IEEE WIE Montreal Section Committee

  • Saida MAAROUFI, Chair of IEEE WIE Montreal Section, Polytechnique Montreal
  • Rania GAMAL, Vice-chair of IEEE WIE Montreal Section, McGill University
  • Dima KAYYALI, Treasurer of IEEE WIE Montreal Section, McGill University



 Dr. Saida MAAROUFI is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Mobile Computing and Networking Research Laboratory (LARIM), Polytechnique Montreal and Associate Professor at ISTEAH. She received her Ph.D. degree in computer engineering from Polytechnique Montreal in 2016. She has taught courses on networking and computer engineering since 2008. Her research broadly revolves around wireless and mobile computing with specific interests on distributed computing, interworking architecture design, context-aware ubiquitous computing, software-defined networking and network security. Saida has received several awards and honours including the prestigious 2020 J.J. Archambault Eastern Canada Merit Award, the 2016 IEEE Canada Women in Engineering Prize sponsored by the Judy Clift Fund, the NSERC First and Best Poster Award at the Fourth NSERC-DIVA Workshop, the 2017 IEEE Canada Women In Engineering (WIE) Leadership Appreciation Award and was recipient of doctoral scholarships rewarding her academic excellence while pursuing her graduate studies. She is the chair of IEEE Women In Engineering (WIE) Montreal and IEEE Canada Women In Engineering (WIE) East Area. She has been an active member of the organizing committee of the IEEE Women in Engineering International Leadership Summit (WIE ILS) recently held in Toronto on September 2018, the world’s largest summit of IEEE Women In Engineering. Under her leadership, IEEE WIE Montreal won the 2017 IEEE Canada Women In Engineering Group of The Year Award, Large Section Runner Up. Since January 2019, she has been serving as the Chair of IEEE Montreal Section.



Rania GAMAL graduated top of her class at the Arab Academy of Science and Technology in Cairo, Egypt. She obtained her Master’s degree from the American University in Cairo whilst working as a research assistant at the Zewail City for Science and Technology; her research topics included silicon plasmonics and silicon photonic sensors. Rania is currently a PhD candidate at McGill University and has received the prestigious McGill Engineering Doctoral Award. Her research focus is on silicon photonic biosensors. She is also an active member of the Electrical Engineering Graduate Student Society. When she’s not working on her research or teaching, she can be found roaming the streets of Montréal in search of good coffee.



Dima KAYYALI received the BSc in Electrical Engineering from the American University of Sharjah, UAE, in 2011, and the MSc in Engineering Systems and Management from Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, UAE, in 2014. She is currently a Ph.D. Candidate with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at McGill University, Canada. Her research focuses on power system identification to better facilitate the integration of renewable resources. She received the McGill Engineering Doctoral Award. She is a member of the Young Future Energy Leaders Society. She has been a student member of IEEE and IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) since 2011 and 2017, respectively. She is currently the chairperson of McGill’s IEEE-WIE Student Branch.


Past WIE Montreal Section Committee

  • Milica POPOVIĆ, Chair of IEEE WIE Montreal Section, McGill University
  • Saida MAAROUFI, Vice-chair of IEEE WIE Montreal Section, Polytechnique Montreal
  • Lena KRANOLD, Treasurer of IEEE WIE Montreal Section, McGill University



 Prof. Milica POPOVIĆ received her PhD at Norwestern University (EE, 2001). Since 2001, she has been with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at McGill University, where she currently holds associate professorship. She teaches courses on electromagnetic fields, electrical measurements and antennas and propagation. Her research revolves, in large part, around biomedical applications of electromagnetic theory. In particular, she and her team are striving to develop a novel breast tissue monitor based on low-power microwave emissions. The goal of this exciting work is to provide an affordable, safe and comfortable tool, which can complement current technologies used for breast cancer detection. Prof. Popović’s other interests include: antenna design for wearable devices and microwave tissue properties and high-field MRI. Prof. Popović is a Fellow of the World Innovation Foundation, a Senior Member of the IEEE and a member of the Professional Engineers of Ontario. Since January 2017, she is serving as the Chair of IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE), Montreal Chapter.



Dr. Saida MAAROUFI is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Mobile Computing and Networking Research Laboratory (LARIM), École Polytechnique de Montréal. She received her Ph.D. degree in computer engineering from École Polytechnique de Montréal in 2016. She teaches courses on networking and computer engineering since 2008. Her research broadly revolves around wireless and mobile computing with specific interests on distributed computing, interworking architecture design, context-aware ubiquitous computing, software-defined networking and network security. Saida has received several awards and honours including the prestigious 2016 IEEE Canada Women in Engineering Prize sponsored by the Judy Clift Fund, the NSERC-DIVA First and Best Poster Award at the Fourth NSERC-DIVA Workshop, the 2017 IEEE Canada Women In Engineering (WIE) Leadership Appreciation Award and was recipient of doctoral scholarships rewarding her academic excellence while pursuing her graduate studies. She is the chair of IEEE Women In Engineering (WIE) Montreal and IEEE Canada Women In Engineering (WIE) East Area. She has been an active member of the organizing committee of the IEEE Women in Engineering International Leadership Summit (WIE ILS) recently held in Toronto on September 2018, the world’s largest summit of IEEE Women In Engineering. Under her leadership, IEEE WIE Montreal won the 2017 IEEE Canada Women In Engineering Group of The Year Award, Large Section Runner Up. Since January 2019, she is serving as the Chair of IEEE Montreal Section.



Lena KRANOLD received the B.Eng. degree in Technology Management and Marketing from the University of Applied Sciences Kiel, Germany, in 2013, and the M.Sc. degree in Electrical and Information Engineering from the Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Germany, in 2015. She has received a prestigious scholarship of the Stiftung der Deustchen Wirtschaft e. V. (Foundation of German Business) from 2013 to 2015. Currently, she is pursuing the PhD degree in Electrical Engineering at McGill University, Montreal, Canada, where she is receiving the McGill Engineering Doctoral Award. Her current research interests are in the fields of applied and computational electromagnetics. She is involved in the design of a wearable system for breast health monitoring, including RF radar, antenna and antenna array design, developing a prototype system for microwave breast screening, and clinical trials.