IEEE GLOBECOM 2009

Women in Communications Engineering
Thursday, 3 December 2009 ●ى16:30 - 18:30 ● South Pacific Ballroom 4

Panel Organizer:
Heather Yu, Senior Manager, Huawei Technologies

Panel Chair and Moderator:
Maria Luisa Merani, Associate Professor of Telecommunication Networks, Universita' degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia

Panelists:
Celia Desmond, President, World Class Telecommunications
Agnes Chan, Professor, Associate Dean, and Graduate Director, College of Computer and Information Science, Northeastern University
Mary Ward-Callan, Managing Director of Technical Activities, IEEE
Marjorie Pearson, Network Applications Engineer, Time Warner Telecom

Going on the job market? Need some advice on career development in the field? Join us at this career panel where the distinguished panelists will address some intimate issues on career development. It is a great opportunity to learn directly from those experienced and highly achieved in the field about the increasingly diverse career paths, the various career options, industry and technology trends, and insights into the different communications engineering careers.

The panelists will address some frequently asked questions such as
• Should I go into academia or industry?ن
• What are the pros and cons?ن
• How do I decide?
• How does one balance career and family life, especially during child rearing age?
• How does one get recognized and promoted, or even better, break the glass ceiling?
• What are the effective networking tactics and opportunities?

These and many other related questions will be addressed in the first half of the panel followed by an open discussion with advice regarding helpful resources, career considerations, and best practices in achieving professional success.

All are invited to attend this special panel for valuable discussion on career and professional development. It will also give you the opportunity to connect with other men and women who share the same research interests, attend the same conferences and face the same career challenges.

