On 20^th March, 2016, IEEE AIUB Student Branch partnered with Google Women Techmakers Bangladesh to celebrate International Women’s Day at the Auditorium, Faculty of Business Administration building, AIUB. The interactive event was arranged to educate students about women in technology.

The event started with the inauguration speech delivered by Mr. Anindo Saha, Vice-Chairperson, IEEE AIUB Student Branch. This was followed by Dr. Md. Abdur Rahman, Director and Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering, AIUB, discussed about the fact that women empowerment is in motion, giving success stories of girls during viva and examinations.  Afterwards, Ms. Farah Nazifa, Lead, Google Women Techmakers Bangladesh, delivered a detailed presentation of the software, Firebase. She also suggested some programming languages, which would help students in the long run. Ms. Achia Nila, Founder, Women in Digital, talked at length about the discrimination faced by women at the workplaces, especially in male-dominated places such as tech companies. She inspired everyone in the audience by talking about how she overcame the obstacles and turned her local tech business into a global one. She urged girls to face all the obstacles in their respective fields and thrive nonetheless. Following this was the cake cutting ceremony with all the speakers and guests. Mr. Pritom Chowdhury, Electrical and Electronics Engineer, Grameen Intel Social Business Ltd, gave a presentation about innovative world of robotics. He included a video to illustrate his statements. Mr. Shakil Bin Karim, Game Developer, then delivered a presentation about the conditions of game industry. He went on to inspire those in the audience to use their creativity and make games of their own. Mr. Amit Seal Ami, Lecturer, Dhaka University, discussed about various reasons for which women usually fall behind in technical world. In his presentation, he also explained about the harassments most women face in the workplace and mentioned ways to deal with them. Later Dr. Tauhida Rahman Ereen, Consultant Dermatologist, Surecell Medical Limited, gave a speech about biotechnology. Ms. Sayeda Farzana Aktar, Senior Software Engineer, Samsung R&D Institute Bangladesh, then, delivered a presentation, emphasizing the necessity of having analytical skill for the engineers. Ms. Shahana Sharmin, Sociotech, WE Evangelist, gave a powerful speech, encouraging all women to be bold enough to speak up and chase their dreams, regardless societal pressures. Dr. M. Tanseer Ali, Counselor, IEEE AIUB Student Branch & Assistant Professor, Faculty of Engineering, AIUB, then, spoke about women’s contributions in technology. He thanked all of the speakers for their insights.

The event came to an end with the speech given by Dr. Md. Abdul Mannan, Head of Undergraduate Program & Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering, AIUB. He, on behalf of IEEE AIUB Student branch, presented a token of appreciation to Ms. Farah Nazifa, who collected it on behalf of Google Techmakers Bangladesh. The gesture was reciprocated with Ms. Farah Nazifa, presenting a token of appreciation to IEEE AIUB Student Branch, which was collected by Dr. Md. Abdul Mannan. The event took place in the presence of 150 engineering students, amongst whom 100 were female students.