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News from WiE
A Brief Interview with Dr. Rukmi Dutta
By Norma ANGLANI, IAS Liaison in the WiEC


On 30 September, the EMC annual meeting took place in Baltimore during ECCE 2019.

Dr. Rukmi Dutta was elected for the office of Secretary, which will last for the next two years. She is the first woman ever to be appointed as Secretary of this Committee, our Congratulations to her.

Here is a brief interview to get to know her a little more.

Q: Dr. Dutta, where do you come from?
I grew up in Assam, India. The state of Assam is located at the north-east corner of India. Assam is famous for its strong flavoured tea and many rare wild-lives such as one-horned rhinoceros.

Q: Can you tell us about your background?
I received Bachelor of Engineering (BE) degree in Electrical Engineering from Assam Engineering College of Guwahati University, India in 1996. After graduation, I worked as an Electrical Engineer at Reliance Private Ltd (India’s number one blue-chip company in the private sector) which had given me the passion of working in the field of electric motor drive systems. In 1999, I moved to Tokyo, Japan and worked as a research assistant at the Institute of Industrial Science (IIS) of the University of Tokyo. My exposure to world-class research work at IIS motivated me to pursue a higher degree.In 2002, I joined the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia for a Master by research degree which led to the PhD. After receiving my PhD in 2007, I worked as an academic at UNSW briefly before joining CMG Pty Ltd, (now Regal Beloit, Australia) as an Electrical Engineer to work at their motor testing facility. In 2010, I decided to return to academic life and joined UNSW as a lecturer. In 2014, I was promoted to a senior lecturer, which is my current academic position.

Why did you choose Electrical Engineering?
Electrical Engineering always fascinates me. It empowers you to build things and allows to experiment with theories and physical laws. Above all, the key to the solution to the biggest problem of our age, ‘climate change,’ lies with Electrical Engineering. I believe our research efforts in transport electrification and renewable energy system will contribute significantly to deal with climate change in the future.

Why did you choose to work in Australia and what are your favorite aspects of working there?
While pursuing a PhD in Australia, I was exposed to Australian multi-culturalism, flare for fairness and of course its pristine beaches. They were big attraction to me. When I moved to Sydney for the first time, I felt a connection instantly, a feeling of home-away-from-home. Moreover, the University of New South Wales has a great working environment. All these factors contributed to my decision to call Australia my home.

Coming to your recent appointment as Secretary of EMC: why did you choose to submit your candidacy?
There are too few women in the IAS committees. Also, there are not many women in the research field of the electric machine. By taking this position, I hope to encourage more women in the field.

What about your spare time? How is your family? What are your hobbies?
I am happily married and have a 10-year-old son. My husband is also an Engineer who has supported me fully in my career pursuits. I am lucky to have a lovely and understanding son, who never complains about my long working hours. Without the support of my family, it would have been impossible to sustain a busy academic life. Some of my hobbies are – reading, watching movies and cooking.

Any funny stories related to being an electrical engineer?
My first ever job interview was for a post of a site-engineer at a sugar factory. Guess what happened when I did so well in the interview? You may think that I was offered the job. Okay, this is what happened- on the basis of the interview I was the first choice, but I was also a 22-year-old girl. So, the manager of the sugar factory visited my home and requested me that I must decline the position so that they can offer it to a male candidate. The manager thought a 22-year girl would not be able to do the night shifts in the remote sugar factory, as required by the post of site engineer.

Are you a member of WiE? If yes, when did you join? What is the value of belonging to WiE?
Yes, I am a member of WiE since 2002. WiE provides a sense of community to me. Unfortunately, WiE of New South Wales, Australian chapter is not very active and Australia being remote from the rest of the world, I was not able to take the help of many wonderful programs ran by WiE in various parts of the world.

Any strategic action in mind to promote more women in IEEE-IAS committees?
First, I would like to encourage more women to get involved in various committee activities and then highlight their contribution to bring them to the forefront.

What are your plans for the future?
I have many research ideas which I want to work on in future. My immediate plan is to strengthen WiE chapter of New South Wales, Australia and to promote electrical machine and drive research among women in engineering.

Thanks Dr. Dutta, this is all for now. Good luck on your new appointment!

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