WOMEN IN ENGINEERING EVENT CELEBRATING IEEE PELS DAY
Panel discussion to highlight/discuss the following aspects
- To highlight IEEE PELS activities/initiatives for support and promote Diversity
- To analyze the current trends in women’s enrollment and participation in engineering education and the workforce.
- To identify the major barriers to career advancement for women engineers in India and beyond.
- To propose actionable strategies for improving the participation and advancement of women in engineering.
Chairs
Monalisa Pattnaik, SMIEEE, Associate Professor, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, NIT Rourkela, Chair, IA & PE Joint Societies- Rourkela
Monalisa Pattnaik
SMIEEE, Associate Professor, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, NIT Rourkela, Chair, IA & PE Joint Societies- Rourkela
Monalisa Pattnaik (SMIEEE) received B.Tech. degree in Electrical Engineering from the College of Engineering and Technology, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, India, in 1999. She received M.Tech. and Ph.D. degree from Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India, in 2006 and 2013 respectively. Dr. Pattnaik is a recipient of the POSOCO Power System Award, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd., India, in 2013. From June 2002 to July 2008, she was with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Institute of Technical Education and Research, Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University, Bhubaneswar. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Rourkela, India. Her prime areas of teaching and research include Wind and Solar Energy System, Hybrid Electric Vehicle, Efficient Power Management of Hybrid Energy Systems, Grid Integration issues of RES, Machine Drives and Power Electronics. Dr. Pattnaik has successfully developed wind-PV based DC microgrid test-bed with hybrid energy storage and Renewable Energy System Laboratory at the Department of Electrical Engineering, NIT Rourkela, India. She has supervised 04 PhD students and published in more than 20 research papers in reputed journals including IEEE Transactions, IET, Elsevier, and Wiley journals, 5 book chapters and around 40 conference papers. She has organised 02 GIAN courses, 03 STC & FDPs and 01 IEEE conference. She is also involved in research project work sponsored by funding agencies such as DST (Indo-Sri Lanka Joint Research Program), ANRF (CRG, FIST, PAIR Schemes), I-Hub, IIIT Hyderabad. She is currently serving as the Chair of IEEE IA & PE Joint Societies- Rourkela and Advisor of IEEE IAS & PES SBCs
Celia Shahnaz, SMIEEE, Fellow IEB, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh
Celia Shahnaz
SMIEEE, Fellow IEB, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh
Celia Shahnaz, SMIEEE, Fellow IEB, received Ph.D. degree from Concordia University, Canada and is currently a professor at, Department of EEE, BUET, Bangladesh since 2015. She was the winner of Canadian Common Scholarship for pursuing her Ph.D study in Canada and recipient of Bangladesh Academy of Science Gold Medal for her contributions in science and technology. The World Academy of Science (TWAS) members have elected her as a Fellow of TWAS for the advancement of science in developing countries, effective 1 January 2023. Recently, her nomination has been approved and she has been inducted into IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu as a Professional Member into the Eta Chapter of the Board of Governors. She has been elected as 2022 IEEE WIE Committee Chair-Elect and she is serving as the 2023-2024 IEEE WIE Committee Chair. She has been appointed as 2024, Division V Representative, IEEE TAB Award and Recognition Committee , 2024 Member, IEEE Fourier Award for Signal Processing Committee, 2024 IEEE Computer society Awards Chair, 2024 Member, IEEE CS Election Committee, 2024 Member, IEEE Fourier Award for Signal Processing Committee, 2022-23 Member, IEEE New Initiative Committee, 2021-24 Member, IEEE History Committee, Liaison between IEEE History Committee and IEEE WIE, 2023 Corresponding member, IEEE BOD Ad-Hoc: Coordinating IEEE’s Response to Multimedia-Based Digital Reality Technologies, 2023 Member, the future of the IEEE WIE ILC Adhoc. She has served as 2021-22 Chair, IEEE SPS Women in Signal Processing, 2021-22 Liaison between IEEE SPS and IEEE WIE, 2021-22 Member, IEEE Educational Activities Board