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Revolutionizing Mechanical Engineering - Women Leads at VIT!
The School of Mechanical Engineering at Vellore Institute of Technology hosted an Industry Academia Conclave on March 9th, reaffirming the growing importance of women’s leadership in a field long-considered male dominated.
In the inaugural address, Executive Director Dr. Sandhya Pentareddy emphasized the need to design technologies that are equitable. She also noted that women engineers bring valuable perspectives that help create solutions better aligned with societal needs.
Vice President Dr. Sankar Viswanathan highlighted the university’s institutional progress, acknowledged the appointment of the first woman Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department. He also pointed out that VIT now has five women deans, while four schools on campus already have most women students.
Ms. Linda C. Sorto, Director at Boeing Engineering Germany and Boeing Engineering Turkiye, shared her inspiring journey from a farmer’s family in Mexico to leading the global engineering teams. She urged students to stay adaptable, take thoughtful risks, and surround themselves with people who believe in their potential.
Ms. Ami Sampat, Product Design Leader at ServiceNow and a VIT alumna, encouraged young women to challenge stereotypes. She stressed that success in engineering depends on persistence, precision, and problem solving but not gender. She also urged the faculty members to continuously challenge students by setting high expectations that drive growth and excellence.
Vice Chancellor Dr. G. Viswanathan reflected on the remarkable transformation in women’s participation in mechanical engineering at VIT. In 2000, the department had only six women students; today, that number has grown to more than 300.
Continuing, the conclave also featured a panel discussion titled “She Builds; She Leads; She Engineers” where speakers shared their insights.
Subathra from Renault Nissan Technology & Business Centre India spoke about the growing role of digital twins, robotics, and artificial intelligence in modern industrial workflows.
Anitha N of Rane (Madras) Limited, encouraged students to gain shop-floor experience and learn directly from the technicians, to understand real manufacturing challenges better.
Ami Sampat added that the essence of engineering lies not only in building solutions, but also in identifying the right problems to solve.
Linda C. Sorto highlighted the importance of interdisciplinary learning, strong communication skills, and the ability to clearly frame complex problems.
Maya Ramachandran, Managing Director of Genlite Engineering Pvt. Ltd., emphasized that strong technical expertise combined with strategic thinking and resilience enables engineers to grow into innovators and business leaders.
Responding to student’s question on handling criticism and workplace challenges, the panel offered a simple but powerful message to stay focused on their work and strive to become exceptionally good at what they do.
