Engineering students and professionals discussed issues ranging from infrastructure improvements to wearable technology Thursday afternoon at the Gator Engineering Leadership and Diversity Summit.
The event focused on leadership and diversity in engineering, featuring five keynote speakers and 13 panelists, including Linda Hudson, chairman and CEO of the Cardea Group; and Brig. Gen. Maureen LeBoeuf, retired director and head of the Department of Physical Education in the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
UF President Kent Fuchs gave a speech about the importance of women in engineering to a full crowd in the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom.
“Historically, when it comes to nurturing women in engineering leadership, we in higher education have been part of the problem,” Fuchs said.
He said UF boasts more female engineering majors than the national average for universities.
“As UF’s brand new, second-week president, I will do all I can to continue this progress,” he said.
As Fuchs stepped off the stage, the first keynote speaker of the day, Intel Corp. Vice President and Chief Information Officer Kim Stevenson, took his place to share how women have made significant contributions toward improving technology.
She said women have created an array of technology, such as wireless phone chargers and wearable technology.
She held up her wrist to show a small screen disguised as fashionable jewelry that shows the nearest restaurants, pulls up text messages and tracks heart rates.
The next technological phase will be wearable, she said to the audience.
“You will be that next generation to bring that to life,” she said.
Stevenson asked students to leave a legacy and take on the challenges of the future by working to improve transportation, public health, overpopulation and food resources.
Jeremy Magruder, 27, said she has gone to every College of Engineering summit.
Magruder, a National Society of Black Engineers graduate student coordinator, said leadership is extremely valuable as an engineer.
The UF civil engineering Ph.D. candidate said she was glad the seminar was specifically geared toward leadership, women and academia in engineering.
As a student, she said she has experienced a gender disproportion.
“I’ve never had a faculty member teach me in my field that is female,” she said.
She said she hopes to see more women and minorities in engineering — starting with herself.
“Particularly for me as an African-American,” she said, “I don’t see a lot of African-American women who are in faculty engineering or who are in engineering leadership roles.”
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 1/16/2015 under the headline “UF Engineering summit focuses on tech future"]
Retired Brig. Gen. Maureen LeBoeuf speaks on leadership to a large audience of Gator Engineering Leadership and Diversity Summit attendees. LeBoeuf chaired the Department of Physical Education at the United States Military Academy at West Point and carried the unique title, “Master of the Sword.”
