WISJ’s First Annual Flagship Event

Written by Melissa Bernardino

On 12 November 2023, WISJ hosted its 1st Annual Flagship Event at the Le Wagon Tokyo Campus in Meguro, Tokyo. The event was held in-person and online with live interpretation from English to Japanese.

The event was great success and was filled with solidarity, support, and excitement. Attendees included students (high school, undergraduate, and graduate), industry professionals, academics, and CEOs from various scientific disciplines. 

WISJ is grateful to our speakers for sharing their stories and insights. Our Keynote Speaker, Janelle Wellons (Spaceflight Operations Engineer and Flight Director, ispace, inc.), shared her experience navigating her education and career in aerospace engineering, including her time at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and finally, Japan.

Our three panelists joined us for an engaging Q&A discussion focused on rediscovering passion in our fields. Topics included dealing with rejection and burnout.

• Galina Naydenova, Machine Learning Engineer

• Dr. Anusuya Pal, JSPS Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Tokyo

• Dr. Rene Martinez-Johnson, Global Supply Chain Industrial Engineer at Intel Japan

Our final speaker, Dr. Elisa G. M. Ferreira (Assistant Professor at Kavli IPMU, University of Tokyo), presented on gender bias in academia and also discussed gender equity, intersectionality, and policy-making. 

Our event concluded with a lively game of networking bingo that allowed attendees and speakers to connect while learning about each other.

Thank you to everyone, including the WISJ planning committee, for making this a wonderful event. We look forward to seeing everyone next time!