About WiCAS

The WiCAS events traditionally aim to inspire and motivate students and young professionals in the domain of circuits and systems to have efficient roles in their professions by meeting successful female engineers and professors and giving interesting technical and professional talks in fields of interest of CASS.

Objectives of WiCAS Events

A WiCAS event is a free initiative aiming to:

• Inspire and motivate both students and young professionals in the domain of circuits and systems to have efficient roles in their professions by meeting successful female engineers and professors.
• Enrich the audience's knowledge through interesting technical talks in fields of interest of CASS.
• Introduce the WiCAS community and its role, and motivate female researchers and scientists to be active members in conferences, events, and workshops, providing guidance and support.

More information can be obtained at: IEEE CAS Women in CAS (WiCAS)

Program

The WiCAS event at LASCAS 2026 will take place on February 25th, 2026. The event is organized by Fernanda Lima Kastensmidt, Professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. This session will feature panelist presentations, followed by a panel discussion, and will conclude with a cocktail reception, providing an informal and welcoming environment that encourages networking and interaction among conference participants. The general schedule is below:

• 16:00 – 17:00 – Presentation of panelists and social dynamics
• 17:00 – 17:30 – Q&A
• 18:30 – 20:00 – Cocktail

The panel will bring together distinguished women engineers from both academia and industry, representing different career stages and life paths. This diversity of experiences inspired the theme of the event:

WiCAS events are open and welcome everyone, including scientists, technologists, engineers, scholars, and practitioners, with no limitation on gender.

The panel presentations and subsequent discussions will focus on:

• The The panelist's career trajectories and decision-making processes.
• Practical advice on recognizing and addressing unconscious bias.
• The importance of mentoring, networking, and career ownership.
• Reflections on diversity and inclusion, highlighting their alignment with meritocracy and their role as strategic drivers of innovation and sustainable success.

WiCAS Chair

Name	Short Bio
Fernanda Kastensmidt (UFRGS, Brazil)	Fernanda Lima Kastensmidt holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (1997), a Master's in Computer Science from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (1999) and a PhD in Computer Science from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (2003). Fernanda is a Full Professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul and she was Coordinator of the Graduate Program in Microelectronics (PGMICRO) for 4 years and was head of the Department of Applied Informatics for 2 years. She has experience in the area of Microelectronics and Computer Engineering, with an emphasis on Hardware, working on radiation fault protection techniques, fault-tolerant system design, programmable architecture, FPGA, and more.

Panelists

Name	Short Bio
Rabia Yazicigil (Boston University, USA)	Rabia Tugce Yazicigil Kirby is an Associate Professor in the ECE Department at Boston University and Network Faculty at Sabanci University. She received her Ph.D. from Columbia University and was a postdoctoral associate at MIT. Her research focuses on integrated circuits, biosensing, signal processing, security, and wireless communications for energy-constrained systems. She has received several prestigious awards, including the NSF CAREER Award (2024), and actively serves the IEEE community as a Distinguished Lecturer (SSCS/CASS), Associate Editor of IEEE TCAS-I and TCASAI, and member of major IEEE technical committees.
Florence Podevin (Grenoble INP, France)	Florence Podevin is a Full Professor at Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP) where she teaches and conducts research in radio-frequency and millimetre-wave integrated circuits and passive components. She holds a PhD and an HDR, and her work focuses on compact, low-loss RF/mmW passive structures and energy-efficient integrated circuit design. She has extensive academic leadership experience, significant publication and patent records, and actively contributes to RFIC research and education in international collaborations.
Lucia Akemi Miyazato Saito (Mackenzie Presbyterian Universit, Brazil)	Lucia Miyazato received the degree in electrical engineering from FEI – Faculty of Industrial Engineering (2001) and holds M.Sc and Ph.D. issued by Mackenzie Presbyterian University (2006 and 2012). She is starting a new research area at the Optics and nics Laboratory within Mackgraphe. Lucia’s work focuses on design and characterization of graphene-based modulators, fiber lasers and amplifiers, optoelectronic devices and nonlinear optical effects for the development of high-speed optical communication systems.
Lorena Anghel (Grenoble INP, France)	Lorena Anghel is a Full Professor at Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP) and Scientific Director for Micro-Nano-Electronics and Embedded Systems. She leads research in reliable and fault-tolerant integrated circuit and system design, including digital reliability, hardware reliability issues and neural hardware architectures. She holds an Excellence Chair at the Multidisciplinary AI Institute (MIAI) and has been involved in numerous European and national research projects, with extensive publications, leadership in IEEE/ACM conferences, and award-winning work in circuit reliability and test.

About YPCAS

The YPCAS event at LASCAS 2026 will take place on February 25th, 2026. The event is organized by Mario Raffo Jara, Professor at the the Ponthifical Catholic University of Peru. The YPCAS session will feature panelist presentations, followed by a panel discussion, and will conclude with a cocktail reception, providing an informal and welcoming environment that encourages networking and interaction among conference participants.

The panel will bring together distinguished engineers from both academia and industry and youg proffesionals. This diversity of experiences inspired the theme of the event:Experiences and job opportunities in Circuits and Systems for young professionals.

The panel presentations and subsequent discussions will focus on:

• Job opportunities around the world.
• Situation and trends in the circuit and systems job market.
• Best practices for accessing jobs.
• The panelists' career trajectories and decision-making processes.
• Practical advice on recognizing and addressing unconscious bias.

YPCAS Chair

Name	Short Bio
Mario Raffo (PUCP, Perú)	Mario Raffo Jara is an Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP), where he is involved in teaching and research in microelectronics and digital circuit design. He holds a Master of Science with a specialization in Microelectronics from the University of São Paulo and a degree in Electronic Engineering from PUCP. His expertise includes FPGA/ASIC design, hardware description and verification languages, and the use of industry tools for integrated circuit and digital system development. He also leads activities in the Microelectronics Laboratory and contributes to advancing microelectronics education and research at PUCP.

Panelists

Name	Short Bio
Víctor Grimblatt (Synopsys, Chile)	Victor Grimblatt holds engineering degrees in microelectronics from INPG (France) and electronics from Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María (Chile), and a Ph.D. in Electronics from the University of Bordeaux. He is the R&D Executive Director and General Manager at Synopsys Chile. His work spans Electronic Design Automation (EDA), IoT, climate change, and smart agriculture. An active IEEE leader, he has served on the IEEE CASS Board of Governors and chaired multiple international conferences and technical committees. Dr. Grimblatt has received several distinctions, including the IEEE R9 Outstanding Engineer Award and the CASS Meritorious Service Award.
Manuel Monge (OpenIC, Perú)	Manuel Monge, Ph.D. is the Founder and CEO of OpenIC, where he leads research and development of integrated circuits using open-source EDA tools. He received his B.S. degree from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP) and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). He previously held roles at Precision Neuroscience, the University of Southern California (USC), and Neuralink. His work focuses on analog and mixed-signal ICs, wireless and implantable medical devices, and neural interfaces.