Warwick Uni to host 2020 International Conference of Women Engineers & Scientists

Published by

Nicky Godding

The University of Warwick has won the bid to plan, organise and host the 18^th International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists (ICWES18) for 2020. Previously held at Warwick (ICWES9) in 1991, ICWES18 returns at Warwick on 11-14 September 2020.

Held every three years, ICWES is the world’s largest symposium for women scientists and engineers and will attract over 500 international delegates from businesses, organisations and universities to the Warwick campus and local region.

The conference follows a successful bid submission between the School of Engineering and Warwick Conferences, led by Professor Georgia Kremmyda. Georgia is Elected Board Director of the International Network of Women Engineers and Scientists (INWES) and Chair of the Conference.

Under the theme of ‘Global Humanitarian Challenges’, the conference at Warwick will bring together participants – academics, professionals, practitioners and students – to discuss topics such as disasters resilience, renewable energy technologies, water and environmental sustainability, smart cities, resilient infrastructures, engineering and global health, and education and training in tackling societal challenges.

Professor Georgia Kremmyda from the School of Engineering at the University of Warwick and Chair of the 2020 conference said:“Apart from connecting women worldwide in STEM, we hope to encourage more females to pursue a career in Engineering and Sciences and to offer an insight into the excitement and opportunities available! By supporting INWES in its campaign for gender diversity in Engineering and Sciences, we feel that we help building and sustaining the pipeline of female talent in disciplines which transform societies.”

Gail Mattson, INWES President, added: “Ever since the Women Engineering Society of the UK hosted ICWES9 in Warwick in 1991, women engineers and scientists from around the world have been looking for opportunity to return to this historic setting.

“Since 2008, when INWES became an official NGO partner of UNESCO, our organization has been recognized and promoted “as a solution to tackle the issue of gender imbalances in STEM”. Our members, representing over 65 countries, will be encouraged to attend to share their challenges and best practices with regards to encouraging girls to pursue STEM careers and a broad range of professional development opportunities for women to succeed and advance into important leadership positions; as well as to expand their networks worldwide.

“ICWES18 will enable us to make critical strides towards our mission - To build a better future worldwide through full and effective participation of women and girls in all aspects of STEM.”

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.