Women in Science, Engineering and Research (WISE) workshop was organized at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia. The workshop, which was the third event that KAUST organized on the theme, has the overriding goal to shed light on the women scientists, STEM researchers, science editors and communicators who are making a difference in our world and

are a true source of inspiration.

The annual workshop features talk by renowned scientists and engineers about their

personal journeys and life-changing approaches. In the previous years, KAUST was honored by the participation of several prominent scientists including Nobel Laureate Fances Arnold, while this event was joined by outstanding women in science like Carolyn Duran, Vice President, Technology Development Engineering Manager, Components Research Process Engineering, Intel and Rana Dajani,

Professor of Biology and Biotechnology at Hashemite University, Jordan. The UK-based Muslim Science Magazine praised the latter as one of the most influential women scientists in the Islamic World; and Arabian Business lists Dajani as one of “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Arab Women”.

The audience of the event included an international body of students, faculty and staff from

KAUST and other universities in Saudi Arabia. The workshop was also live streamed online to allow the participation of those who were not able to attend in person.

In her presentation, Prof. Fabiana Arduini, Università Di Roma “Tor Vergata”, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche spoke about her experience as a woman in science in her paper-based devices research – an activity that boosted her to be listed as the world’s top 2% of most influential scientists from all areas, as reported by Stanford University.

She shared how the multitask approach she takes in life, being a researcher, a mum and a wife,

has been translated into the research activity of the electrochemical paper-based devices. Additionally, she reported on how the paper-based electrochemical sensors can be used for analyte detection on surface, the principle that will be used in the RELIANCE project.