Pei Qin, Wanchen Yang, Wenquan Che
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The 2022 IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society (MTT-S) International Microwave Workshop Series on Advanced Materials and Processes for RF and THz Applications (IMWS-AMP 2022) was held in Guangzhou, China, 12–14 December 2022 (see Figure 1). Due to the continuous impact of COVID-19 pandemic, small-size, on-site opening and closing ceremonies were organized in Guangzhou, while all the conference sessions were held online. The special Women in Microwaves (WiM) and Wireless session sponsored by the WiM subcommittee under the IEEE Membership and Geographical Activities of the MTT-S AdCom, was held in the afternoon of 13 December. More than 60 people attended this event, including three invited speakers from Austria, Japan, and Mainland China; six panelists from Mainland China, and some other professionals and graduate students from industries and universities (see Figure 2).
Figure 1. A promotional flyer of the WiM session at IMWS-AMP 2022.
Figure 2. An online group photo of some attendees at the WiM session at IMWS-AMP 2022.
The mission of the WiM Subcommittee is to attract more woman professionals and graduate students to get involved in the microwave community, and also increase the visibility of females in the microwave field. At IMWS-AMP 2022, the WiM session aimed to recognize the gaps between genders, academic research and industrial applications, and regional cultures, and to leap over these gaps to bring benefits to academic researchers and student education and industrial applications as well as personal growth for women professionals.
This WiM session was co-organized by Prof. Pei Qin and Prof. Wanchen Yang and included a warm-up speech, two invited talks, and one panel discussion. Prof. Qin first shared her viewpoints on the motivation of this event, introduced the agenda of the session, and welcomed the invited speakers, panelists, and attendees. Prof. Jasmin Grosinger, vice chair of the WiM Subcommittee, delivered her speech on behalf of the Subcommittee. She introduced the organizational structure of the Subcommittee, shared a WiM video demonstrating many distinguished female researchers, and promoted the WiM special issues in IEEE Microwave Magazine. Her talk inspired the female attendees to believe that excellent research or career paths go well for all females.
Afterward, Prof. Qiaowei Yuan from Tohoku Institute of Technology presented the technical report “Our IoT Project Research Activities and My Research Carrier” (see Figure 3). Yuan Lin, a professor and dean with the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, delivered another technical report, “Flexible Thin Film Devices for Bioelectronics.”
Figure 3. Prof. Qiaowei Yuan presents the technical report.
Prof. Wenquan Che, an IEEE Fellow and IEEE MTT-S AdCom member, chaired the panel discussion as one of the moderators. Six panelists participated in the discussion, two of whom were male professors. The topic of this panel session was recognizing and overcoming gaps. Prof. Lingling Sun first shared her viewpoint that the gap between genders objectively exists, yet social development also endows advantages for females. Prof. Ying Liu added that females actually outperform on many aspects due to their personal character. Prof. Wei Sha shared his successful experiences in supervising female Ph.D. students, and encouraged females to take more opportunities to show up in their fields. Prof. Zhihao Jiang expressed his ideas on the gap between academia and industry and proposed to deeply collaborate with the industries. Prof. Sha Xu and Prof. Zihao Chen also shared their experiences on international studying and working and encouraged female researchers to gain more opportunities to study or work internationally.
Finally, Prof. Qin gave the concluding remarks and noted that females should first be self-motivated, and at the same time search for opportunities in their careers through the benefit of their own character. Through this WiM session, many valuable viewpoints were presented and discussed, which could go toward fulfilling the vision of attracting more female professionals to become involved in the microwave community and increasing their visibility in microwave community.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2023.3242475