IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 43

ing that "most of the credit goes to
my mother, who was a teacher, as she
noticed my interest and taught me
math." Around the third and fourth
grades in school, Buthayna took comAl-Wehaibi awarded a scholarship
puter classes where students developed small programs, mostly games,
IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) is
using BASIC programming knowledge.
pleased to congratulate Buthayna Al"That's when I found my passion in
Wehaibi, who has been awarded a scholcomputers," she recalls. "Computers,
arship from the IE Business School
math, and physics were my favorite subin partnership with IEEE WIE. The
jects in school."
IE Business School is a leading EuroAs much as she loved computers,
pean institution of higher education,
Al-Wehaibi might have chosen to study
where Al-Wehaibi began studying for
another area, had she been allowed.
her M.B.A. earlier this year. IE and WIE
However, at the time, computer
are working together to help top
science was the most techwomen engineers access masnical major available to
ter's-level training and build
females at Prince Sultan
a professional network that
University. In Saudi Arabia,
will allow WIE members to
engineering studies have
advance their careers.
only been open to women
Al-Wehaibi, who holds
in limited quantities, with
a computer science degree
some private institutions
from Prince Sultan UniverButhayna Al-Wehaibi
offering certain courses for
sity in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,
many years, while government universihas been working at Cisco as a network
ties did not make these areas of study
consulting engineer since 2008. She'll
available until 2012, when King Abdul
continue to work at Cisco while pursuAziz University became the first goving her M.B.A. part time and expects
ernment school to offer engineering to
the advanced degree will help broaden
women. Government-sponsored schools
her opportunities at the company. "My
continue to restrict the types of technibackground is purely technical," she
cal fields women can study to those that
says, explaining why she chose to pursue
allow them to maintain their privacy,
an M.B.A. "I was looking to expand my
horizons and improve my knowledge in
business-related fields. An M.B.A. will
give me the right knowledge and prepare me for future career growth."
Sharing that she is "honored and
grateful" to have been awarded the
scholarship, Al-Wehaibi is an ideal candidate to receive this recognition. While
the application is straightforward and
the award is open to any WIE members who are admitted to an IE master's program, candidates who win will
have demonstrated "real commitment in
their academic and professional development to date." In this regard, Al-Wehaibi
is a perfect fit.
Her interest in mathematics developed at a young age, she recalls, say-

Helping Women Access
Master-Level Training

such as electrical, industrial, and computer engineering.
Right before receiving her computer
science degree, Al-Wehaibi joined Cisco
Systems as an intern. After graduation, she entered a training program
in Jordan to practice technical and
"soft" skills before moving on to India
to work as an engineer at the Technical
Assistant Center. In 2008, she became
a network consulting engineer in the
Advanced Services Department, where
she continues to this day, working on
the design and implementation of large
networks, serving as the primary consulting engineer for network optimization services, and mentoring trainees,
among other tasks.

Up to the Challenge
Another responsibility Al-Wehaibi holds
is serving as one of only two female
engineers in all of Cisco's Saudi Arabian
offices-and for about five years, she was
the only one. With so few women on the
team, she has experienced some adversity, sharing that "some customers have
an entirely male environment and do not
have any women working on their premises. Because of that company culture,
my attendance poses some challenges."
Others, she says, "do not have the basic
facilities for females, so even if I go to
the office, it has to be a quick visit." But,

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MWIE.2013.2280413
Date of publication: 11 November 2013

Al-Wehaibi and her classmates on the IE Business School campus.

DeCEMBER 2013

iEEE women in engineering magazine

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013