IEEE The Institute: IEEE WIE International Leadership Conference to Feature Game-Changing Women in Technology

Although they’ve made great strides in the past few decades, female engineers are still a minority in their fields. Keeping them motivated and helping them get a leg up in their career is the goal of this year’s IEEE Women in Engineering International Leadership Conference (IEEE WIE ILC), to be held 21 and 22 May in San Jose, Calif. This year’s theme is “Lead Beyond: Accelerating Innovative Women Who Change the World.”

“The leadership conference is dedicated to teaching, motivating, and empowering women to transcend the challenges they face daily, and become impactful leaders in their own right,” says Nita Patel, founder and chair of the event.

You can register for the conference at the IEEE WIE ILC website. Registration costs US $595 for IEEE WIE members, $650 for IEEE members, and $775 for nonmembers.

IEEE WIE is hosting a series of free virtual panel discussions before the event, moderated by tech leaders. The sessions have covered productivity, leadership skills, and disruptive technology. You can sign up to attend one of three remaining sessions (to be held on 25 April, 9 May, and 16 May) and watch the others on demand.

WHAT’S IN STORE

This year’s conference features panel discussions, a career fair that includes Microsoft and Tesla representatives, and a pitch competition for startup founders. Contestants get five minutes to pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists. The contest winner receives a $5,000 prize. The event is scheduled to conclude with a session on fundraising strategies for female entrepreneurs.

Scheduled speakers include Paula Tolliver, corporate vice president and chief information officer of Intel; Mary Gendron, senior vice president and chief information officer of Qualcomm; and IEEE Senior Member Fei-Fei Li, chief scientist of Google’s cloud machine-learning group. Speakers are likely to offer personal perspectives on leadership, discuss disruptive technology trends, and share insights on technological innovation.

The Institute will be covering the conference, so be sure to follow us on Twitter (@IEEEInstitute) and search #WIELead for news and updates throughout the event.

To learn more about IEEE WIE, email women@ieee.org.