Global Marathon For, By and About Women in Engineering and Technology, scheduled for March 7-12

The only ‘town square’ meeting for women engineers around the world, the Global Marathon For, By and About Women in Engineering and Technology, scheduled for March 7-12, is out to change the conversation about girls and how they view engineering as a career. In a survey conducted for the National Engineers Week Foundation girls were interested in math and science—the tools that engineers use—but simply did not know how those disciplines could translate into an engineering career.   

The Global Marathon is an annual worldwide forum connecting professional women, college students and girls for virtual and in-person conversations about education and careers in engineering and technology. It is the only event of its kind where women in engineering and technology from a diverse range of disciplines, experience levels, ages, cultures, industries and employers will come together to participate in real-time, live group events, webcasts, Internet chats and teleconferences in any of 6 regions on these dates:

            March 7- Kick off and North America program

            March 8 – China

            March 9 – India

            March 10 – Middle East/Africa

            March 11 – Latin America (Mexico/Brazil)

            March 12 – UK/Europe and close in North America 

The Marathon opens off with a welcome from Honorary Chair Nan Mattai, Senior Vice President
Rockwell Collins Engineering & Technology to the female engineering community and girls around the world.

Some of the other programming highlights for 2011 include:

·         Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, IA will host “High School Choices: Am I Ready for College Engineering?”

·         IBM in San Jose, CA will host “Working Across Global Boundaries: Improving Education Opportunities and Lives of East African Women.” 

·         China’s sessions include a Global Marathon poster competition with the theme “I LOVE Science” for primary school students. Other sessions include a campus talk entitled “The Future Is in Your Hands,” for girls from China’s top universities. Finally, young women engineers from IBM and other companies will discuss “Building Your Confidence in Technical Careers.”

·         Motorola and IBM in India plan to reach nearly 1,000 pre-university and university students with programs in cities around the country, including Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Gurgaon, Noida and Tuitcorin. The first event features robot activities, science exhibitions, group activities, talks and presentations. The second event, for older students, includes a keynote speech from a senior IBM executive, along with an inter-college poster contest. 

·         In the Middle East, women engineers will discuss personal experiences and how their technical talents can contribute to community service.

·         In Brazil, the audience will hear from Dupont’s Head of Engineering, Jocelyn Scott.

·         The UK/Europe program includes an address by Dr. Sarah Buck, the first woman president of the Institution of Structural Engineers in the UK. 

To participate in changing the conversation, join the Marathon at www.globalmarathon.net.

Sponsors for the 2011 Global Marathon include: Rockwell Collins, Motorola Foundation and ExxonMobil.

About Engineers Week

The National Engineers Week Foundation, a formal coalition of more than 100 professional societies, major corporations and government agencies, is dedicated to ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce by increasing understanding of and interest in engineering and technology careers among young students and by promoting pre-college literacy in math and science. Engineers Week also raises public understanding and appreciation of engineers' contributions to society.  Founded in 1951, it is among the oldest of America's professional outreach efforts. Co-chairs for 2011 are Raytheon and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).

 For more information, visit www.eweek.org.

Introduce A Girl to Engineering Day Set for February 24 With Goal of Reaching 10,000 Girls

Leaders from both the public and private sectors have spoken loudly: We as a nation must increase the numbers of well trained and educated engineers if we are to remain competitive on the global stage.  With that urgent call as a backdrop, it becomes critical that girls and women take their place among our next generation of engineering leaders. 
 

Starting February 24, women engineers and their male counterparts will mentor and reach as many as one million girls around the country with workshops, tours, on-line discussions and a host of hands-on activities at local businesses, universities and libraries for the 10^th annual of Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day.  This year, Engineers Week puts the ‘G’ in engineering in an even bigger way and takes the annual event to new heights with its special 10 for 10 anniversary campaign, a multi-faceted effort intended to reach 10,000 10-year-old girls with positive engineering experiences. 10 for 10 launches nationally on Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day and runs for 10 weeks, concluding on May 8, Mother’s Day. National Engineers Week Foundation will collect information about events and count girls reached. All events deliver the message that a career in engineering is within the grasp of every young woman looking to play a role in addressing the issues her generation will face as it comes of age. Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day is one of the tent pole events that make up National Engineers Week 2011, February 20-26, 2011.

