Fall / Automne 2017 47 “For me personally, the executive leadership track was the most relevant and most important,” says Uchiteleva, a Ph.D. can- didate in wireless communica- tions at the University of West- ern Ontario. “This track is aimed at helping to develop strong- er female leaders in engineer- ing specifically, and consisted of multiple inspiring and insight- ful talks.” One message that stood out for Uchiteleva is that leadership is a choice; nobody is born a leader - you choose to become one. Candy Barone, CEO and founder of You Empowered Strong, explained in her presentation that successful leaders see opportunities rather than obligations. She also spoke about emotional intelligence — how to turn fears into motivation and how to shift from time-man- agement to focus-management. Another notable session was a panel on “Defining Leadership” with five speakers who hold management roles in Google, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, Applied Materials, Inc. and the U.S. Army Reserve. The panel discussed what leadership means to them, their leadership style, how to influence people, how to handle stressful situations and how to achieve challenging goals. “As an executive volunteer at the IEEE, these sessions helped me to define and shape my leader- ship style, to acquire more pro- found understanding of what leadership means, and to even- tually become a better leader,” says Uchiteleva. Some would say Uchiteleva already has a leadership track record quite firmly established: she is the recipient of the 2017 IEEE Canada Women in Engin- eering Prize and the 2017 Claud- ette MacKay-Lassonde Graduate Engineering Ambassador Award from the Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation. But, there is always more to discover, she notes. “At WIE ILC I saw dif- ficulties other leaders faced and how they overcame them.” Aside from personal and pro- fessional development, WIE ILC provided an opportunity for WIE volunteers to build links with their peers and share insights. “This conference is all about networking — it’s a great plat- form for meeting other IEEE WIE members and volunteers from all over the world. With some of them I’ve communicat- ed only by email, and finally got to meet those people in person,” Uchiteleva says. The networking benefits are shared by all the WIE Canada volunteers that attend WIE ILC, according to Uchiteleva. “Since they have a chance to talk to representatives from other regions and chairs of other groups, our volunteers can glean best practices, the most successful events that have been organized and what we can bring back here to Canada. They come away inspired to organize more impactful events, such as summits or workshops at other conferences.” Attendance at international con- ferences has higher travel costs than participation in events mounted in Region 7 (R7), so this generally limits how many IEEE Canada volunteers can benefit from them. However, WIE volunteers can apply for travel grants to attend WIE ILC, up to US$1,000. This year R7 also provided support for local chairs, with three grants of $500. “IEEE Canada is very support- ive of WIE,” says Uchiteleva. She notes how current IEEE Canada President Dr. Witold Kinsner has emphasized inte- gration of WIE activities into planning of regional activities. President-Elect Dr. Maike Luik- en, founder of London Section’s WIE group, has “never turned down an invitation” to speak at WIE Canada events Uchiteleva has organized. The larger IEEE WIE commun- ity has also been very responsive to Uchiteleva’s requests. For the WIE Canada Congress in Mis- sissauga in September 2016, she invited speakers such as current IEEE WIE Committee Chair Dr. Bozenna Pasik-Duncan, past chair Nita Patel and WIE Com- mittee member Jennifer Ng Ain Kin. Attending meant significant travel for some of them. But, they all showed up. “Having these high-profile WIE volunteers talk about their experiences really boost- ed attendance,” Uchiteleva says gratefully. “We really appreciat- ed the effort they made to come and present.” asim Abdollahi, from WIE Winnipeg Section, first heard about WIE ILC from Section past chair, Dr. Puyan Mojabi,whohighlyrecommended attending. Then during the Mississauga WIE Congress, she met Nita Patel, chair of WIE This really encourages me tobemorepassionateaboutwhat I’m doing. I need to do more, I need to inspire female students and younger generations … The whole environment was really motivating, intelligent, powerful. Nasim Abdollahi, Chair, WIE Winnipeg Section. Dr. Ana Luisa Trejos IEEE Women in Engineering Inspiring Member of the Year (Honourable Mention) DR. ANA LUISA TREJOS (SMIEEE) from London Section received world- wide recognition through honourable mention for theIEEEWomeninEngin- eering Inspiring Member of the Year Award. Her citation includes dedica- tion to WIE, advocacy for women in STEM and out- standing achievements in engineering. Since 2013, Dr. Tre- jos has been Assistant Professor at Western University and Associ- ate Scientist at Law- son Health Research. Her research interests include devices for min- imally invasive surgery and the development of systems for surgical at industry conferences. Trejos has been a WIE member since 2009. As Vice-Chair of the WIE London AG, she has helped to revive the group, which had been inactive for many years; today, it’s one of the most active WIE groups in Canada. Outside the IEEE, Tre- jos contributes to numer- ous community outreach programs that promote women in engineering, by developing outreach activ- ities for elementary and high school girls and pro- viding support to under- graduate female students through mentoring. Her approach is to share her passion about engineer- ing and spark interest in this profession— all while diminishing stereotypes about the role of women in STEM. ■ training and motor skills assessment. She owns four patents for surgical devices, has written 25 journal papers and 36 conference papers, and is a recipient of 19 awards, including the Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Schol- arship from the Natural Sciences and Engineer- ing Research Council of Canada. She serves on multiple committees and isasought-afterspeaker r leaders faced and learn how they overcame them.”