Pakistan Women in Engineering Forum conducted its first session of BOOTCAMP in University of Engineering & Technology Taxila.The event took place at UET Taxila on the 20th of August 2015. Ms.Kiran Abbas the Vice-Chair of PWF was the guest speaker. The session started with the recitation of Holy Quran followed by the introduction of our guest speaker. The session covered:
>Introduction to the benefits of WIE
>How to operate your student WIE AG from campus to Global WIE
>WIE Executives Training
>Building of Confidence
>Our guest journey from being ordinary WIE member to the global most inspiring WIE member.
Mr. Muhammad Talha Bilal the ex-IEEE chair and a member of young professionals also addressed the participants about the event reporting and opportunities offered by WIE forum.
Members from IEEE WIE AG of Military College of Signals NUST also participated in the event.The event was attended by 25 engineering students. There was also an interactive session at the end in which queries were entertained. A good response was shown by the members. The session concluded with the refreshments and group photo with the guest speakers.
Her revival is always followed by some gigantic social revival.This is what the inspiring success stories of many Pakistani women belonging to different professions has taught the world today. Recently, another such story is crafted by Miss Kiran Abbas , a young Electrical Engineer from University of Engineering and Technology Taxila , for being awarded with ‘Global IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) Inspiring Student Member of the year 2015 ‘ award for her dedication and hardwork for Women in STEM. From technical inspirations to social responsibilities , Miss Abbas has played wonderful role towards women empowerment by ‘Advancement of technology for humanity’ as directed by IEEE.
Miss Abbas, Vice Chairperson IEEE Pakistan WIE Forum (PWF), during a session in UET Taxila
But wait this ‘leadership-oriented’ recognition is one of the few achievements made by IEEE Pakistan WIE Affinity Group.As Pakistani women volunteers in IEEE have set big milestones since IEEE was launched in Pakistan. Founded in 2005, IEEE Pakistan WIE Affinity Group started it’s journey by it’s first Student Affinity group initiated in FAST NUCES Lahore Campus under the worthy leadership of Dr. Durdana Habib , Grace Hopper Celebration Change Agent ABIE Award Bearer in 2014and first female engineer from University of Engineering and Technology Lahore. Till date , more than 20 WIE affinity groups are operating in top Engineering and Technology universities in Capital Islamabad and in different provinces of Pakistan including Punjab, Sindh and KPK .In addition to national and international technical activities , IEEE Pakistan Women are working on social innovative projects to play their utmost role towards female community belonging to underprivileged areas.For this , nationwide projects like iUstaad (an ICT training program for female teachers of rural areas schools ), Cybertahaffuz(a cyber ethics awareness program) , wolog(south asian women blog), Workathon 7.0 (an event management training program to increase quality of technical workshops accompanied by series of sessions in IT and Engineering ) would be launched in mid of year 2015.In addition to this , IEEE Pakistan WIE members are also working to conduct some more academic initiatives for professional and technical grooming of students as IEEE Pakistan Student Computing Congress was recently conducted by another inspiring lady Asma Sajid. All such stories would encourage women in Pakistan to play their worthy role in development of their green land to make it more prosperous.
I buckled up against the wall as an excruciating pain shot up my legs. Blood trickled down my chin as my lower lip was cut open. I tried standing up but my body refused to budge an inch. I felt scared and numb as a blurry shadow slowly aimed towards me with something; a bottle? I gasped as my eyes caught the menacing toxic symbol on the bottle’s label; an acid flask. A chill ran down my spines. I pleaded for mercy and cried at my own helplessness. My only fault: To bore him a daughter instead of a son.
I found myself looking at my very own reflection in the hospital bed. I thought I was wearing a mask to scare someone badly on Halloween but the mask won’t come out. The horrible visage was now part of my body. The disfigured nose, the burnt lips and skin was not a temporary get-up but a permanent mark not only on my body but on my life too. I didn’t know whether to heave a sigh of gratitude to be alive or to cry over the permanent scars that changed my life forever!
The narrative above is a living nightmare of hundreds and thousands of women in Pakistan. Women’s Day is celebrated all across the world to appreciate the daring and inspiring women who actually do something to be a shield for the other women of the society. And on this day, Women In Engineering would like to appreciate the sincere efforts of Musarat Misbah who has given a new life to the surviving victims of acid attack. Since the past decade, this great lady has been working to provide medical treatment to the acid attack victims and helps them in becoming a beautician so that they may work for a better livelihood instead of being mocked by the society. Several acid attack survivors found an abode in Musarat’s salon and are hired to provide beauty services.
Although this noble cause proved to be a solace for many Pakistani women but there are several such survivors who remain silent and prefer isolation rather than seeking assistance because of the constant threat of being attacked again. The efforts made by the government for such women are almost negligible and that is another reason why this hideous crime is still so widespread in the country. The worst scenario is that acid attack is not a stigma of the lower class only. Every woman, whether rich or poor, educated or illiterate is subject to this threat. The bottom line is it’s the women who have been associated as the victim of this crime in most of the cases.
Protecting and respecting every other woman is not only every man’s duty but also one of the basic right of a woman towards her fellow gender. Every lady should try utmost to help such survivors emotionally, financially and socially so that instead of being called a ‘Strong woman’, these acid attack victims become strong enough to appreciate their reflection as part of their brave and inspiring existence.