In addition to National Engineers Week Foundation, the organizers of the 10 for 10 initiative include National Girls Collaborative Project, Girls RISEnet/ASTC Girl Scouts of the USA, AAUW, Sci-Girls (PBS), Society for Women Engineers, Women in Engineering ProActive Network (WEPAN), and National Coalition of Girls Schools.

Raytheon Company, one of the co-chairs of National Engineers Week, has been a strong corporate advocate of engineering-focused programs that reach out to young people.

“The vision of this collaborative initiative is to broaden the way girls and young women look at engineering - to help them see the creative and relevant work that engineers do,” said Karen Peterson, Principal Investigator for National Girls Collaborative Project and CEO of EdLab Group.  “This year’s 10 for 10 campaign is particularly exciting because it leverages many powerful partnerships to reach more girls at a younger age and for a sustained period of time.”

Some of the many local activities planned for Girl Day 2011 include:

·         Miami Science Museum will celebrate the 10th anniversary of Introduce A Girl to Engineering Day on Saturday, February 26^th from 12-4 p.m. The Society of Women Engineers and Engineers Without Borders will lead activities and demonstrations on various engineering topics. There will also be informative presentations geared towards students who may be interested in engineering as a career from Irene Fraga of Fraga Engineering and Stephanie Gillespie of SWE.

·         Rockwell Collins will host 5^th - 8^th grade girls from the Meskawki Tribe in Tama and Cedar Rapids middle schools for tours, hands-on activities and one to one time with female engineers. Girls will be invited to bring along a parent or significant adult in their life in addition to their teacher(s). Adults will spend time touring labs and learning about Rockwell Collins outreach activities and how best to talk with young women about career choices and education in STEM fields.

·         At 14 company locations, ExxonMobil engineers will engage middle-school students with presentations, hands-on experiments and demonstrations.  Through site outings at ExxonMobil offices and classroom visits, more than 400 ExxonMobil volunteers will impact nearly 3,000 students. Local activities include demonstrations on how the industry uses 3D technology to search for oil and natural gas; water purification experiments; bridge-building with straws; exploring the science of manufacturing lipstick; and panel discussions with practicing engineers. 

·         The University of Texas at Austin, a WEPAN member, is holding its annual Women in Engineering Program, giving first through eighth grade students the chance to do fun grade-specific, hands-on engineering activities and interact with students, professors and engineers from the industry.  Participating Girl Scouts receive a Girl Day patch available through partnership with the Girl Scouts of Central Texas. Last year’s event concluded with an exciting interactive show from Science in the Movies showcasing the engineering and science behind movie stunts.

·         The University of Miami will bring over 100 local high school girls to campus to learn about engineering.  Activities for the day include team competitions for the students in an engineering challenge and tours of various engineering labs with active demonstrations by graduate students and professors. A professional engineer introduces the students to the real world of engineering during lunch. 

·         Siemens Industry, Inc. in West Chicago, IL will hold its seventh annual Introduce a Girl to Engineering event.  The event is for girls in 5th through 12th grade and will be hosted by woman engineers.  Girls who attend will complete fun experiments associated with different engineering disciplines.   Other highlights will include a short video about engineering and a factory tour.

·         The Women in Science and Engineering Roundtable (WISER) at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) will host middle school students from schools in the Cleveland area and visit labs in different departments in the Case School of Engineering (CSE).   In each lab, students will learn more about the research that is done there and will participate in a related, hands-on activity.  WISER students will serve as â coaches to the middle school students and will escort students throughout campus and assist with laboratory activities. The day long activities also include a pizza lunch for all middle school students, their teachers, WISER volunteers and faculty hosts and guests. 

·        The Baltimore Chapter of the Women's Transportation Seminar (WTS) is working with the Baltimore Engineers Club and has invited girls from schools in Maryland to attend its Girl Day event.   Women engineers are the featured speakers, including the current WTS scholarship winner who is attending Morgan State University and completing her civil engineering degree.  There will also be a group team building activity and an interactive lunch provided by the Engineers Club.

National Engineers Week Foundation’s commitment to girls and women does not stop with Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day.  From March 7-12, Engineers Week presents the Global Marathon For, By and About Women in Engineering and Technology, an annual worldwide forum connecting professional women, college students and girls for virtual and in-person conversations about education and careers in engineering and technology.

Visit http://www.eweek.org/EngineersWeek/Introduce.aspx to access Girl Day activities nationwide.

