{"id":48465,"date":"2018-07-17T16:00:10","date_gmt":"2018-07-17T20:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=48465"},"modified":"2025-10-01T15:54:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T19:54:10","slug":"professor-recognized-photonics-research-outreach","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/professor-recognized-photonics-research-outreach\/","title":{"rendered":"Carleton Professor Recognized for Photonics Research and Outreach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Carleton Professor Recognized for Photonics Research and Outreach\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

Carleton Electronics<\/a> Prof. Winnie Ye<\/a> is being recognized for both her innovative research and her tireless efforts to encourage and support young women to pursue degrees and careers in engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ye\u2019s research focuses on photonics, the study of light (photos) generation, detection and manipulation. Specifically, she studies silicon photonics, where light carries information using a silicon platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn electrical communication, we use digital zeroes and digital ones to encode information,\u201d Ye says, \u201cbut with photonics, zeroes and ones are replaced with a light flicking off and on. Compared to electronics, photonics offers the possibility to transmit information faster and more efficiently.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Carleton Electronics Prof. Winnie Ye<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Exploring the Intersection of Photonics, Biology and Chemistry<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ye studies how silicon photonic devices can be used for telecommunication and data communication. She also explores the intersection of photonics, biology and chemistry to build sensors and medical diagnostic tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result of her research, Ye received two landmark awards this year, including the 2018 Engineering Medal for Research and Development<\/a> from Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO). The award recognizes professional engineers who have improved quality of life through the application of their engineering skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also received the Engineering Excellence Award<\/a> from the PEO\u2019s Ottawa chapter<\/a> in February, awarded to a local engineer who has developed an \u201cinnovative application of engineering knowledge and principles,\u201d according to the organization\u2019s website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ye knows from firsthand experience the difficulty that comes with being a woman in engineering. She\u2019s used to being one of the very few women in technical meetings, workshops and at conferences. \u201cI\u2019ve been in engineering for so many years and there are still very few women in the field \u2026 we need to change this,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Less than 20 per cent of newly licensed engineers in 2016 were women, according to a report released by Engineers Canada<\/a> last year. At post-secondary institutions, women make up just a quarter of engineering students in the country, according to the same report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding the Disconnect<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When Ye began thinking about how to encourage more women to pursue careers in engineering, she realized the disconnect starts in high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you ask female high school students interested in science what they want to do, they want to become doctors, chemists \u2026 it\u2019s never engineering,\u201d she says. \u201cThere are a lot of girls who are exceptional in math and physics \u2026 but engineering is so distant from them\u2014it just isn\u2019t presented to them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To help girls find their potential in becoming engineers, Ye participates and leads outreach programs to high school students and young women across Ottawa and the globe. Last month, she was awarded the Women in Engineering Inspiring Member of the Year Award<\/a> by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). She was honoured for her outstanding contributions to IEEE WIE and the engineering community in general, through her dedication and involvement in projects or activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe international award is such a huge honour for me, especially with the topic of women in engineering being so close to my heart\u201d she says. \u201cWe need to provide the platform for girls to have access to this type of career.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carleton Electronics Prof. Winnie Ye is being recognized for both her innovative research and her tireless efforts to encourage and support young women to pursue degrees and careers in engineering. Ye\u2019s research focuses on photonics, the study of light (photos) generation, detection and manipulation. Specifically, she studies silicon photonics, where light carries information using a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":48469,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[28,13],"cu_story_tag":[1918,1925],"class_list":["post-48465","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-community-partnerships","cu_story_type-research-discovery","cu_story_tag-faculty-of-engineering-and-design","cu_story_tag-research"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/48465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/48465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97443,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/48465\/revisions\/97443"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=48465"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=48465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}