WLI Newsletter | Designing The Difference | Volume 7

The latest news & updates from GSA’s Women’s Leadership Initiative

As we get closer to the end of 2021, we have so many incredible accomplishments to celebrate. First, we want to say thank you to our dedicated newsletter readers and article contributors. We appreciate your support as we continue to grow. We have significantly expanded in the past year and wanted to reflect on it.

Starting with our CEO Pledge, which shows C-level commitment to increasing the number of women in leadership roles and the number of STEM-focused female candidates joining the semiconductor industry. If you missed the video from the 2020 Awards Celebration, check it out on our website here.

Our speakers bureau has gained talented women to speak at GSA/WLI events and it continues to increase monthly. If you want to participate, sign up today on our website, today!

We held our inaugural Women in Semiconductor Hardware (WISH) conference in September, with 1,150+ attendees and inspiring speakers including industry leaders, Dr. Lisa Su, CEO and President of AMD, Lip-Bu Tan, Chairman of Cadence, and Rani Borkar, Corporate Vice President, AHSI, Microsoft. If you missed it or would like to rewatch any portion of it, you can view it here.

After hosting a successful university event for the EMEA region in the spring, we partnered with UC Berkeley this fall for a keynote by Weili Dai and panel moderated by Maria Pace, Technology Leader, Mixed Reality, Microsoft speak about their time in the semiconductor ecosystem to university engineering students. We had a great turnout with an in-depth Q&A and networking. We are planning more university events for 2022, so be on the lookout!

We promise 2022 will be an even bigger year for WLI and we hope to see you at our events!

— WLI Team

THE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON GIRLS AND STEM
Newsletter Sponsor | Applied Materials | Julie LataOctober 11 was International Day of the Girl. A day to celebrate the contributions of girls around the world and to look introspectively at what we can each do to better support girls in their quests for greatness. Applied Materials is entering the fourth year of the Generation Girl initiative, a U.S. program focused on inspiring girls to pursue their dreams and equipping them with the academic and socioemotional support they need to succeed. READ MORE HERE.

CREATING AN INCLUSIVE SPACE FOR WOMEN AT YOUR COMPANY
Cadence Design Systems

Embracing diversity and fostering inclusion are key tenets of Cadence’s One-Team culture. Women at Cadence have played a special role in their 33-year history to shape the future of technology and have been supported strongly by management. The female Cadence groups, along with our over-arching Women@Cadence program, help provide support, mentorship, networking and other career opportunities for women across different roles and locations. READ MORE HERE.

THE PLANET & THE FUTURE OF SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING: IS NET-ZERO MANUFACTURING OPERATIONS POSSIBLE IN SEMI?

Azita Yazdani | Exergy Systems

In recent months, we saw much talk about the demand for chips and the chip shortages experienced due to COVID-19 by the various segments such as the automotive industry. The demand is more significant than ever and expects to grow further due to new AI/IoT and other trends, requiring pressures on the semiconductor industry to produce more chips for various new services and devices. READ MORE HERE.

FIND A ROLE THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR COMMUNITY

Tamara Heath-Underbrink
| Infineon Technologies

Tamara is Vice President of Americas at Infineon Technologies, a top 10 global semiconductor company. Her career journey has not been easy, with challenges along the way, but the story is enlightening for young professional seeking a career in the semiconductor industry. She encourages young women, as well as men, who plan to work in STEAM to always accept a challenge and work for a company that makes a difference to tomorrow’s generation. READ MORE HERE.

HAVE CONFIDENCE, TAKE RISKS & FIND JOY IN YOUR ENGINEERING CAREER

Mariya Braylovska | Synopsys

Beyond your education and growing your skillset, here are two things I’ve found that are important as you build your career: 1) learn to have confidence and take smart risks and 2) find joy in what you do. By preparing, taking risks, and finding joy in your work, there is no reason you can’t rise to the top of your field. READ MORE HERE.

The Rising Women of Influence Award recognizes and profiles the next generation of women leaders in the semiconductor industry. Companies were encouraged to identify women with a technical background and education within their organization that they believe will be one of their key corporate executives over the next three or four years. Congratulations to these nominees on this lauded achievement! Join us virtually on December 9 to find out who will be named as the 2021 RWOI recipient at the GSA Awards Celebration.

Special thank you to Intel Corporation for sponsoring the RWOI award! We truly appreciate your support and allyship to all women.

GSA WLI is able to bring the exciting experience of semiconductors to students and universities across the globe thanks to our sponsors. As the semiconductor ecosystem expands, so does need for young and promising talent. The WLI University Program aims to connect college-aged individuals in STEM with industry professionals to guide them to design the solution for the many real-world problems that semiconductors solve.

Whether you’re a student with an interest in the technology career field, a university looking to introduce students to bring semiconductor professionals to your campus programming or a business interested in sponsorships or providing speakers, then please reach out to our new WLI Specialist, Austan Palmer at apalmer@gsaglobal.org.

We want to thank our amazing sponsors! View more details about our sponsors here.