Major support for Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day 2011 is provided by ExxonMobil Corporation, Motorola Foundation, S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, Rockwell Collins and Agilent Technologies.  Additional support is provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF). 

About Engineers Week

The National Engineers Week Foundation, a formal coalition of more than 100 professional societies, major corporations and government agencies, is dedicated to ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce by increasing understanding of and interest in engineering and technology careers among young students and by promoting pre-college literacy in math and science.  Engineers Week also raises public understanding and appreciation of engineers' contributions to society.  Founded in 1951, it is among the oldest of America's professional outreach efforts.  Co-chairs for 2011 are Raytheon and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).

For more information about National Engineers Week Foundation, visit www.eweek.org.

WITI Announces Event Schedule for Annual Women and Technology Summit September 12-14, 2010 in San Jose, CA

WITI (Women In Technology International), the world’s leading professional organization for professional tech savvy women will truly inspire “Collaboration, Strategy and Growth” through hands-on presentations and panel discussions at the Annual WITI Women and Technology Summit in San Jose, CA, September12-14, 2010.

 

Top technology and business leaders in Clean/Green Tech, Cloud, Mobile, Search, Social Media, and Business teach WITI Summit attendees how to capture and target more customers, build stronger relationships with existing customers and take advantage of the applications and tools to build a stronger web presence, increase revenue and streamline costs for their companies.

 

WITI represents the ideal market for business networking – CIOs, executive women and men, as well as leaders in technology from around the world converge at WITI’s Annual Women and Technology Summit to discuss and collaborate on innovative solutions to common business challenges, and explore new business opportunities.

 

Highlights of the Annual WITI Women and Technology Summit include:

o   Keynote Speakers

·      Sandy Carter, VP, SOA & WebSphere Strategy, Channels & Marketing, IBM

·      Bernadette Nixon, SVP Global Field Marketing, CA

·      Nilofer Merchant, Entrepreneur, CEO & Chief Strategist, Rubicon Consulting

·      Kathrin Winkler, Chief Sustainability Officer, EMC

o   The 15th Annual WITI Hall of Fame Awards

·      Honoring key women innovators from science and technology on Monday, September 13^th. This year’s honorees are: Sandy Carter of IBM, Dr. Ruth David of Analytic Services, Inc., Dr. Adele Goldberg, Dr. Susie Wee of Hewlett Packard and Dr. Ruth Westheimer. Katie Boehret, Reporter for The Wall Street Journal, will serve as Master of Ceremonies.

o   WITI NextGen

·      At this Young Women’s micro conference on September 13, 2010, leading women from technology will teach, mentor and share with 20 middle school and high school girls to encourage the pursuit of careers in technology. The day will feature career, leadership and mentoring panels and workshops, as well as the opportunity to share and have lunch with distinguished WITI Hall of Fame Honorees.

o   The WITI Foundation Executive Auction and VIP Reception

·      Provides an opportunity to network and bid on one-to-one meetings with the top executives of companies such as GEICO, Symantec, eBay, Genentech, McKesson and Charles Schwab. Auction items include packages such as an executive lunch or dinner meeting with Mr. Randy Spratt of McKesson at a Bay Area restaurant of the winner’s choice; plus an iPod Nano, American Express gift card and tickets to the September 16 San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers game at AT&T Park in San Francisco. The Executive Auction is the WITI Foundation’s annual fundraiser and closes the Annual WITI Summit on the evening of September 14, 2010.

o   The World Café

·      Led by Dr. Anne Adams, a world-class Coach and Leader, this event is a transformative process, using everything learned about catalytic process technologies, designed to help identify collective intelligence, co-creativity and discover new solutions to challenges.

 

“The 2010 WITI Women and Technology Summit and WITI Hall of Fame Awards together underscore the many significant contributions to the advancement of technology made by women through out the world,” said Carolyn Leighton, Founder/Chairwoman of WITI.

WITI’s Annual Women and Technology Summit will be held September 12-14 at the Doubletree Hotel in San Jose, CA. The 15^th Annual WITI Hall of Fame Awards Gala will take place Monday, September 13, 2010 at 6pm.

