College of Engineering, Pune, India – Sharing Diversity @GEDCouncil #ThinkBigDiversity @Airbus

By Renetta Garrison Tull on January 31, 2016 • ( 2 Comments )

I had a wonderful time in India, and am now in Costa Rica. It is a pleasure to be able to share discussions of diversity in engineering and other STEM fields around the world. Here are some additional photos from the women in engineering and diversity session at the Third International Conference on Transformations in Engineering Education, January 2016 in Pune, India. The general conference website is http://www.ictiee.org/. My participation was sponsored by Airbus and the Global Engineering Deans Council, as part of the 2015 Airbus/GEDC Diversity recognition. If you have an engineering diversity initiative, please stay tuned to http://diversityinengineering.com/

My discussions related to building diversity in engineering are tied to the need to have more diverse faculty. (See “Operation Flood the Gates.”). It was a pleasure to not only present on diversity in India, but I also had a chance to hear presentations in breakout sessions from faculty in engineering departments at several schools throughout India. The more we share stories, the more we realize that we have many similarities, and can work together on the issues that need global, regional, and local attention. Enjoy the photos.

Engineering faculty from universities in India.

2. Engineering faculty and diversity session panelists with Dr. Hans Hoyer of the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies, and panel chair, Dr. Sushma Kilkarni.

3. Members of universities in India, excited about the 2017 conference. The 2017 ICTIEE will be held in several locations: ICTIEE 2017 will be the fourth annual “International Conferences on Transformations in Engineering Education” to be hosted at three locations: Vardhaman College of Engineering, Hyderabad, Telangana (Jan 6-8), R.K. University, Rajkot, Gujarat (Jan 9,10) and Manipal University Jaipur, Rajasthan (Jan 11, 12).

4. Members of our plenary panel. Discussions included aspects of gender, social class, race, and disability.

5. Opening slide for my section of the plenary

6. Slide discussing diversity on many levels: gender, ethnicity, and disability. Featuring Dr. Patricia Ordóñez and her students, along with “Future Dr.” Kavita Krishnaswamy. [Kavita is now a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at UMBC. Dr. Ordóñez’s students and their “Kavita Lab” project – named for Kavita Krishnaswamy – recently won an award for their project at the ASSETS conference in Portugal. See the “TECHNOLOchica” page congratulating Andrea Claudio Palaces and Valerie Santiago Gonzalez: https://www.facebook.com/Technolochicas/posts/1507344132896869

(More about Kavita: https://renettatull.wordpress.com/2011/01/04/grad-student-with-spinal-muscular-atrophy-excels-kavitas-story/, My interview with Kavita on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKjxdzxg03M.)