48 Fall / Automne 2017 ILC. Her interest was piqued; she applied for volunteering and received a travel grant, allowing her to make the trip to San Jose. Abdollahi, who is completing her PhD at the University of Manitoba, is conducting research into microwave imaging for biomedical applications. At WIE ILC, she learned about the latest research by tech giants like Apple, Microsoft, Intel and Google, which was eye-open- ing. It also inspired her. “I met so many strong women; they have done so much to inspire young females to pursue engineering and science,” says Abdollahi. A keynote speaker that stood out for Abdollahi was Peggy Johnson, Executive Vice-President of Business Development with Microsoft, who spoke about the evolution of non-traditional career paths and staying true to your authentic self. At one point in her career, she was the only female engineer working for Qualcomm, which came with its challenges. Abdollahi walked away from the conference with a new role model in Johnson. r. SamiraA. Rahimi, from IEEE Quebec Section, also attended WIE ILC through a travel grant. Dr. Rahimi called it “an inspirational event” where she strengthened her leadership and networking skills, as well as job-search skills. A postdoctoral researcher at Université Laval’s Faculty of Medicine, Rahimi has been focused on healthcare systems for years. With a background in industrial and system engineering, she tackles health- related decision-making problems and helps both health professionals and their patients to work together to make informed value-congruent decisions about patients’ health. She is currently part of a prenatal screening study to detect chromosome abnormalities using maternal blood, aided by personalized genomics. Her specific research has to do with shared decision making in having the test performed. Rahimi’s research is interdisci- plinary, and presenting engin- eering material can be challen- ging — particularly when try- ing to make it understandable and interesting to non-engineers. “These sessions helped me to learn skills on how to communi- cate engineering and technical terms to colleagues without my background,” she says. At ILC, Rahimi learned about the latest in healthcare technol- ogies and e-health initiatives, and had a chance to hone her soft skills, including improving her leadership capabilities. “I was thrilled by meeting many strong female leaders in differ- ent industries including health- care — I’ve gained from their experiences.” Rahimi is an active campaigner for gender equality and an active advocate for women STEM stu- dents, professionals and entre- preneurs. She is founder and chair of IEEE WIE Quebec Sec- tion, and winner of the 2015 IEEE Canada Women in Engin- eering Prize. “We cannot go further in gender equality unless we move to the action cycle,” Rahimi says. “If we leave it to happen by itself, it won’t! We need to have an active role in implementing gender equality in every aspect of our lives, and teach it to the next generation.” anet Davis, from IEEE OttawaSection,attended WIE ILC for her second time. “It’s good to re-inspire you, to get you re-ener- gized,” she says. A senior engin- eering manager at network strategy and technology com- pany Ciena, Davis found the leadership track particularly useful, since it was focused spe- cifically on women in engineer- ing fields. “It dealt with differ- ent situations, focusing on how you as a woman would handle them,” she says. If we leave it to happen by itself, it won’t! We need to have an active role in implementing gender equality in every aspect of our lives, and teach it to the next generation. Dr. Samira A. Rahimi, Chair, WIE Quebec Section Alise Wang IEEE Women in Engineering Inspiring Student of the Year (Honourable Mention) ALISE WANG (IEEE WIE University of Ottawa SBAG) received world- wide recognition through an honourable mention for the IEEE Women in Engineering Inspir- ing Student Member of the Year Award, for her leadership and contri- butions to the IEEE WIE and IEEE communities. Though Wang is only in her third year as an undergraduate engin- eering student, she has been involved with the SB WIE uOttawa since 2015 and, as one of the most active executive members, was elected to fulfill the role of SB WIE uOttawa Chair in 2016. Wang advocates for women by volunteering as a workshop coordinator for ANCWT (Advancing New Canadian Women in Tech- nology), a pilot program designed to assist women refugees and newcom- ers from Syria in gaining work experience. She has also contributed to several community outreach pro- grams, including the uOt- tawa Kin Club, and is a member of Engineers With- out Borders. Wang is organizer of the WIE uOttawa Big Eng Lit- tle Eng Mentorship Pro- gram, a school-wide men- torship program involving more than 140 students to date — providing a vital support network for first- year female students and helping to increase the retention rate of women in engineering. ■ Driven by her interest in humanitarian projects, Wang has helped to organizemajorCanadian IEEE conferences, such as IHTC and EPEC, as well as the WIE Canada Outreach & Networking Event at EPEC 2016. She also volunteered to run the WIE promotional booth at EPEC 2016 and EMBS ISC 2016, helping to increase WIE membership. Coming out of this conference, you make yourself a promise to do something. Janet Davis, IEEE Ottawa Section Community News/Nouvelles de la communauté —