 

To learn more about the WITI -Women in Technology Summit, group rates, and to register for this event, please visit:http://WITI.com/Summit

 About WITI

WITI is the world's leading trade association for professional women committed to using technology, resources and connections to advance women worldwide. With a global network of talented leading women across all sectors of the technology industry and a market reach exceeding 2 million, WITI has established powerful strategic alliances and programs to provide connections, resources, and opportunities within a supportive environment of women committed to advancing each other. WITI's mission is to empower women worldwide to achieve unimagined possibilities and transformations through technology, leadership and economic prosperity. For more information, please visit http://witi.com.

Speakers and Panelists include (more will be added):

·      Carolyn Leighton, Founder/Chairwoman, WITI

·      Anne Adams, Ph.D., President, ACS

·      Vanessa Alvarez, Industry Analyst, Frost & Sullivan

·      Brian Bershad, Site Director, Google

·      Anne Bezancon, Founder & President, Placecast

·      Colleen Bisconti, Marketing Program Director, IBM

·      Marie Bjerede, Vice President of Wireless Education Technology, Qualcomm

·      Dr. Cheemin Bo-Linn, Chief Executive Officer, Peritus Partners

·      Cathy Brooks, Founder, otherthanthat.com

·      Sandy Carter, VP, Software Business Partners, IBM

·      Emilie Choi, Corporate Development, LinkedIn

·      Kathy Chou, VP, PSG Americas Sales Strategy & Operations, Hewlett Packard

·      Laura Anne Edwards, Founder Alura Entertainment

·      Lauren Flaherty, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Juniper

·      Lisa Garza, Market Manager, Service Provider Mobility Marketing, Cisco

·      Wanda Gass, TI Fellow / DSP Architect, Texas Instruments

·      Bernard Golden, CEO, HyperStratus

·      Nat Goldhaber, Managing Director, Claremont Creek Ventures

·      Ayalla Goldschmidt, Program Director, Application Infrastructure Marketing, IBM

·      Melody Haller, CEO, Antenna Group

·      Christine Herron, Principal, First Round Capital

·      Sally Jenkins, Vice President, Worldwide Marketing, Symantec

·      Duy Loan Le, Senior Fellow, Texas Instruments

·      Sophia Lopez, BPM Product Marketing Manager, Process Modeling, IBM

·      Melendy Lovett, President, Education Technology, Texas Instruments

·      Joel Makower, Executive Editor, GreenBiz.com

·      Nancy Margulies, Co-Developer, The World Café

·      Melinda Matthews, Software Executive Channels, IBM

·      Laurie McCabe, Co-founder and Partner, SMB Group

·      Amanda McConnell, Director, User Experience & Product Marketing, ReachLocal

·      Chirag Mehta, Office of the CEO, SAP

·      Nilofer Merchant, Entrepreneur, CEO & Chief Strategist, Rubicon Consulting

·      KL Moore, Image Consultant, KL Image Group

·      Bernadette Nixon, SVP, Global Field Marketing and Programs, CA Technologies

·      Adrian Ott, Author, CEO & Founder, Exponential Edge, Inc.

·      Jean Pawluk, Chief Architect, Visa 

·      Michelle Price, CEO, A Third Mind Digital Media

·      Melissa Jun Rowley, Cause Correspondent, WhatGivers!?

·      Dr. Miriam Reiss, DSS, MCC, SpiritedMarketing.com

·      Michelle Robbins, Director of Technology, Third Door Media

·      Patricia Santamaria, Smart Work Demand Program Marketing Manager, IBM

·      Paula Satow, Founder, Satow Strategies LLC

·      Ann Saydah, General Business and Channel Sales, IBM

·      Judy Shaw, Director, Advanced Module Development External Development and Manufacturing, Texas Instruments

·      Becky Swain, Program Manager, IT Risk Management, Cisco

·      Joey Tamer, Consultant, Expert, JoeyTamer.com

·      Chenxi Wang, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research, Inc.

·      R "Ray" Wang, Partner for Enterprise Strategy, Altimeter Group

·      James Watters, Sr. Manager, vCloud Solutions, VMware

·      Ghennipher Weeks, Co-Founder, Applied Connectioneering, Inc

·      Bill Weihl, Green Energy Czar, Google

·      Lizzie Widhelm, Vice President of Sales West Coast, Pandora

·      Lorie Wigle, General Manager of Eco-Technology, Intel

·      Kathrin Winkler, Chief Sustainability Officer, EMC

·      Teresa Zobrist, President & CEO, Zobrist Consulting Group