EDGE in Tech: Athena Awards

CITRIS Director Costas Spanos Introduces the EDGE in Tech Athena Award winners and presentation of the Athena Award for Executive Leadership, Academic Leadership, Early Career, and Next Generation Engagement.

The EDGE in Tech Athena Awards recognize those who embody, encourage, and promote the inclusion of women and BIPOC in technology. Awardees are leaders who inspire others to pursue and persist in technical careers by way of their outstanding contributions, and service and mentorship to foster inclusion in science and technical fields. Nominations are open to all candidates regardless of gender, age, institutional affiliation, and country of residence.
We are delighted to share the 2023 @EDGEinTech Athena Awards winners:

Award presented by Rani Borkar, Corporate Vice President, Azure at Microsoft

Award presented by Professor and Director, Center for Blockchain Law for Social Good Michele Neitz

Award presented by Beth Pruitt, Director, Center for Bioengineering, UC Santa Barbara

Award presented by CalNERDs alumna Karla Castellanos on behalf of Mary Ruiz, Executive Vice President from Adecco

Now in its seventh year, the annual Diversity in Tech Symposium (formerly Women in Tech) highlights the experiences of experts working to build smarter tech for a resilient future. Panels span aviation, manufacturing, water management, indoor air quality, national security, transportation, smart cities and semiconductors. This event also features the EDGE in Tech Initiative Athena Awards, recognizing those who have championed the advancement of women and people of color in technology.

Thank you to the symposium sponsors and supporters: Lam Research, Siemens, Agilent, Sandia National Labs, UC Davis College of Engineering and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, UC Santa Cruz’s Baskin Engineering, the IoT4Ag Program at UC Merced, and the Institute for Transportation Studies at UC Berkeley, and philanthropist Carla Itzkowich, who made a generous contribution in honor of her father.

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The EDGE in Tech Initiative at the University of California (EDGE in Tech) is committed to addressing the challenges faced by women and other under-included identities in engineering and computer science fields by serving as a trusted center and resource that integrates research with action. The initiative is run by CITRIS and Banatao Institute.