What is WIRES?
WIRES is the first annual international summit for women who are interested in pursuing international collaborative researching opportunities. The main objective of this summit is to enable meaningful and sustainable research exchanges between female engineers from around the world while identifying issues faced by females pursuing careers in engineering that could benefit from a global strategy.
Who will be at WIRES?
Since this event will be the first in a series of such summits, it will focus on three research “clusters” or themes:
Participants chosen to attend the summit will include female engineering faculty, graduate students, post doctoral fellows, researchers from industry, and program directors from funding agencies. All of the US participants have been identified; however, we are still accepting applications from non-US women engineers from universities and industry and from Program Directors from organizations that fund research in the areas of energy systems, simulation based engineering and micro/nanotechnology.
What are some of the goals of WIRES?
Provide a forum for forging personal, sustainable relationships among female engineers from the U.S. and abroad by revealing facilities/expertise available in the respective countries.
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Provide a clear, visible pathway for females to pursue international collaborations.
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Identify methods of securing funding for international collaborations from federal agencies, international sources (e.g., NATO, UNESCO), the private sector, foundations, etc.
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Identify common issues faced by females pursuing careers in engineering such as, inclusiveness in research endeavors, female-friendly environments, institutions, & companies, family leave policies, "dual-career couple" issues.
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Focus on the global engineering research enterprise by enabling the participants to develop a personal understanding of how engineering research is conducted in various countries around the world.
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Generate a database of female faculty who are interested in conducting international research.
How can industry members and partners get involved in WIRES?
The National Science Foundation, in collaboration with the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of California, will provide funding for the travel of the US female attendees. As this is the first year this summit will be held, your help would be instrumental in conducting a summit that directly impacts the participants by creating opportunities for women to create international research teams. Making our event successful this year and in the future can only be accomplished with your generosity and that of your corporation.
We are currently looking for corporate sponsors to donate supplies, and/or contribute directly to the dollar amount that we will need to fund the summit activities, such as the summit banquet, other meals and transportation in Spain. When giving a monetary contribution, your company can participate at various levels, with attractive benefits at each. The levels are broken down in the following manor with the corresponding benefits:
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Platinum Level (Sponsorships over $10,000): Organization will receive a list of attendees with contact information and research interest and can address the audience at a specific event.
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Gold Level (Sponsorships over $5000): Organization can send a representative to the summit to meet individually with interested applicants.
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Silver Level (Sponsorships over $1000 or in-kind donations): Organization will be acknowledged in program literature and can include company literature in attendees’ packet.
Why do you want to get involved in WIRES?
Sponsoring WIRES is a great way to learn about ongoing cutting edge research in the three core areas. You can gain knowledge of ways to partner with academia to conduct further research. This is also a great opportunity to contact educated women looking for a career path that parallels your company’s initiatives. Additionally, the summit offers a chance to introduce your company and present its goals and objectives.
Company literature:
Raise awareness of your company, people, and products by supplying company literature that will be given to all the attendees at the commencement of the conference.
Meet with applicants:
Send a representative from your company to meet with qualified candidates during the conference to discuss possible research collaboration or career opportunities. This gives you a chance to target applicants based on interest and gather more information.
Identify Research Collaborators:
Activities before the summit will involve production of a website including a page about each participant. The information collected will include their research education background, research expertise interests, facilities available to them, and professional society memberships. This database can be used to target participants for further discussion about research interests.
Who else is involved?
Curious to see what other corporations are getting involved? Here is a list of just a few:
National Science Foundation
Georgia Institute of Technology
University of California
Hewlett-Packard
Johnson & Johnson
Don't miss out on this exciting opportunity to get involved in WIRES. If corporate sponsorship is not possible for your organization we would still like to have any applicable employees from your company apply to attend the summit as participants. Participants will not only be able to network with other experts in their field, but also will hear from a number of speakers who will show them the tools to initiate global research teams.
If you would like to make a donation or have any questions about the summit or would like a copy of the agenda or the full proposal describing the summit in detail, please feel free to contact one of the following people:
Dr. Mary Lynn Realff
marylynn.realff@ptfe.gatech.edu
Dr. Gretchen Kalonji
Gretchen.kalonji@ucop.edu
Angie Abbot
angie.abbott@ptfe.gatech.edu
Amanda Chamberlin
achamberlin@gatech.edu
SPONSORED BY:
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