Meet the R8 WIE Committee!
The 2017-2018 Committee can be reached on r8wie@ieee.org, and consists of:
Youmna El Bitar (Lebanon), Chair
“Attaining your goals has 4 ingredients: knowing yourself, enjoying what you’re doing, commitment, and time management.”
Youmna graduated from the American University of Beirut – Lebanon with a degree in Telecommunications Engineering, a subject she is passionate about since childhood. She is currently working as a Radio Engineer with a Lebanese mobile operator.
IEEE has always been at the core of Youmna’s volunteering work. She joined the IEEE AUB Student Branch in 2009 and started organizing activities and events in 2010. In 2011, she joined the Third Middle-East Student Branch Congress organizing committee as Speakers Representative, a role she assumed until the Congress took place in 2013.
In 2014, Youmna joined R8 SAC as Electronic Communications Coordinator, and in 2015/2016 as Projects Coordinator, where her main focus was establishing “Mind the Gap!” Student Contest in Region 8. In 2015/2016, she also acted as Region 8 Assistant Secretary.
Currently, Youmna is the regional WIE Coordinator, a member of MGA WIE Committee, a member of MGA SAC, and a member of the Young Professionals Lebanon Committee. She aims not only to encourage women to pursue careers in STEM but also to raise awareness regarding the power of women and their qualifications as engineering professionals. Her email address is youmna.elbitar@ieeer8.org.
Taqua Saeed (Cyprus), Past Chair
“Pay it forward.”
Taqua Saeed has received the B.S.c degree in Electronics Engineering from the University of Bahrain, Bahrain. She is currently persuing her PhD in Electrical Engineering at the Frederick University, Cyprus. Her research interests include probabilistic broadcasting in VANETs and Nanonetworks.
She has been involved with IEEE since 2011 and has been mainly working with IEEE IAS. She chaired the IEEE SB at the University of Bahrain for one year. Besides being a corresponding member of R8 WIE, she is currently an officer of the IEEE IAS CMD.
Her motto is “Pay it forward”.
Joyce Mwangama (South Africa), MGA WIE
“I change the world. I am an Engineer!” – IEEE Women in Engineering
Joyce Mwangama received her BSc degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering and MSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cape Town (South Africa) in 2008 and 2011 respectively. In 2012 she began her study towards a PhD in the Centre for Broadband Networks and joined the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Cape Town as a lecturer in 2015. Joyce has published her research work in a number of peer-reviewed publications. Her research work also contributed to the Universities for Future Internet and the Testbeds for Reliable Smart City Machine-to-Machine Communications international research collaboration projects. Joyce received multiple research awards including the Google Anita Borg Scholarship and the L’Oréal-UNESCO Sub-Saharan Women in Science Fellowship.
Joyce is currently a member of the IEEE MGA Women in Engineering Committee (2015-2017). She has previously served as the IEEE Region 8 Women in Engineering Coordinator (2013-2014), IEEE South Africa Section Students Activities Coordinator (2011-2013), IEEE South Africa Section Young Professionals Chairperson (2011-2013) and IEEE Student Branch Chairperson University of Cape Town (2009-2010).
Maria-Alexandra Paun (Switzerland)
“If you really want to achieve your objectives, three ingredients are key: motivation, perseverance and passion!”
Dr. Maria-Alexandra Paun received the Engineer Diploma in 2008 from Politehnica University of Bucharest, FILS, Romania, with a major in Computer Science, graduating top of her class. During 2008-2009, she was awarded a postgraduate Marie Curie research fellowship at the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK. Between 2009 and 2013, she was Assistant – Ph.D. student at EPF Lausanne, where she worked on the subject of Hall Effect sensors. During 2013-2015, Maria-Alexandra was a Visiting Researcher at University of Cambridge, UK, with Postdoctoral Fellowships from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). She is currently working on cochlear implants, on her own research project. She has published at present 39 scientific publications, with 27 ISI-indexed journal papers, 10 IEEE Conference proceedings, wrote a chapter in a book and her h-index is 7. Her research interests include the analysis and modeling of sensors (with an expertise in magnetic sensors), development of circuit and three-dimensional physical models, development of Hall Effect sensors in regular bulk and SOI (Silicon on Insulator) CMOS technologies, humidity sensors, cochlear implants.
