KazNU hosted a workshop - "Women in Engineering"

Al-Farabi KazNU hosted an international workshop "Problems and Prospects of Kazakhstani Women in Engineering".

The event is organized under the auspices of IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, specifically IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE), a global network of IEEE members and volunteers.

The event was attended by famous research scientists, managers, doctoral and master students, industry representatives and others. The workshop participants were welcomed by Zhamilya Aitzhanova, Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation Activities of Al-Farabi KazNU, who emphasized that the WIE organization is designed to promote women engineers and scientists and follow their academic interests and careers in engineering and science. "KazNU actively realizes 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the UN SDGs, in particular 5 SDGs-Gender Equality. Today KazNU employs 5107 people, of which 3483 are female. There are 2000 students studying at the university on engineering specialties, 838 of them are girls. Thus, KazNU actively promotes the SDG program. The purpose of our event is to bring together researchers, scientists, industry practitioners and other like-minded people to exchange ideas, discussions on issues related to women in various fields of engineering", - said Zhamilya Aitzhanova.

The welcome speech was also delivered by Prof. Octavian A. Postolake, Director of the PhD Program in Information Science and Technology at the University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE - Instituto Universitario de Lisboa, Lisbon), leader of the IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement Society in Portugal, who noted the special role and great potential of women in science and society.

During the session, participants heard presentations by women researchers from various fields of engineering. Professor Pakizar Shamoi of Kazakhstan-British Technical University made a presentation on "Overcoming Obstacles: Women in Engineering - Challenges and Opportunities", highlighting the most pressing issues of gender equality today.

Head of the Department of Biophysics, Biomedicine and Neuroscience of Al-Farabi KazNU, Professor Almira Kustubaeva made a report on "Functional MRI for mapping cognitive functions in patients with brain tumors". It should be noted that Almira Melsovna was trained under the grant of the President of RK in the center of cognitive neuroscience in Turku (Finland) under the grants of JFDP (in the USA), Tempus (in the UK), Fulbright (in the USA). She is a specialist in brain signal analysis and conducts research on emotional states and cognitive control. In 2023, Professor A. Kustubaeva established the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.

The workshop also featured presentations by renowned scientists who shared their experiences and career development in the profession. At the interactive session, group participants discussed effective negotiation techniques, opportunities to improve and expand scientific networking, etc.

The joint event was organized by: Al-Farabi KazNU, Nazarbayev University, IEEE Women in Engineering communities in Kazakhstan.

Press-service of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University