IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2008 - 2

Letter from the Editor
Karen Panetta

Jumping into
the Robotics Revolution

incredible women not only serve as role
models to help attract more women
into the field but are also exemplary
entrepreneurs.
IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE)
now has 186 Affinity Groups around the
world and gained over 200 new members
It's more than just toys and entertainment
in 2008. It is our goal to bring our worldwide community closer together by highlighting the people and events that are
making IEEE WIE the most celebrated
international community of support for
Whether it is music, medicine, securiJust a few years ago, the field of robotics
women in engineering.
ty, entertainment, or automation, you
was considered in the realm of science ficIn this issue, IEEE Women in
will learn how the field of robotics
tion and visible to the general public only
Engineering Magazine will
requires engineering expertise
in the form of toys and entertainment.
highlight our visit to Dubai
from all the IEEE fields of
Furthermore, anyone wishing to purand the IEEE Region 10
interest including electrical
sue a robotics career was typically
GOLD/WIE/Student Conand computer engineering,
steered towards mechanical engineering.
gress in India. The rich tracomputer science, physics,
As engineers, we know that robotics
ditions and outstanding
biology, and mathematics.
is an interdisciplinary field requiring us
work of our WIE members
We will focus on the individto be adept with many areas of engineerin these regions are inspiring
uals developing revolutionizing as well math and science. In this
reminders of our responsibiliing robotic technologies and
issue, we will introduce you to some
Karen Panetta
ties as engineers to improve
how their work is becoming
amazing engineers who are demonstratthe quality of life for all individuals and
prevalent in every aspect of our lives.
ing just how exciting and all encompassto protect our environment.
What is even more exciting is that
ing the field of robotics truly is.
many women engineers are at the forefront of the robotics revolution. These
(continued on page 4)
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MWIE.2008.925758

IEEE WIE CLEMENTINA SADUWA SCHOLARSHIP
ELIGIBILITY AND SELECTION:

Clementina
Saduwa

Selection criteria will be reviewed by the IEEE WIE Committee. Scholarship applicants must:
◗ be female
◗ be a student from Africa, in good academic standing, and
must provide information on involvement with academic,
extracurricular, civic responsibilities, and outreach efforts to
other women (scholarship open to all IEEE fields of interests)
◗ maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 2.8 on a 4.0 scale
◗ submit two referral letters from individuals who are qualified to evaluate your academic accomplishments (e.g.,
teachers, administrators)
◗ provide a personal statement (750-word maximum) that
reflects your career goals.
The scholarship offer will be made to the selected candi-

date one time only. There will be two scholarships in the
amount of US$500 paid from the IEEE WIE budget through
2008. In addition to the monetary scholarship, WIE will pay IEEE
membership for the selected candidates for one year.
The recipients will be selected by the IEEE WIE Committee. If
suitable applicants are not available, no scholarship will be
awarded for that year. Judgment will be based on the review of
the application, endorsement letters, and personal statement
and reviewed by the Selection Committee. Voting will take place
under the leadership of the chair and the outcome will be
based on majority vote.
Please send all scholarship nominations to Keyana Tennant,
program administrator, WIE, at keyana.tennant@ieee.org. The
deadline for nominations is 31 August 2008.

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MWIE.2008.925760

IEEE WOMEN IN ENGINEERING MAGAZINE

SUMMER 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2008