ن	Maria Luisa Merani Associate Professor of Telecommunication Networks, Universita' degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Italy Maria Luisa Merani received her Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Bologna, Italy, in 1992. In 1991 she spent one year at the Computer Science Department of the University of California in Los Angeles, CA, USA. Sheنis currently an associate professor of Telecommunication Networks at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Department of Information Engineering. She is an IEEE Senior member and has served as TPC and technical chair of several major communication conferences (IEEE ICC, IEEE Globecom, IEEE WCNC). At present she is involved in research on multicast video streaming over the wireless and wired Internet. She is currently an editor of the IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications. In the 2009 fall, Cambridge University Press will publish her book: “Hands on Networking: from theory to practice”.
ف	Celia Desmond President, World Class Telecommunications, Canada Celia Desmond is President of World Class Telecommunications. Celia provides training and management consulting in telecommunications engineering and management to professionals within the communications field. With the University of Toronto, she created a Masters in Engineering in Telecommunications Program and Certificate Programs in Telecommunications Management. As Director, Industry Liaison at Stentor, she was the external technical linkage for the company to the technical environment. She developed and implemented service development and project governance processes. In Bell Canada, Celia provided strategic direction to corporate planners, ran technology trials, standardized equipment, performed traffic analysis, and provided technical support to large business clients. She received the Engineering Institute of Canada John B. Sterling Medal in 2000. Celia holds the M. Eng. from Carleton University, the B. Sc. from Queens University, an Ontario Teaching Certificate and a Project Management Professional (P.M.P.) certification. She is the author of Project Management for Telecommunications Managers, published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 2003. Celia has taught kindergarten, high school, and courses at University of Toronto, Stevens Institute of Technology, and Ryerson University.
ف	Agnes Hui Chan Professor, Associate Dean, and Graduate Director, College of Computer and Information Science, Northeastern University, USA Professor Chan received her Ph.D. in mathematics and joined the Northeastern University faculty in 1977. She is currently the Associate Dean and Graduate Director in the College of Computer and Information Science. Professor Chan’s research focuses on cryptography and communication security. She has also worked on designing efficient implementations on divisible electronic cash, which often requires exact payment in cash transactions. In more recent work, Professor Chan is examining fast, efficient mutual authentication algorithms for small mobile devices. She is working on protocols, key management schemes and anti-jamming algorithms for securing communications among devices in a hostile, resource-constrained environment. Professor Chan holds two patents, one on ultrafast pseudorandom sequence generator and one on software based stream ciphers. She has also published widely in IEEE conferences and journals, as well as in Crypto and Eurocrypt.ه Her research has been funded by NSA, NSF, DARPA and telecommunication industries. She has served on various program committees, Board of Directors of the IEEE Information Theory Society and is currently on the editorial board of the International Journal on Cryptography and Communication – Discrete Structures, Boolean Functions and Sequences.فف At Northeastern University, Professor Chan led the effort in establishing an interdisciplinary research Institute of Information Assurance with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2005. She is currently the co-Director of the Institute. Professor Chan is also instrumental in getting the University designated by NSA and Homeland Security as a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education and Research. She designed and launched the interdisciplinary graduate program, MS in Information Assurance, in 2005.ف Professor Chan has been active in promoting women in sciences, in particular, she has participated as an invited speaker at NSA’s “Women in Mathematics” and “Alumni Mathematicians” at Smith College. She is also serving on the Committee for Strategies and Tactics for Recruiting to Improve Diversity and Excellence at Northeastern University.
ف	Mary Ward-Callan Managing Director of Technical Activities, IEEE, USA Mary Ward-Callan is the Managing Director of Technical Activities for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE). The IEEE is the world's largest technical professional association with more than 350,000 members in approximately 150 countries. Through its members, the IEEE is a leading authority on areas ranging from aerospace, computers and telecommunications to biomedicine, electric power, and consumer electronics. Mary manages approximately 300 staff who support the IEEE Society and Councils. Their technical activities include delivering over 900 conferences, 142 publications, countless symposium, technical training seminars, and tutorials, 3 certification programs, as well as membership development and student activities. She also oversees the efforts to increase the IEEE coverage in new technology areas, to introduce new community building approaches, and to apply IEEE member expertise to pressing world problems.ف Prior to joining the IEEE, Mary was employed in the telecommunications industry by Telcordia, Bellcore, and Bell Labs. Mary’s career included significant contributions in local loop design, network simulation, network operations and management, sub-network control, and product testing and certification. She has extensive experience in business management, re-engineering, and project management Mary managed network operations activities for several technologies such as SONET, ATM, DLC, and SMDS. Her last assignment at Telcordia was as the Executive Director of Product Testing and Certification. In this role, she began an effort with the automotive industry to transfer their networks from private virtual networks to the Internet, the very first implementations of VPNs. Mary is a Certified Association Executive, holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Mathematics from Vassar College (Phi Beta Kappa), and a Master of Science degree (MSEE) in Electrical Engineering from Princeton University. She completed the Executive Development Program at Bellcore as well as numerous key management courses. She is married with three children and lives in New Jersey, USA.
ه	Marjorie Pearson Network Applications Engineer, TW Telecom, USA Born and raised in Kapaa on the island of Kauai Marji received her Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Hawaii at Manoa , then earning a Masters of Business Administration with a concentration in Information Systems at Hawaii Pacific University. During her 12 years with TW Telecom,هformerly known as Oceanic Communications and Time Warner Telecom, Marji began her career as a engineering summer intern then accepted a contract engineer position working on Provisioning, Transmission, and Outside Plant Engineering after graduation. From Operations as a Network Technician, to Central Office Technician then Central Office Engineer, Marji rose to her current position as a Network Application Engineer assisting account executives with all of their pre- and post-sale technical questions and design of customer networks and solutions. Notably, Marji is a member in the HPU Chapter of Delta Mu Delta International Honor Society, recipient of 2006 High Tech Leader Award and also featured in November 2008 Technology News Bytes “Women in Tech.” Outside of work, Marji is currently serving with the Hawaii Telecommunications Association Board as Treasurer, was a former treasurer of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. – Hawaii Section, volunteers in planning and organization of church’s annual East Honolulu Food Festival fundraiser and volunteers at the Hawaii Public Radio Semi-annual membership drive.