She is Chair of IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) Affinity Group in Switzerland, Vice Chair and Secretary of IEEE Switzerland Section, and IEEE R8 Corresponding Member in the Women in Engineering Subcommittee.
Randa Hammami (Tunisia)
“Dream big, work hard and have fun! Join IEEE so you can do all of them.”
Randa Hammami received her engineering degree and then a masters degree in computer science in 2011 and 2012 respectively, from the National Engineering School of Sfax (ENIS) in Tunisia. She is currently a PhD student, member of the ReDCAD laboratory (Research on Development and Control of Distributed Applications). Her research studies focus on the interoperability of medical information systems to solve real world problems.
Regarding her IEEE experience, Randa is very familiar with IEEE and has large connections with IEEE members worldwide. She has been an active IEEE volunteer since 2010. In fact, she served / is serving as the:
- IEEE Tunisia Women In Engineering Affinity Group Chair (2017-2018)
- IEEE Tunisia Young Professionals Affinity Group Vice Chair (2017-2018)
- IEEE Tunisia Section Membership Development Coordinator (2016-2017)
- IEEE Day Global Ambassadors Coordinator (since 2016)
- IEEE Day Regional Lead for Region 8 (2014-2015)
- IEEE Day Tunisia Section Ambassador (2013)
- IEEE Student Branch at ENIS secretary then chair (2010-2014).
She also received the IEEE 2016 outstanding section membership recruitment performance award and was the IEEE Day 2013 best humanitarian activity winner. She is still committed to the voluntary work within IEEE.
Lebogang Madise (South Africa)
“Teamwork makes the dream work.” – John C. Maxwell
Lebogang Madise is a certified SCRUM Master. She is a facilitator for mobile tech startups at mLab Southern Africa and leads a lean innovation program, Demola, in Cape Town. Lebogang is also continuing with her studies as a part time student at the University Of South Africa, pursuing a degree in Computer Science as well as a certificate in Financial Management.
Lebogang joined IEEE in 2010 and was an active member based at the University of Pretoria Student Branch. She volunteered as the Women in Engineering Chair in the same year and was elected as the Student Branch Secretary in 2011 and Student Branch Chair in 2012. In 2013, Lebogang was appointed Section Student Representative for South Africa and awarded a certificate of appreciation for outstanding work in facilitating the WIE STAR program.
In 2015 Lebogang was appointed as the Student Branch Coordinator in the Region 8 Student Activities committee and served in this role until December 2016. She is now the Student Branch Chapter Coordinator for Region 8 as well as a member on both the Humanitarian Activities and Women in Engineering Committees.
Hzar Oqlah (Jordan)
“Women are born leaders, women always fit in!” – Hzar Oqlah
Hzar is a 3rd year undergraduate student at Jordan University of Science and Technology currently working towards her degree in Industrial Engineering.
She is a freelance graphic designer since 2012. She has been honored by the reception of an award from the US Department of State for the best Logo Design for the “SheCab Project”, winner of the Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund.
In 2013 she succeeded as a young Jordanian entrepreneur to start her first self-run business, by designing bookmarks and other crafts to sell them at Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts, Jordan. After that she has been working as a handicrafts designer in the festival from 2013 up till now.
She is an active member of IEEE Jordan Section, where she is currently the Chair of IEEE JUST Women in Engineering (WIE) Affinity Group and she was a member of the organizing committee of the IEEE Jordan Students and Young Professionals Congress 2017 (JSYP). Hzar has volunteered as a graphic designer in IEEEXtreme 11.0, Jordan.
Recently, she has joined the committee of IEEE Women in Engineering International Leadership Summit Tunisia 2018 as a graphic designer.
After winning a graphic design competition carried by R8 WIE, Hzar has joined IEEE R8 Women in Engineering Committee as “Publicity Officer”.