Carnegie Mellon celebrates women in STEM fields
Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q), a Qatar Foundation partner university, hosted a discussion among women who are pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM). The panelists included CMU-Q alumnae in the early stages of their STEM careers. Opening the discussion was Basma Dajani, professor of Arabic language and culture in the College of Islamic Studies at Hamad Bin Khalifa University.
Annette Vincent, the associate dean of diversity and climate at CMU-Q, is also an associate teaching professor of biology. She emphasized the importance of networking for young female scientists.
“Each year, we see more young women choose to pursue studies in STEM fields. Our aim is to build a strong network of colleagues and mentors in Qatar who can offer guidance and support as these women fulfill their potential as scientists and leaders in research and academia.”
The graduate panelists included Rahaf Abutarbush (Information Systems, 2022), who is lab lead in emerging technology at PwC Qatar; Hend Gedawy (Computer Science, 2009), a postdoctoral researcher at CMU-Q; Weilin Li (Biological Sciences, 2021), a Ph.D. candidate at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne; and Safa Salim (Biological Sciences, 2017), a Ph.D. candidate at the College of of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, HBKU.
CMU-Q offers undergraduate programs in biological sciences, business administration, computer science and information systems. More than half of the CMU-Q student and alumni population is female.