IIITDM celebrates Women's Day

March 8,2018: The IEEE student body of IIITDM Kancheepuram organised a panel discussion on the occasion of Women’s day. We had the privilege of interacting with Dr.Kalaivani Ganesan, who is a Joint Director at Entrepreneurship Development and Innovation Institute, as well as Ms. Vaishnavi Vignesan Raja, who is the Director of EQuad Engineering Services and VP of Operations and Strategy SECO Controls pvt. ltd. Along with this, she is a mentor of the ‘IIT Madras HIH’, an initiative for rural women entrepreneurs. Both the women have achieved so many things at their age, which many other people would have needed a lifetime to accomplish. The turn out for the celebration was amazing to see. The hall was packed and the energy in the air was palpable.

The celebration began with a briefing on the activities of the ever-growing IEEE IIITDM student branch. Following this introduction, our esteemed director, Professor Banshidhar Majhi addressed the gathering. The panel members were then introduced and welcomed onto the stage with bouquets from the students.
In the discussion that followed, these two invited guests shared their stories and the things that they have learnt over the past couple of years. They had their own share of difficulties to reach the positions that they are in today. The women were examples to all of us that hard work and dedication can get you a long way. In addition, a strong backbone is crucial to face the discrimination and judgement dished out on many working women today.

Post discussion, there was a Q&A where the students got advice from the guests. The final departing message was that women can do absolutely anything that they put their heart into. They can no longer be held back by society to achieve their dreams and they cannot be hidden in a closet separate from the world just because they are women. These two guests of honour were the finest examples of that and the magic of their presence, their humility, their relatability and just their personalities itself put smiles on the faces of all present within that room. With that, the celebration ended.