Asian Deans’ Forum: Rising Stars in Academia Women in Engineering Workshop

At the beginning of October, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) was a venue for the first ever Asian Deans’ Forum: Rising Stars in Academia Women in Engineering Workshop. Zdenka Havlova of URT joined around 50 female participants from universities across the globe. The workshop was jointly organized by HKUST, National Taiwan University, National University of Singapore, Seoul National University, and The University of Tokyo, co-sponsored by the University of New South Wales in Sydney.

The workshop was an incredible opportunity to learn from and get inspired by women in academia, in various stages of their career paths. The keynote speeches and panels sessions discussed issues from flourishing in academia, through building a strong research group and developing research and teaching statements, to applying for and getting the first position after the defense of the doctoral dissertation. Many attendees have agreed that the most useful part was the mentoring sessions where senior female faculty answered questions by the participants.

All the ‘rising stars’, as the organizers called us, also gave an elevator pitch presentation and introduced their research during two poster sessions. The innovation, rigor, and investment in each of the ladies’ projects, from pulsed plasma lasers to devices for measuring traffic pollutants, from yield estimation in viticulture to improving the spacer-concrete interface, made it an awe-inspiring and humbling experience. Such a high concentration of energy and hunger for knowledge inspired everyone in the hall. The deans of the engineering schools of all the participating universities seemed to think so, as they met with many ladies in person and discussed their careers.

The professionalism and care with which HKUST hosted the event were beyond perfect, and the campus tour showed the participants the resources and support the university offers its faculty and students. A young university, the HKUST seems to have both a fantastic location, an oasis of calm and quiet with views of the beautiful sea, east of the bustling heart of Hong Kong, and students that are driven to study and research.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that filled me with inspiration and energy to continue the life of a researcher. The good news is, the workshop will be held regularly from now on, and I would recommend everyone to apply. Perhaps URT can be represented next year as well.

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A short video about the event (Source: Rising Stars Facebook):