IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 28

passions, providing lessons, and talking
about education. An integral part in raising children's awareness and responsibilities toward their future is by providing
them an opportunity to learn through
observation. "It's not the quantity of time
I spend with my daughter, but the quality of time," Abdel-Karim says. "My mom
always talked to me about the importance of education, and I am teaching
similar lessons to my daughter."
It took her several years to create a
custody arrangement that would better suit her work and life schedule. "I
didn't know that I could do that," she
admits. "In my culture, going to court
is shameful. I struggled to overcome
this cultural barrier and finally created the opportunity to switch to having
time with my daughter on the weekends, which works much better. I got
the strength from work-being able
to attend and present at conferences,
engage with people, and build friendships there."

28

IEEE womEn In EngInEErIng magazInE

"It's not what you do, but how you
influence people and make a difference
or change the lives of the ones you love,"
she continues. "I talk with my daughter about things that happen at work to
show that, with passion, it is possible to
make a difference to the whole society."

Advice for Future Engineers
For those who don't know what to pursue, Abdel-Karim encourages anyone
who likes math and science to consider
engineering. "It's important to do what
you like. If you see yourself fitting into
this discipline, then do it."
One skill Abdel-Karim notices women
engineers excel in is reaching agreements. She believes that when there are
conflicts about a subject, women engineers have a built-in skill to group people
together and obtain all-around consent.
Knowing that women can leverage
this skill in engineering can help more
women to advance into leadership positions at work.

december 2016

At a high level, engineering definitely impacts Abdel-Karim's personal life.
"When you look at life like a black box
with inputs and outputs, engineering
has taught me that whatever quality you
put in, you get the same quality out,"
she says. When modeling and analyzing
the power grid, she makes sure to have
subject matter experts who understand
the problems to solve so she gets great
results. She finds herself constantly
applying this principle in her personal
life. "What I do is what I get," she says.
Abdel-Karim speaks with many successful female leaders from Egypt and
around the world and shares their success
stories on social media platforms for everyone to read. She believes that education
determines your life, and that it is important to help and promote each other. "As
women, we are working our best to provide
a good role model for our families and
colleagues at work. We need to help each
other," she says.
-Debbie Sniderman



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016

IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - Cover1
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - Cover2
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 1
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 2
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 3
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 4
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 5
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 6
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 7
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 8
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 9
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 10
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 11
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 12
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 13
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 14
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 15
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 16
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 17
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 18
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 19
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 20
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 21
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 22
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 23
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 24
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 25
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 26
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 27
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 28
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 29
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 30
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 31
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 32
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 33
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 34
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 35
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 36
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 37
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 38
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 39
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 40
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 41
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 42
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 43
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 44
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 45
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 46
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 47
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 48
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 49
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 50
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 51
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 52
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 53
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 54
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 55
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 56
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 57
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 58
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 59
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 60
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 61
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 62
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 63
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 64
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - Cover3
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - Cover4
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/womenengineering_summer2015
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/womenengineering_summer2014
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/womenengineering_summer2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/womenengineering_winter2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/womenengineering_summer2012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/womenengineering_winter2011
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