IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2022 - 36

For example, Nishihara recalls that
when he formed the Region 10 Executive
Committee during his director tenure,
he assigned eight out of 25 spots
to women, compared to what had been
at most five positions in previous years.
The next Region 10 director, Deepak
Mathur, continued with this higher
number as the new norm.
" WIE activities are important parts
of IEEE diversity, equity, and inclusion,
and it is my great honor and pleasure to
be recognized as one of the " Extraordinary
Men " by IEEE WIE, " says Nishihara.
He remains committed to supporting
WIE activities as an advisor, sharing
that " women are still a minority, so we
need organizations like WIE. I hope that
we will have a truly equal society soon
where WIE is not needed. "
Eduardo I. Ortiz-Rivera
Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
A tenured professor
at the University
of Puerto Rico at
Mayagüez (UPRM)
for ECE in the
re search areas of
control systems,
power electronics,
and engineering
education, Dr. Eduardo
I. Ortiz-Rivera has been running a
research team, Minds2CREATE, for students
trained in areas such as renewable
energy, robotics, and engineering education
since 2006. Thanks to this effort,
he has had the opportunity to support
many female leaders, ranging from coauthoring
pieces for publications to serving
as a graduate advisor to providing professional
mentorship and letters of recommendation.
He is pleased to report that
Minds2CREATE students have obtained
prestigious awards and fellowships, such
as NNSA, GEM, NSF-GRFP, and NASA.
On top of this, Ortiz-Rivera has also
dedicated time to running professional
development workshops and visiting
schools for K-12 outreach activities to
recruit female students to study STEM
at UPRM, but he remains committed to
doing even more.
36
" This 'Extraordinary Man' designation
means a lot to my family and me as
a professional in the area of engineering
but also as an educator and role model
for my kids, Sofia and Eduardo Oleg, " he
shares. " As a father of a daughter, this
award recognizes my work to support
women's progress, but also it is an excellent
reminder that I need to continue
supporting females with more research,
leadership, and educational opportunities
in the different programs that I
manage at UPRM, the IEEE Western
Puerto Rico (WPR) Section, and Minds2CREATE. "
Ortiz-Rivera
completed his undergraduate
degree in electrical engineering
at UPRM, then received a master's
degree and Ph.D. degree at Michigan
State University in the United States. He
is an IEEE Senior Member who belongs
to Region 9, specifically to the IEEE
WPR Section, and is also the current
chairman of the local IEEE Power Energy
Society WPR Chapter.
He is grateful to his family, especially
his mother, Haydee, sister Enid,
and father Eduardo, for teaching
him about important life values
such as diversity, empathy, and
discipline. To pay it forward, OrtizDr.
Eduardo
I. Ortiz-Rivera
Rivera advises those in leadership
positions to " consider the opportunity
to be a role model to facilitate
females and other diverse groups to
have the chance to have a prosperous
professional career and make a positive
impact in their lives. " Further, he
says, " don't be afraid to be a leader in
developing a successful diverse team,
and always use your proper authority,
discipline, and leadership. "
Arthur Winston
Lincoln, Massachusetts, USA
Arthur Winston received his
undergraduate degree from
the University of Toronto
and his Ph.D. degree in
physics from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology.
He currently lives
in Lincoln, Massachusetts,
with his wife and has four
IEEE WOMEN IN ENGINEERING MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2022
grown children. An entrepreneur and
educator throughout his career, Winston
is retired, although still active in IEEE
at the Section and international levels
and involved in educational projects in
his local community.
The highlights of Winston's illustrious
career include proposing and
receiving funding for an idea to develop
a monitoring system that enabled the
United States to enter nuclear test-ban
talks with Russia, leading a team to
develop a monitoring system to determine
performance and safety of the
Apollo heat shield that became a standard
on all Apollo space missions, and
creating the Gordon Institute with two
colleagues, a standalone accredited university
(now a part of Tufts University)
dedicated to engineering leadership and
management, which also established the
master of science in engineering management
and master of science in engineering
leadership degrees, which are
now obtainable at universities throughout
the United States. Winston received
an award from the U.S. National Academy
of Engineering for the development
of the Gordon Institute, which is referred
to as their Nobel-Prize equivalent.
An IEEE president, Life Fellow, member,
and former director of Region 1 who
has served on many committees and held
numerous leadership positions, Winston
is proud to share that he was a part of
getting WIE off the ground. " WIE meetings
were typically held during the dinner
hour at IEEE Board meetings, which
meant most male, and some female,
members were attending other events
held at the same time, " he recalls. " When
I became IEEE president, I declared that
the WIE meeting would be held during
the day and that it would be the only
event to occur at that time. Meeting
attendance of both men and women
increased dramatically, raising
the professional value of this
women-led meeting. "
Winston's legacy, however,
is about more than
Dr. Arthur Winston
just his own career and
volunteer work. In fact, we
have him to thank for two
major societal achievements:
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2022

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