Organised by the IEEE PES Student Branch Chapter at The University of Manchester
On Thursday 22nd September 2022, the IEEE PES Student Branch Chapter at the University of Manchester (UoM) hosted a Women in Power (WiP) seminar. This in-person event held in John Owens Building, University of Manchester, attracted 36 registrations, including researchers and Msc students in Electrical/Electronics Engineering at the University of Manchester and guests from industry/academia. This seminar was sponsored by the IEEE WiP Funding scheme and supported by the IEEE PES Women in Power UK & Ireland.
The event was themed “Inspiring the Next Generation of Female Engineers”, with the aim of enhancing young women through having an interactive discussion with five female engineers in power and energy from the academic and industrial sectors.The attendees also got the opportynity to ask the speakers questions about their careers and also received advice on what career part to follow.
On the day of the seminar, after a brief welcome by the host, Miss Lois Efe (Event Coordinator of Manchester PES SBC), Dr Alessandra Parisio (Reader, EEE department, The University of Manchester) delivered an opening address, where she addressed the future of women in power system engineering and encouragement to the audience to listen and participate in the seminar. Later on, Abir Alabani (Chair of IEEE SBC UoM) gave a talk about thr IEEE SBC and the IEEE IAS and how impactful the society is to student and also shared her experiences in the committee. The guests speakers were introduced by the host, they include; Dr Alessandra Parisio (Reader, EEE department, The University of Manchester), Dr Judith Apsley (Senior Lecturer, The University of Manchester), Dr Siwei Liu (Former Chair of IEEE PES SBC UoM; Commercial Modeller, SSE Distributed Energy), Siva KaviyaTrichy Siva Raman (Junior Power System Siftware Engineer, TNEI), Dr Yichen Liu (Power System Consultant, RINA) and Dr Angeliki Loukatou joined remotely (Lead Research Engineer, R&D Department, EDF Energy). Rosa Serrano (Vice chair, IEEE PES WiP UK & Ireland ) and Frances Hu (Chair IEEE IAS) were also in attendance.
Following the introduction of speakers, the Q&A Session began, where each speakers were to give their answer Key points of discussion were:
- The importance of mentorship
- The art of delegation and teamwork
- Discrimination in the modern workplace
- Support mechanisms to retain women in the power sector
- Work-life balance
- Imposter syndrome and ways to tackle it
- Diversity and inclusion mechanisms in industry and academia
- Routes for promotion, obstacles and opportunities
- Leadership, manage teams and funds.
Overall, it was highlighted that it is massively important to ask for help when needed, to speak up if feeling discriminated, to believe in yourself and really enjoy what you do, since this is the only way to go forward. Believe in yourself, everyone else is taken!
The session was wrapped up by Dr Judith Apsley and closing remarks was given by Omoniyi Akinpelumi (Chair, IEEE PES SBC UoM)
The IEEE PES SBC at UoM would like to specially thank Wenzhu Li and Lois Efe for all their efforts in organising and coordinating this event, thank all participants for attending the event and special thanks again to our sponsor, guest speakers and IEEE PES WiP UK & Ireland for their support.
For more information about this seminar and IEEE PES SBC UoM, please visit http://www.ieee-manchester.org.uk/.
Wenzhu Li
Vice-Chair, IEEE PES Student Branch Chapter at The University of Manchester
Lois Efe
Event Coordinator, IEEE PES Student Branch Chapter at The University of Manchester
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our chair:
Chair: Omoniyi Akinpelumi
Email: omoniyi.akinpelumi@manchester.ac.uk