Women in STEM Q&A Panel Discussion: Forge Ahead

Join the Toronto chapter of Young Women in Business on Thursday, September 13th for a STEM Q&A Panel, focused on the theme 'Forge Ahead'. YWiB Toronto will highlight the different tactics and strategies that help women pasionate about STEM to not only enter, but stay and thrive in their fields. Since women in other male-dominated fields face similar issues, the event is pertinent to all industries. Women—and their supporters— are invited to attend this Q&A panel to hear from four key speakers (one from each discipline: Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) and an accomplished moderator.  We seek to empower current and emerging leaders to become agents of change for the future generations of women. Strongly grounded in the realities of the opportunities and challenges faced by business professionals in the STEM industries (and similar industries were women leaders are underrepresented), YWiB will help empower the existing and emerging generations of women, and teach them the tools they need to forge ahead in their respective fields. YWiB believes every woman and young professional, whether stepping into the workforce, opening their own business, growing in their career, or consideringa a career change, should be well-equipped with the proper set of tools and knowledge to reach their fullest personal and professional potential. Thus, this event will also serve to connect aspiring attendees with role models, with the goal of nourishing relationships and fostering a supportive STEM community. Attendees will gain the opportunity to expand their leadership skill set by engaging in an interactive session created by leaders themselves and leave with tangible skills and knowledge to apply to their careers. When: Thursday, September 13, 2018 Where: Telus Tower, 25 York Street, 5th Floor, Toronto M5J 2V5 Schedule: 6:30pm | Doors open, with 30 minutes for registration check-in and networking 7:00 pm | Sharp start for 1.5 hour panel discussion, including questions from audience 8:30pm | 30 minutes of networking before doors close at 9pm MEET OUR STEM PANELISTS MODERATOR: Ruth Fernandez, MAPC Ruth Fernandez, MAPC, is a Change Management leader and scholar known for her ability to inspire and motivate multigenerational, ethnically diverse, and geographically dispersed teams. She completed a Bachelors of Arts in Journalism at Ryerson University, and her Masters Degree in Professional Communications at Royal Roads University. Her research project examined how technology firms leverage advertising to attract teen girls to STEM careers. Her study uncovered the counterproductive patriarchal discourses hidden in the ads and its potential damaging consequences. As an IBM consultant, Ruth focuses on creating and implementing strategies to enable and empower employees to adopt new behaviours and new technologies. Dedicated to the mentoring of girls, Ruth is an active member of the Big Brothers and Big Sisters organization in Montreal where she serves as a local chapter board member and was responsible for the chapter’s first social media engagement strategy. In her free time, Ruth Fernandez enjoys travelling, spending time with family, attending hockey games, and being a role model for her nieces. Read our interview here SCIENCE: Dr. Ilana MacDonald Dr. Ilana MacDonald grew up in a small town in rural Quebec where she was inspired by the clear night skies and her father's "midlife crisis telescope" to study Astronomy. She completed her Bachelors of Science in Physics at Bishop's University, and her Doctorate in Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Toronto, studying under Prof. Harald Pfeiffer. Her doctoral research topic was to test the accuracy of models of ripples in spacetime, that is, gravitational waves, from binary black holes for detectors such as LIGO. Since graduating with her PhD in 2013, Dr. MacDonald has decided to pursue a career in STEM outreach and education, and has tried everything from working in a Math tutoring centre to being a science consultant for a documentary. She currently works in the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics managing some of the largest courses at the University of Toronto, as well as creating and presenting planetarium shows. In her free time, Dr. MacDonald enjoys reading science fiction, knitting, playing the ukulele, and riding around Toronto on her bicycle. Read our interview here TECHNOLOGY: Abhilasha Bhatia Abhilasha Bhatia is a software engineer at Finaeo Inc. Her forte is backend development. From time to time she delves into frontend and dev-op projects that give control of the full development stack. She is a self-proclaimed science geek and loves to read articles on scientific innovation, especially about astronomical sciences. Abhilasha’s encounters with technology started of as a kid in India playing with handheld game consoles. The very first building blocks were learning the “turtle graphics” in 3rd grade, using the Logo programming language. Followed by the widely discussed Y2K bug which gave her a realization of how technology is converging the world. Ever so pumped up with it, she took off to pursue an undergraduate in Computer Science from a state university in India and then decided to move on to pursuing higher studies in the United States. These were the years she faced the stark truth about the number of women opting for technology as their major. The female:male ratios in classes were astonishing. Fighting off the complex of “being the only girl” or “one of the two” to raise hands or participate in hackathons, she continued to tread her way past it to enter the workforce where the story wasn’t very different. As one goes up the ladder, the ratio bends further towards one side. Those experiences made her question the causes behind such disparity among female students picking up STEM majors to actually pursuing and staying in these fields as a career. This is the major reason Abhilasha want her voice to make a difference by reaching to a greater audience. Read our interview here ENGINEERING: Barbara Robinson Barbara A. Robinson, M.A.Sc., P.Eng., established Norton Engineering Inc. in 2015 following a successful 25-year private sector career and highlighted by two years as City Engineer for Kitchener.  Norton initiated the ongoing “Addressing Unacceptable Inflow and Infiltration (I/I) in New Subdivisions”, which is currently gaining national attention; she has given dozens of presentations on the topic.  She functions as senior QA/QC on Halton Region’s Downspout Disconnection projects and the Fort Erie Pollution Control Plan.  She has provided ongoing wastewater engineering services for the Township of Woolwich since 2001. Norton was works regularly with the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) to undertake various projects, including a long-term project to calculate the “Societal Costs of I/I” and “Engineering Data and Flood Risk”. Barbara is currently Chairwoman of the CSA committee to develop a new national Basement Flood Protection Guideline (expected to evolve into a Standard), which was just posted for public review.  She sits on the WEAO Collections Systems Committee, ICLR Municipal Advisory Committee, and advises on the Durham Climate Resistance Standard for New Houses and the new BC Housing Standard. She also works for NRC and SCC. Barbara works as a paid infrastructure columnist with CBC Radio, speaking on a wide range of infrastructure and engineering issues such as sewers, flooding, potholes & water towers. The column is regularly delivered on CBC Radio’s morning shows across Ontario. Read our interview here MATHEMATICS: Dr. Sarah Mayes-Tang Sarah Mayes-Tang received her undergraduate degree in mathematics from Queen’s University, and her Master’s and PhD degrees in pure mathematics from the University of Michigan.   Her dissertation was in computational algebra and algebraic geometry, and investigated questions about infinite collections of polynomials. After receiving her PhD, Dr. Mayes-Tang joined the faculty of Quest University Canada, a liberal arts institution in British Columbia dedicated to undergraduate education.  While there, she developed and taught innovative courses in both traditional and non-traditional areas including calculus, abstract algebra, cryptology, creativity in mathematics, and knowledge.  She also initiated and led several University-level projects. Following four years at Quest, Dr. Mayes-Tang moved to the Department of Mathematics at the University of Toronto.  She currently leads a team of instructors and TAs as coordinator for the University’s largest-enrolment calculus sequence.  Her current projects include documenting the experiences of women teachers and students in math classrooms, developing programs to support TAs, and helping students to develop positive attitudes towards mathematics. Read our interview here