IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 27

A Winning Attitude
Zaghloul thinks that engineering is a challenge for anyone but it is highly satisfying and worth the sacrifices. "People don't
think of women engineers the way they
used to 30 years ago," she says. "Back then,
the struggle was convincing the people
around you. Now, there is still a struggle
but it is different. Many women are accepting the challenge and obtaining higher
degrees, which is good and very important."
She enjoys the fact that engineering
allows people to work with their brain,
think, and excel in what they know.
"Also, getting new ideas and seeing them
through, creating things that can make
it to the market is very rewarding, especially for those who want to work on topics that help people."
Nowadays, engineers interested in joining with medicine create new devices that
help sick people. Zaghloul developed a
sensor that can detect cancer early. "With
technologies like nanotechnology, you can't

believe the new stuff that is coming. It feels
great to help a lot of people," she says.
"Engineering is hard work, really
hard work. What you sacrifice is time.
While the Internet has made it easier to
do more things like shop and do things
for yourself, if you are well organized
and you organize your time, you can do
everything. It's just a matter of organizing time," Zaghloul believes.
She says that in today's society, it's
important not to have a narrow focus on
certain topics. But in future societies, it's
even more important to be interdisciplinary. According to Zaghloul, in 20 years
things will be more integrated. She recommends that young engineers realize
that barriers won't exist like they do now.
She says the secret of success is having an attitude that tries to merge all
ideas together. "Learn everything and
don't focus only on certain topics. It is
possible to learn and excel in several
things. Be able to understand biology,

electrical engineering, computer science, computer engineering, physics, and
chemistry. Don't turn down a seminar
on chemistry if you're not a chemist; go
and learn something. In this age, there
are many opportunities to go and learn
new things. My overall message is that we
should never stop learning. I haven't."
-Debbie Sniderman

Jones Earns
Diversity Award

STEM outreach is saving the world
Pamela Jones, an IEEE Women in Engineering member and IEEE-USA Awards
Board chair, recently won the Diversity
Award at the 2013 Women of Color STEM

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MWIE.2014.2356271
Date of publication: 7 November 2014

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DeCEMBER 2014

iEEE women in engineering magazine

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014