment of cancer. Her expertise areas are: non-linear acoustics, contrast imaging, microbubbles, medical device design and fabrication, therapeutic ultrasound and elastography. She works closely with clinicians to better understand clinical needs and with engineers and life scientists to develop solutions to these challenges. Some of her research projects include the development of elasticity imaging using contrast-enhanced magneto-motive ultrasound for the early detection of colorectal cancer, a pilot clinical trial to establish effectiveness of contrast enhanced ultrasound to detect sentinel lymph nodes in rectal cancer, development of physiological flow phantoms to investigate factors capable of influencing ultrasound and microbubble mediated drug delivery, delivery of siRNA using ultrasound and microbubbles to treat hypertension in a mouse model and investigation of low frequency ultrasound to stimulate bone repair.

Panelist 4: Dr. Nazanin Bassiri-Gharb

Affiliation: Professor, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA & Immediate Past President of IEEE UFFC Society

Bio: Dr. Bassiri-Gharb’s research interests are in ferroelectric and multiferroic materials and their application to nano- and micro-electromechanical systems as sensors and actuators. Her research projects integrate micro and nanofabrication techniques and processes, with fundamental science of ferroelectric materials. Her work includes characterization and optimization of the optical and electric response of the IMOD displays, and research on novel materials for improved processing and reliability of the IMOD. Dr. Bassiri-Gharb’s research in the area of smart nano-systems is centered on ferroelectric nanostructures for application in environmental energy harvesting, tunable photonic crystals (TPC) and ultrasonic transducers. Cutting edge fabrication techniques, including Electron Beam Lithography and Nano-imprint, are employed for the production of the final devices. Collaborations with other groups on and off campus are in progress for piezoelectric characterization of the nanostructures and devices. Name of her research lab is: SMART MATERIALS’ ADVANCED RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY (SMART). All projects involve interdisciplinary research across the fields of Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, and Electrical Engineering.

Panelist 5: Dr. Zeynep Celik-Butler

Affiliation: Professor, University of Texas, Arlington, USA & VP Finances, IEEE Sensors Council

Bio: Zeynep Çelik-Butler is Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington. She received dual B.S. degrees in electrical engineering and physics from Bogaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey, in 1982. She received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering in 1984 and 1987, respectively, from the University of Rochester. Her research interests include microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), multi-functional reconfigurable sensors, noise and reliability in nanoelectronic devices. Her research has been supported by NSF, NASA, AFOSR, ARO, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, SRC, Texas Instruments, Freescale Semiconductor, Laerdal Co., L-3 Communications, Legerity, ST-Microelectronics, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. Dr. Çelik-Butler is a Fellow of IEEE, and life member of Eta Kappa Nu. She currently serves in the editorial board of IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, IEEE Sensors Journal and Journal of Nanoelectronics and Optoelectronics. Prof. Çelik-Butler has received several awards including the University of Texas at Arlington Outstanding Research Achievement Award (2006), IEEE-Dallas Section Electron Devices Society Outstanding Service Awards (1995, 1997), IEEE-Electron Devices Society, Service Recognition Award (1995, 2009), IEEE-Electron Devices Society, Distinguished Lecturer Appreciation Award (2006), Outstanding Electrical Engineering Graduate Faculty Awards (1996, 1997, 2001), and MU-Sigma Xi Research Award (1997).

Participants: 142

IEEE Member/Non-member: No data

Registration fee: free