Women in Engineering, Science, and Technology (WiEST) Symposium
The inaugural Women in Engineering, Science, and Technology (WiEST) Symposium was held on 7 November 2014 to commemorate Marie Curie's birthday and was one of the first nation-wide symposium of its type in Singapore. With the aim to highlight the accomplishments of women engineers, scientists, and technologists while sharing the latest advances and innovations, the Symposium features speakers from the academia and industry in Singapore with international plenary speakers.
The Symposiums are open to public and provide opportunities for interactions and discussions with leading researchers and practitioners. They have featured Ada Yonath (Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 2009 “for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome”), Frances Arnold (Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 2018 “for the directed evolution of enzymes”), Jo Handelsman (Director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery), Joan Rose (Stockholm Water Prize 2016) and Yael Kalai (ACM Prize in Computing 2022).
In 2021, the Symposium served as a platform for the launch of the Promotion of Women in Engineering, Research and Science (POWERS) programme by Halimah Yacob, the first woman president of Singapore. With initial funding from the the Singapore Ministry of Education, the POWERS programme recruits and empowers women with a long-term goal of increasing gender diversity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) careers.
Partnerships with institutions across the STEM fields, including National Research Foundation (NRF), Global Youth Scientist Summit (GYSS), NTU Institute of Advanced Studies, Society of Women Engineers Singapore, and United Women Singapore, expand the reach of the Symposium.
The WiEST Symposium is an initiative by Women@NTU as part of the POWERS programme to bring Singapore innovations to the community and beyond!