September 27, Bengaluru: IEEE Women in Technology Conference (WINTECHCON), a women-led technical event hosted its 4th edition in partnership with IEEE CAS (Circuits and Systems Society) Bangalore Chapter, IEEE Bangalore Section, and IEEE WIE (Women in Engineering) Council Bangalore. The event witnessed 500+ participants from all parts of India with numerous industry professionals, students, and academia gathering for this day-long conference. The theme for 2023, “Emerging Technologies from Silicon to Software for a Sustainable Future”, focused on subjects like VLSI, EDA, Automotive, AI/ML, IoT, Connectivity, and Cloud through various formats. Hosted by Synopsys, WINTECHCON 2023 brought together top semiconductor companies namely, AMD, Intel, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, Cadence, Infineon, IBM, Mediatek, Samsung, and Analog Devices as part of this edition.
Alessandra Costa, Senior Vice President at Synopsys, and Dr. Sugandhi Gopal, a cardiologist, and an entrepreneur were keynote speakers at the conference. Their talks focused on how technology around us is reshaping the world we live in, and advancements in the medical industry with the adoption of modern and innovative technology solutions, respectively. The event concluded with a panel discussion by experts from companies namely, IBM, Texas Instruments, Intel, Amazon, and Synopsys, as they discussed the subject, “Learning and Growing your career in the Generative AI era.” The panelists discussed the application of AI/ML in a wide range of areas including compilers, computer vision, drug discovery, banking, and finance. There were engaging discussions on responsible AI, sustainable AI, and AI for social good.
From 650+ paper submissions, a strong 400+ person reviewer pool from across industry and academia selected the final list of 23 papers that were presented. There were also project demos, tutorials, and posters showcasing disruptive innovations. WINTECHCON also had an array of exhibition booths showcasing products from various top players who participated.
Sana Shaik, Steering Committee Chair for IEEE WINTECHCON 2023 shared “WINTECHCON is an excellent forum for women technologists to present their path-breaking technical work.”
Radha Srinivasan, chair of the Technical Program Committee says, “There was a big increase in participation as well as the quality of submissions to the conference this year.”
Dr. Aloknath De, Chair, IEEE Bangalore Section, said, “IEEE WINTECHCON is an excellent forum where Women Technologists and Industry Leaders congregate to deliberate on emerging technologies. This year, our focus has been Silicon-to-Software that permeates all intelligent devices.” He further added, “This well-attended conference serves as a strong research pillar for the foundation of India’s journey on semiconductor design and manufacturing.”
As General Chair of the conference, Nithya Raghavan, Synopsys, expressed immense satisfaction at the response to the conference. “This edition of the conference has surpassed all my expectations. I was happy to see so many talented women in tech under one roof – sharing their experiences, networking, and learning from each other. I hope to see this conference go from strength to strength in the upcoming years” she said.
“IEEE Women in Technology Conference is one of the most innovative women-led tech events bringing them to the forefront to showcase their knowledge and expertise. It is crucial to focus on women contributing to the techade and finding solutions for the larger issues, and conferences like these provide a platform for such fruitful discussions. WINTECHCON also provides opportunities to all the attendees to network with industry peers and showcase their expertise and innovation within the sector” said Roopashree HM, Global Director, EDA, Texas Instruments.
“The return to an in-person conference after the pandemic was great – there was so much energy and excitement”, commented Mehala, an attendee who found the conference rewarding and inspiring.
IEEE WINTECHCON added another successful year to its record, as the event built a larger consensus on how more women in STEM can be encouraged and strengthened, to grow and connect with other like-minded professionals.
About WINTECHCON:
WINTECHCON was conceptualized and started in 2018 with the intention of providing a technical forum for women leaders across the semiconductor industry to present their work in emerging areas. The first edition of the conference, led by Texas Instruments India, successfully brought together 200+ senior women technologists under one roof in Bengaluru, focusing on deep technical work in both silicon design and system software domains. Encouraged by the success of WINTECHCON 2018, the second edition of the conference, led by Intel India, was held in Bengaluru on September 27, 2019. In 2022, the conference was held virtually by Qualcomm and was opened up to global participation. IEEE WINTECHCON 2023 was the fourth edition with Synopsys as the Platinum Sponsor and host company, TI as the Gold sponsor, and Intel as the student sponsor. It was organized in partnership with IEEE CAS (Circuits and Systems Society) Bangalore Chapter, IEEE Bangalore Section, and IEEE WIE (Women in Engineering) Council Bangalore.
