Inspirational Insights

Most aspiring leaders know they need a powerful presence: the ability to project authority, belief, and authenticity. Yet honing a confident presence requires more than fake it ‘til you make it platitudes. This session, based on Selena Rezvani’s instant Wall Street Journal Bestseller, Quick Confidence: Be Authentic, Boost Connections, and Make Bold Bets on Yourself, helps ambitious professionals summon their personal power by addressing three key confidence filters—mindset shifts, body language habits, and interpersonal techniques. Whether you’re dealing with intimidating people, hoping to pitch a fresh idea or better connect with others, participants will walk away ready to show up and speak up—and help others do the same.

The energy industry is experiencing a significant transition to reduce emissions and increase energy capacity to meet growing demand. Maintaining a balance requires innovation as well as collaboration with industry partners, which is critical to achieving collective decarbonization and sustainability targets. In this session, Brandon Spencer, Division President, ABB Energy Industries, joins Jill Evanko, President and Chief Executive Officer of Chart Industries, to discuss the evolving energy transformation and how to meet the growing demands of the world around us. This session will explore further the importance of industry collaboration and diversity in achieving our sustainability goals. Topics will include process improvements being taken at industry and organizational levels to do so, how we can scale new energy markets to meet existing and new demands, and how we can increase the reliability of renewable energy sources. From this dialogue between two leaders of partnering organizations, key takeaways for attendees will include a strengthened understanding the current energy transition and what’s at stake, the impact of true collaboration to obtain common decarbonization goals, and the role that new energy markets play in the energy transition.

Despite a number of shared characteristics, similar experiences, and common interests, there is a vast amount of diversity within the Autistic, neurodiversity, and disability communities. At the macro level, these different and sometimes conflicting aspects of our identities can produce opportunity AND obstacle; glee AND gloom; strength AND strife…sometimes simultaneously. A similar multichotomy often exists within the individual as well, complicating things even further. As individuals and as a community, concepts such as acceptance, intersectionality, inclusion, autonomy, and respect are more than trendy terms. For us they are critical – but they can at times feel abstract. How can we live them out in practical, healthy ways and still be our unique, authentic selves? This presentation explores ideas for integrating them into our personal identities, workplaces, schools, and our overall lived experiences while striving for balance and acknowledging that our fallibility does not negate our value.

The State of Women in Engineering session presents an overview of research on the issues affecting women in engineering. During this special event, Roberta Rincon, Ph.D., will share updates on SWE’s current research projects. Peter Meiksins, Ph.D., will discuss highlights from the literature review published in SWE Magazine’s 2023 State of Women in Engineering magazine issue on topics related to women’s underrepresentation in engineering. Claudine Schmuck will present findings from the Gender Scan™. Gender Scan™ is a global survey on women in STEM, from education to career, providing insights on the evolution of women’s representation in STEM studies and occupations.

SpaceX was started with one goal in mind: To make human life multiplanetary. This is an extremely challenging goal that requires intense engineering rigor, production excellence and innovation. In this session Gwynne Shotwell will discuss the environment that is needed to innovate regularly, how to leverage engineering principles to innovate and SpaceX’s journey in making human life multiplanetary.

You tell people to speak up. After all, as a leader, you want people to tell you what’s really going on before things blow up. You want diverse perspectives in order to get to the best outcomes. You want to build psychological safety for your team and your community. But people still stay silent. What gives? With candor and humor, we explore how learned silence and the ways we unintentionally silence people undercuts our best intentions. We examine the messages you’re really sending with your actions and offer ways to build new patterns of working together. Based on Elaine’s forthcoming book, Unlearning Silence (Penguin 2024), we engage in the process of unlearning ways we silence ourselves and silence the people around us – so we can reap the benefits of collaboration and innovation while centering the dignity of the people around us.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is continuously exploring and investing in emerging technologies to enhance modeling and simulation capabilities. This panel aims to provide an overview of some of the most promising technologies currently being developed and tested in the defense sector. The panelists will also discuss their career paths and offer insights into career pathways for civilian employees of the Department of Defense.

Join accomplished executive leader Alicia Morgan in a dynamic session on Strategic Leadership: Empowering Teams to Win. Alicia brings her expertise in project and program management, change management, and agile leadership, gained from successfully guiding high-performing teams in various sectors, including Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, and college/workforce readiness initiatives. In this session, you will discover the proven principles and practices of strategic leadership that drive exceptional team performance. Gain practical insights into implementing effective change management and agile leadership techniques, fostering a culture of empowerment, collaboration, and innovation within your teams. Alicia will share invaluable strategies for building trusted relationships, identifying strategic partnerships, and navigating complex environments.