Sulyna Abdullah

“Approved!”, said Sulyna Abdullah as she hit the gavel during one of the meetings of the Working Group of the Plenary at ITU’s Plenipotentiary Conference in 2018. Sulyna is currently Chief of Strategic Planning and Membership at ITU, the UN Agency for Digital Technologies. Originally a lawyer, Sulyna spent close to two decades at the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission after which she had a short stint at Netflix.

Copyrights – P. Barrera

Patricia Acosta

Patricia Acosta tests exoskeletons in the lab for safety.

Copyrights – María Claudia Salvador

Dr. Carlotta Berry

Dr. Carlotta Berry, electrical engineering professor and endowed chair at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, shows off her open-source robot used for education, research and outreach programmes in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). As a Black woman engineering professor, she is sometimes considered a “unicorn.” She uses her intersectionality to teach, research and promote STEM to diverse communities by using robotics.

Copyrights- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology/Bryan Cantwell

Shiksha Bheergoonath

Three generations of women in the Bheergoonath family are united in progress through technology. The daughter Shiksha, who has cerebral palsy, is homeschooled by her mother and grandmother. Taught to use technology and supported by her mother’s unconditional belief, Shiksha’s is empowered to overcome physical limitations.

Coprights – Chiranjiv Mahesh Kumar Aungnoo

Doreen Bogdan-Martin

Shattering the glass ceiling in tech: Doreen Bogdan-Martin, the first-ever woman Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union, a 159-year-old specialized agency of the United Nations, addresses Mobile World Congress Barcelona on “Delivering the Digital Decade” in February 2023.

Copyrights -M. Jacobson – Gonzalez

Cindy Cook

Cindy Cook was chairing a Conference Preparatory Meeting for the World Radiocommunication Conference, the first woman to do so. Through her 20+ years of working in the ITU Radiocommunication Sector, Cindy chaired progressively higher level meetings and led many Canadian delegations. Gender balance in the International Telecommunication Union, the UN Agency for Digital Technologies, is a passion and she has challenged herself and others to “Lean into what scares you” and ask for opportunities.

Copyrights- ITU

Marylise Converset

Marylise Converset, a data centre and infrastructure support technician at the United Nations International Computing Centre (UNICC) in Geneva, ensures seamless data centre operations. Inspired by a woman technologist in school, Marylise found her passion for computing. Now celebrating 16 years at UNICC, she hopes to inspire young girls to follow their dreams and break barriers in technology, just as she did.

Coprights – Omar Aziz

Sanskriti Deva

Sanskriti Deva, a quantum engineer and educator who has taught over 10,000 students, in front of a quantum computer.

Copyrights – Harrison Keating

Daniela Fraga

Daniela Fraga, an incident command trainer, uses virtual reality to work in a command centre. Forestry Eng. Master in Geographic Information Systems. Certified Controlled Fire and Suppression Fire Technician. PhD student in Military Sciences at the Military University Institute and CINAMIL researcher in the Overwatch project. Volunteer firefighter.

Copyrights – Scola Nacional de Bombeiros archive – Carolina Cunha photographer.

Marta Garcia-Gasulla

Marta Garcia-Gasulla, a team leader at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, analyses a high-performance computing (HPC) application using her laptop in a lab with several computing platforms. These are research prototypes for the design of future supercomputers. Marta has been doing HPC research since 2006. Women represent less than 10 per cent of the workforce in this fast-moving field.

Copyrights- Roger Ferrer

Anirri Loice

Anirri Loice, a single mother of one coming from a family of humble background, is taking digital skills training in computers at the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Center, established by STEMpower.org in Yambio Town, Western Equatoria State, South Sudan.

Coprights – Sanskriti Ring Kuach

Mary

Mary, 22, is an engineer in Kampala, Uganda. She has lent her skills to the ‘Smart Bags for Girls’ project which aims to remove barriers that prevent girls from going to school. Mary’s initiative was to add a solar panel to the school bags, which powers a torch, so girls can do their homework when there’s no electricity. “I want to become a great engineer who can help other girls like me to turn dreams into a reality and create positive change in people’s lives,” says Mary.

Copyrights – Jadwiga Figula

Jennifer A. Manner

Jennifer A. Manner, currently the Senior Advisor for Space and Satellite Policy at the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration, takes part in a Geeks Without Frontiers event focused on the Community Connect Initiative to overcome the digital divide. She shared how satellites can make a difference in connecting everyone, everywhere.

Copyrights – Jennifer A. Manner

Sandra Maria dos Santos da Conceição Venâncio

Sandra Maria dos Santos da Conceição Venâncio, a telecommunications engineer at Angola’s MSTelcom since 2003, is shown configuring the colocation service in the 42U Data Center Indoor Rack. Her attention to detail ensures seamless customer operations, including equipment monitoring and disaster recovery. Sandra’s expertise is crucial to maintaining MSTelcom’s high service standards.

Copyrights- Paulo Vala, MSTelcom

Elisavet Mike

Elisavet Mike, a Network Engineer on duty, is swapping a host bus adapter card on a server. Elisavet is listening into her favourite song while her headset is noise-canceling the “loud” sound levels of the data center. Elisavet is the only woman in her team and the customer engagements are her personal fuel, especially the ones requesting a gender-oriented technician.

Coprights – Frédéric Thibaut

Dr. Sumbal Mushtaq

Dr. Sumbal Mushtaq is training in an intravehicular activity (IVA) spacesuit at Florida Tech with the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS), focusing on bioastronautics and commercial spaceflight. She is the first Pakistani woman to become a scientist-astronaut candidate. A medical doctor with a childhood fascination for stars, she carved out her own path to become a future physician in space.

Copyrights – Jefferson Mushtaq

Monica Ortiz Álvarez

Monica Ortiz Álvarez, Analog Astronaut Commander of the 1st Latin American Mars Research Mission, is Mexico’s first woman astronaut. She was received awards from the Senate of the Republic of Mexico and named an inspiring Mexican by the country’s Institute for Women. She is a lawyer, astrobiologist, and youth president of the Approaching the Universe Foundation, and Ambassador for the International Space Station.

Copyrights – Approaching the Universe Foundation or in Spanish Fundacion Acercándote al Universo (FAU)

Nesse Nicole

In the Free Port of Monrovia, Nesse Nicole, project manager, inspects a marine infrastructure under construction by using a gantry crane and this cage to get to the dedicated site.

Copyrights- Lazhar HAMZA

Joanne Wilson

Joanne Wilson, Deputy Director of the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau, often tells young women that being an engineer leads to exciting opportunities. She didn’t realize that would include accepting an Emmy Statuette © ATAS/NATAS in Hollywood. Then again, everyone on stage that night was an engineer. Of course, she believes more women will be on stage in future Emmy Awards ceremonies.

Coprights – Emmy(R) is the property of the Television Academy/National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences