Empowering Diversity in Engineering: Insights, Initiatives, and Innovation

NTNU, AAU, DTU, IDA and IDA Connect invites to an exciting full day conference in the name of increasing diversity within engineering. The ultimate goal is to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion within the engineering and technology sectors across the Nordic countries by sharing best practices, fostering collaboration, and developing actionable strategies that attract, retain, and empower underrepresented groups. And the outcome of this full day conference will be 5 tangible advices on creating a diverse engineering workforce. 

The objectives of the conference is to highlight exemplary practices in education and identify successful workplace diversity strategies. These objectives are explored by lessons learned sessions and distinguished keynote speakers to inspire the participants to foster new ideas which will be brought to the table in an interactive workshop for all participants. 

8:30 – 9:00 REGISTRATION AND COFFEE

9:00 – 9:15 WELCOME

Lene Tolstrup Sørensen, Associate Professor, AAU CPH
Iwona Windekilde, Associate Professor, NTNU
Line Pyndt Larsen, RAN Solution Engineer, Ph.D., TDC NET & IDA Connect board member

9:15 – 10:00 Keynote speaker:

Moderator: Iwona Windekilde, Associate Professor, NTNU

Randi Stebbins, Valenttina Griffin and Payal Shah, WomenTechIceland:
"Fact vs. fiction: DEIB in the Icelandic tech sector" 

10:00 – 11:00 Best practice sessions

Moderator: Iwona Windekilde, Associate Professor, NTNU

Denmark: Pernille Scholdan Bertelsen, Vice-head of Department of Sustainabilty and Planning, TECH faculty, AAU “How the project Diversity in Tech Education (DITEC) at AAU led to a changed concept for study start.”  

Norway: Anna Szlavi, Researcher, NTNU
"Gender-inclusive practices in the EUGAIN project and the Women STEM UP project" 

Sweden: Simone Fischer-Hübner, Security Divas Sweden

11:00 – 12.00 Workshop: What are the challenges faced, and how to overcome them

Chairperson: Lene Tolstrup Sørensen, Associate Professor, AAU CPH 

12:00 – 12:30 Conclusion of the workshop in plenum

12:30 – 13:30 LUNCH

13:30 – 14:00 Keynote Speaker:

Moderator: Iwona Windekilde, Associate Professor, NTNU  

Anne Sofie Josephsen, Head of Business Development, IT Branchen, Copenhagen, Denmark:
"From Setting the Agenda to Creating Real Change"

14:00 – 15:45 Plenum: Best practice sessions and panel discussion

Moderator: Peggy Lill Sandbekken, Innovation Manager of Digital Security and Director of the Center for Cyber and Information Security (CCIS), IIK Department, NTNU

Best practice sessions

Camilla Hillerup, People and talent Director Microsoft Denmark & Iceland
"Empowering Diversity In Engineering"

Daniel Askeroth, CTO Telia Mobil Danmark (Norlys) "Setting the team- the way to diversity and success"

Maria Fagranes Clemmensen is the Nordic Programme Manager at Tech Nordic Advocates.

 Gunn Mari Rusten, CEO of Digital Innlandet, Norway
"Girl Tech Fest – How to empower early interest in engineering? " 

15:45-16:00 Closing session and 5 advices for increased diversity in Engineering

16:00 – 17:00 NETWORKING

Registration includes free lunch and coffee breaks, please remember to sign off in case you can not attend.

Organization Committee:

Iwona Maria Windekilde | Associate Professor | NTNU | iwona.windekilde@ntnu.no

Lene Tolstrup Sørensen | Associate Professor | AAU CPH |

Peggy Lill Sandbekken | Innovation Manager of Digital Security and Director of CCIS | NTNU |  

Reza Tadayoni | Associate Professor | IDA Connect and AAU CPH | reza@es.aau.dk     

Line Pyndt Larsen | RAN Solution Engineer, PhD | IDA Connect | lil@tdcnet.dk 

List of organizers:

NTNU | Technical University of Norway | https://www.ntnu.edu/iik 

NTNU CCIS | NTNU Center for Cyber and Information Security | https://www.ntnu.edu/ccis/center-for-cyber-and-information-security 

IDA | Danish Engineering Society | https://ida.dk/

IDA CONNECT | https://ida.dk/viden-og-netvaerk/netvaerk-oversigt/it-tele-og-elektronik/ida-connect

AAU | Aalborg University | aau.dk 

DTU | Technical University of Denmark | dtu.dk