Be my Guest… Winnie Ye
As part of International Women in Engineering Day on June 23, LEEA chats to Winnie Ye, chair elect Women in Engineering (WiE) at IEEE (the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) association, which is also organising its own event (June 23-July 12) to celebrate the event among its members, Affinity Groups, and Student Branch Affinity Groups.
IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) is one of the largest international professional organizations dedicated to promoting women engineers and scientists, and inspiring girls around the world to follow their academic interests in a career in engineering.
Ye is a professor at Carleton University, Ontario, Canada, where she teaches electrical engineering with a specialty in silicon photonics, learning how to make devices that manipulate light to provide functionalities in telecom and datacom in renewable energy.
As of January 2024, IEEE Women in engineering has over 49,000 members in more than 125 countries and over 1200 sections and Student Branch women in engineering Infinity Groups.
“I have been volunteering for IEEE Women in Engineering for 13 years and this year, was elected chair for 2025 and 2026,” said Ye.
“IEEE Women in Engineering was formally established in 1997, which is 27 years ago. It is a specific committee within the organisation. It is a global network of IEEE members and volunteers dedicated to promoting woman scientists, and women engineers and inspiring girls around the world to follow their interests in a career in engineering and science.
“WiE has also announced the launch of the IEEE Woman in Engineering Day on June 23rd to coincide with International Women in Engineering Day. So we're really happy to have lots of events that will be happening on that day and IEEE has its own event dedicated to promoting women in engineering on October 1, 2024.
IEEE Day is an annual event that celebrates the first time in history when engineers worldwide gathered to share their technical ideas in 1884. One of the IEEE Day's objectives is to show the ways IEEE members, in local communities, join together to collaborate on ideas that leverage technology for a better tomorrow.
“There's a stereotype for women engineers that we're not cool. We're not outspoken about our achievements. So this has become the main objectives of women in engineering, especially in IEEE. We want to recognise role models, provide mentorship and the necessary support to women engineers and female scientists and recognise the outstanding advancements and achievements of women in STEM fields.
“By recognising these people, we can inspire the younger generation and provide the mentorship, with the support and facilitation for the development of programmes and activities that promote entry into this sector.”
Ye herself is from a family of engineers. Both her parents are engineers. My father is in computer science and my mother is in physics.
“I grew up in this environment believing I could too could be an engineer. And when I was younger, I was good at math,” she said.
“My advice to someone wanting to pursue a career in this field is never give up. You have to persevere because to pursue a career in research, you have no angle, you don't really know how to provide the solutions. My entire career is to search for that solution that solves a problem and at times it's very challenging because we don't have a book with all the answers. So, a lot of times through failure and practise you are trying to get there and a lot of times you have self-doubt but you just have to believe in yourself. I collaborate with people so eventually we can provide a solution to real world problems.”
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