UF’s Engineering Leadership Institute will focus on women’s leadership this year.
The summit is partnering with the Committee of 200 for the March 8 event. The committee is made up of the world’s most successful female entrepreneurs and corporate innovators, said Franklin “Buster” Hagenbeck, the director of the Engineering Leadership Institute.
Linda Hudson, a speaker in C200, recommended that the committee and UF partnership after she spoke last year, he said.
The summit will include three female keynote speakers and three panels, which will discuss innovation and diversity in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, Hagenbeck said. UF’s Student Leadership Advisory Board, a group of students who represent different departments and student organizations, chose the questions, he said.
“Students come up with the questions for the speakers themselves, because they know what would be most beneficial for the Student Body, in terms of hearing their expertise,” Hagenbeck said.
Melissa Franklin, a 21-year-old UF biomedical engineering junior, said she will attend. She said she thinks UF’s College of Engineering is diverse compared to other schools.
In the past, men have been more respected in the workplace than women, Franklin said. She said she hopes the conference encourages women to be leaders.
“I think it will give me insight as a young professional of how to deal with the current standing of the industry, especially in my field, which can be really male-dominated,” she said.