Musarat Misbah training one such victim in her salon
To all the women who face similar hardships: HAPPY WOMEN’S DAY 🙂
Contribute by Author:
TUBA FAIZAN
Pursuing a degree in electronic engineering from NED University of Engineering and Technology. An ardent writer, reader and a keen observer. Dan Brown and Khalid Hosseini never fail to inspire her. Apart from playing with circuits, she regularly blogs at
Every woman is a blessing to this world as her journey of endless efforts , responsibilities , sweet dreams , beautiful smiles , selflessness ,caring attitude,sacrifices , social empowerment, moral support and warm ‘Love’ can never ever be replaced by anything because only she is created for this .
Come and share your words ‘being a woman’ and join us in this global campaign which will not only ‘share love’ but also let you know how important you are to this world .So message us your picture with the message “I’m a …..[Your Profession], [your message]” on any piece of paper or you can email us at ieeewie.pk@gmail.com. You can see how the world is sharing lovewith us
Our Belief ‘Disability is not inability’ inspired us to celebrate ‘International day of people with disability’ with amazing angels of Government hearing impaired school of Faisalabad on 3rd December 2014 to teach them how to dream big , how to do big and how to make a difference as they are different but fabulous people of this world and great gems of our green land . On the start of the event , we were unable to hear them but at the end were able to hear the dreams in their eyes , passion in their actions , determination in their expressions and satisfaction in their hearts.I believe that ‘s what IEEE Pakistan Women in Engineering Forum actually achieved yesterday and that’s what I achieved in my 5 years experience in being an IEEEand a volunteer.
And yes IEEE Pakistan Women in Engineering Forum’s 4th ex-comteam has successfully conducted it’s year first event with an amazing experience on 3rd December 2014 at ‘Government Hearing Impaired Girls School‘ of Faisalabad where we
were able to interact , re-charge and help the hearing impaired girls in becoming ‘the dreamers’
Volunteerism is not made, it is an inborn tendency to create beneficial change and have a positive impact on people’s lives.One that can leave a long-term impression and achieve a ripple effect that extends far beyond the immediate beneficiaries of their own valuable efforts. Mr. Ahsan Saeed( Board member , IEEE Pakistan WIE Forum ; Committee member for IEEE Region 10 Young Professionals and Coordinator, South Asia Cluster)is one such remarkable example of the magic of volunteerism, coupled with a fair amount of the resilience and dedication it takes to really contribute to a cause you believe in.
In recognition of his outstanding achievements and countless volunteering contributions to not only the IEEE Academic project, but especially and exceedingly to IEEE Young Professionals of Region 10, Mr. Ahsan Saeed (IEEE Karachi Section) has been bestowed the exemplary honor of being awarded the “Global IEEE MGA Young Professionals Achievement 2014 Award”
Board Member IEEE Pakistan WIE Forum , Mr. Ahsan Saeed
We proudly congratulate him on this outstanding achievement and wish him limitless success in his future endeavors.
IEEE WIE Lahore is giving our the award in the following three categories:
Outstanding WIE Affinity Group Pakistan
Outstanding WIE AG Chair Pakistan
Outstanding WIE Volunteer Pakistan
The Judges Panel Consisted of following members:
Nita Patel, Chairperson WIE (global)
Ramalatha Marimuthu, Past Chair WIE (global)
Rabia khalid, Past Chair, IEEE Pakistan WIE Forum
Supavadee Aramvith, IEEE Region 10 EXCOM on Educational Activities Coordinator
Zuhaina Zakaria, Vice Chair, IEEE Malaysia Section
A total of six nominations for Outstanding WIE Volunteer Pakistan, three nominations for Outstanding WIE Affinity Group Pakistan and three nominations for Outstanding WIE Affinity Group Chairperson Pakistan were received. And after evaluation of them, the following results were compiled:
Outstanding WIE Affinity Group Pakistan (IEEE WIE UET Lahore SB Affinity Group, Lahore Section)
Outstanding WIE Affinity Group Chair Pakistan (Hiba Ovais Latifee, NED Karachi Chair 2013-14. Karachi Section)
Outstanding WIE Volunteer Pakistan (Hira Mahmood, IEEE WIE & CS GCUF, IEEE Lahore Section)
IEEE Pakistan WIE forum is starting their tenure (2014-2015) with mission ‘Live Innovation’
Arfa Abdul Karim Randhawa ( 2 February 1995 – 14 January 2012) was a Pakistani student and computer prodigy who, in 2004 at the age of nine, became the youngest Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP).She was borne in Faisalabad and IEEE Pakistan Women in Engineering Forum(IEEE PWF) being founded in Faisalabad in year 2010 is dedicating this tenure 2014-2015 to Technology legend of Pakistan ‘Arfa’
IEEE Pakistan WIE Forum heartily congratulate Ms.Rabail Raza for winning the IEEE Region 10 WIE Student Volunteer Award 2013. Ms. Rabail Raza is a Chairperson of Pakistan WIE Forum, she is very active for promoting various WIE activities in Pakistan. … Continue reading →