Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI), part of Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), brought together accomplished female data scientists from across the world as well as emerging talent in the all-female Afghan robotics team who are studying at Qatar Foundation (QF) at a recent workshop. 

Held from November 9 to 10, the workshop was themed ‘Qatar Women in Data Science: Setting New Frontiers for Qatar’. Female engineers and data scientists from HBKU, Virginia Tech, Spotify, Microsoft, Facebook, Boeing, Nokia, Amazon, Samsung, and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), aimed to break stereotypes by sharing their achievements and creating a support network to attract other women into the discipline. 

In an inspiring keynote, Mounia Lalmas-Roelleke, Director of Research and Head of Tech Research in Personalization at Spotify, highlighted what it takes to be a leader solving complex problems with big data. Panel discussions highlighted the multifaceted career paths and challenges facing professionals. The workshop was also an opportunity for the all-female Afghan team to showcase their robotics skills, which recently won the Judge’s Award at the FIRST Global competition. 

After the event, Ji Lucas, Senior Software Engineer at QCRI, said: “We’ve been reminded that while women are statistically a minority in the computing and data science fields overall, they are achieving success. Our workshop had a unique and dynamic energy, thanks to our exceptional speakers, who openly shared their professional advice with our workshop participants. The skills of the Afghan robotics team highlighted the exciting possibilities for the profession.”

HBKU’s Dr. Dena A. Al-Thani, Assistant Professor at the College of Science and Engineering (CSE), was among the speakers. She is a recognized expert in human-computer interaction and inclusive design.

The workshop also featured Daphne Yao, Professor in Computer Science, Virginia Tech; Aurélie Shapiro, Chief Technical Advisor, FAO; Alexandra Olteanu, Principal Researcher, Microsoft; Angela Fan, Scientist, Facebook; Amani Alonazi, Scientist, Boeing; Sichen Eunhyang Jin, Data Science Engineer, Samsung; Maguette Toure, Scientist, Nokia; Kathy Zhong, Director of Data Science, Google; Srujana Merugu, Principal  Scientist, Amazon; and Natalia Zuniga Garcia, Scientist, Argonne National Lab. 

The workshop highlighted QCRI’s  advanced knowledge of innovative multidisciplinary applied computing research that is relevant to the needs of Qatar, the wider Arab region, and the world.