International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists

ICWES (International Conference of Women Engineers of Women Engineers and Scientists) is an international conference for engineers and scientists, which takes place every 3-4 years in countries around the world.[1][2] Since 1999, the conference has been organised by the International Network of Women Engineers and Scientists (INWES), which was founded at the World Conference on Science (Budapest, Hungary) in 1999.[3] The first conference took place in New York City, USA in 1964, the second followed in 1967 in Cambridge, UK. Since then meetings have taken place in Turin, Italy (1971); Cracow, Poland (1975); Rouen, France (1975); Mumbai, India, (1981); Washington DC, USA (1984); Abidjan, Ivory Coast (1988); Warwick, UK (1991); Budapest, Hungary (1996); Chiba, Japan (1999); Ottawa, Canada (2002); Seoul, Korea (2005); Lille, France (2008); Adelaide, Australia (2011); Los Angeles, USA (2014); New Delhi, India (2017). ICWES 18 has been postponed to 2021 and will take place in Coventry, UK.[2]

ICWES I AND II
Mechanical engineer Ila Ghosh (née Majumdar), from India, who attended the second ICWES conference in Cambridge, England in 1967

The first ICWES conference took place in New York City, United States of America in 1964 and was organised by the American Society of Women Engineers (SWE). Beatrice Hicks was Conference Director and Ruth Shafer was Operations Chairman.[4] The theme of the conference was on developing engineering and scientific talent for the future.[5] There were 493 listed attendees from 35 different countries, including Lillian Gilbreth, Beatrice Hicks, Grace Hopper, Ayyalasomayajula Lalitha and Isabel Hardwich.[1] The conference received funding from the National Science Foundation, the Asia Foundation, the Engineers Joint Council, as well as other companies and individual donations.[6] Included in the conference programme was a trip to the New York's World Fair, which was taking place at the same time.[6] The conference proceedings published a message sent to the conference from Lyndon B. Johnson, which stated that 'in focusing on the untapped potential and ability of talented women to participate in these professional activities, you and your colleagues are performing a distinguished service in our society'.[5] Talks and statements were given by a variety of women from different countries, including Lillian Gilbreth (USA), Ira Rischowski (UK), Isabel Hardwich (UK), Jacqueline Juillard (Switzerland), Dorothy Mizoguchi (Japan), Ilse Knott-ter Meer (Germany) and Anna Amour (Italy).[5]

The second ICWES conference was organised by the United Kingdom's Women's Engineering Society (WES) and took place in Cambridge, England in 1967.[7] The themes of the conference were the application of technology to solve world food problems and the question of women's representation in engineering and science across the world.[7] There were 309 listed attendees from 35 different countries, with attendees including Ghanaian zoologist Leticia Obeng, Japanese geochemist Katsuko Saruhashi, American aeronautical engineer Katherine Stinson and engineer and journalist Elsie Eaves[8] and Indian mechanical engineer Ila Ghose.[1] In The Woman Engineer - journal of WES - Leticia Obeng commented on the atmosphere of the conference: 'The change from the serious talks in the Chemistry Laboratory Hall to the gay atmosphere at the pre-banquet reception was a vivid demonstration of the adaptability of the human female to varying conditions.'[9][7]

References
  1. Koerner, Emily Rees (2020-12-04). "Who went to the International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists (ICWES) in 1964 and 1967?". Electrifying Women. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  2. "ICWES". www.inwes.org. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  3. "About INWES". www.inwes.org. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  4. "Women engineers plan International conference". Electrical Engineering. 82 (12): 745–745. 1963. doi:10.1109/EE.1963.6541838. ISSN 2376-7804.
  5. Proceedings of the First International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists (PDF). Society of Women Engineers. 1964. pp. vii.
  6. "Guide to the International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists Records" (PDF). Walter P. Reuther Library. 2017.
  7. Gooday, Graeme (2020-07-02). "International conviviality: recovering women in engineering from Africa and Asia in 'The Woman Engineer'". Electrifying Women. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  8. "The Woman Engineer Vol 10". www2.theiet.org. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  9. Obeng, Leticia (1967). "Impressions of the Conference Banquet". The Woman Engineer. 10: 24 – via IET Archives.
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