Faculty Resource Committee, 2022 Member, IEEE WIE Strategic planning Committee, 2021 Chair, IEEE WIE History Subcommittee, 2020-21 Member, IEEE WIE Senior Member Elevation Drive and 2019-2022 Member, IEEE WIE WePower Subcommittee. She has served as an Editorial board member, IET Signal Processing From 2018 to date. She is the immediate past Chair, IEEE Bangladesh Section, Co-founder & Chair, IEEE EMBS, IAS, RAS, SSIT Bangladesh Chapters, Co-founder & Vice-Chair, IEEE SPS Bangladesh Chapter, Founder and Advisor, WIE AG, and founder and Chair of SIGHT group FLASH, IEEE Bangladesh Section. She is the recipient of the 2021 IEEE MGA Achievement Award, 2021 Inspiring Women in Academia Award from Bangladesh brand forum, 2019 R10 Humanitarian Activities Outstanding Volunteer Award, 2016 MGA Leadership Award 2015 WIE Inspiring Member Award, 2013 R10 WIE Professional Volunteer Award. She has more than 24 years of experience (24 years as an IEEE volunteer) in leading impactful Technical, Professional, Educational, Industrial, Women Empowerment, Humanitarian Technology, Power and Energy-related Projects at national/international levels.
Premalata Jena, SMIEEE, Professor, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, IIT Roorkee
Premalata Jena
SMIEEE, Professor, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, IIT Roorkee
Premalata Jena (Senior Member, IEEE) received the B.Tech. degree in electrical engineering from Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, India, in 2001, and the M.Tech. and Ph.D. degrees in power system engineering from the Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, Kharagpur, India, in 2006 and 2011, respectively. Since 2012, she has been an Assistant Professor with the Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee, India, where she is currently a Professor with the Department of Electrical Engineering. She is also with the Centre for Sustainable Energy, IIT Roorkee, as a Joint Faculty. Her research interests include power system protection, microgrid protection, and issues due to the integration of renewables with the existing power grid. Dr. Jena was the recipient of the SERB-POWER Fellowship in 2022 from SERB, New Delhi, the Women Excellence Award in 2017 from DST, New Delhi, the Young Engineer Award, Indian National Academy of Engineering, and the POSOCO Power System Award, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd., India, in 2013.
Renu Sharma, SMIEEE, Addl. Dean Student Affairs & Professor, Dept of Electrical Engineering, ITER , FET, SOADU
Renu Sharma
SMIEEE, Addl. Dean Student Affairs & Professor, Dept of Electrical Engineering, ITER , FET, SOADU
Prof. Renu Sharma is working as the Additional Dean, Student Affairs under the Faculty of Engineering & Technology at Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University, Bhubaneswar. Prof. Sharma is a distinguished academic and research leader, globally recognized in the World’s Top 2% Scientists Rankings in Energy by Stanford University (2023, 2024). Her accolades include the Women Researcher Award by Springer Nature (2024), Best Volunteering Award by IEEE Bhubaneswar Subsection (2024), INSc Research & Academic Excellence Awards (2022), Best Researcher Award (2020), and RULA Research Leadership Award. Prof. Sharma is also featured in Femina 2025 as a woman leader of Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) and listed in Marquis Who’s Who in the World (2018–2020). With 180+ SCOPUS publications with 64 +SCI-indexed publications, she serves as Associate Editor of the International Journal of Power Electronics and has chaired IEEE ODICON, IEPCCT, WIECON, PEDES conferences and several Springer conferences. For institutional growth ,she established Microgrid and Renewable Energy Labs and spearheaded the 25,000+ sq. ft. AIC-SOA incubator. Internationally, Prof. Sharma represented SOA at EAIE Rotterdam, THE Asia Summit (Hong Kong), and many National/International prestigious events. Nationally, she led major events such as ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Centenary Celebrations, DST’s National Children’s Science Congress, INAE Annual Convention etc. Prof. Sharma’s industry reach includes DRDO-recognized innovations and proposals for government energy projects. She is actively engaged in community outreach through NISE skill programs, IEEE initiatives and INAE initiatives inspiring future women engineers.