Pauline Sawadogo selected for WINS Program at SC23

Tara Stone, CCIT Communications
April 10, 2023

Pauline Sawadogo

Pauline Sawadogo, IT Technician II in the Network Operations Center (NOC), is the first woman both from Clemson University and from the state of South Carolina to be selected for the Women in IT Networking at SC (WINS) Program.

The Women in IT Networking at SC (WINS) program was developed in 2015 to address the prevalent gender gap that exists in information technology, particularly in the fields of network engineering and high-performance computing. Up to five women are chosen to participate each year. Participants will also join the SCinet group of volunteers for the Supercomputing 2023 Conference (SC23), to be held in Denver, Colorado, November 12-17, 2023.

“It will be a wonderful and transformational learning journey, and I am so excited and honored to be selected to represent Clemson University in such a global event,” said Sawadogo. “I will be part of the wired edge network team, and will have the opportunity to collaborate with high-performance networking experts to provide the fastest and most powerful network in the world for the Supercomputing conference. This is one of the biggest opportunities and a dream for any early to mid-career network engineer, and mine just came true through this selection. I thank Steve Fullerton and the NOC management team for always supporting and motivating us to aim for continuous learning.”

Originally introduced as a pilot program at SC15, the WINS program provides mentorship and travel funding for up to five talented early to mid-career women from diverse regions of the U.S. research and education IT community for a true hands-on experience in the ground-up construction of SCinet, one of the fastest and most advanced computer networks in the world.

SCinet, the Supercomputing Conference’s (SC) dedicated high-performance research network, provides an ideal apprenticeship opportunity for engineers and technologists looking for direct access to the most cutting-edge network hardware and software, while working side-by-side with the world’s leading network and software engineers, and the top network technology vendors.

WINS is a joint effort between the Energy Sciences Network (ESnet), the Keystone Initiative for Network Based Education and Research (KINBER), and University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). It is funded through a National Science Foundation grant and through Department of Energy funding to ESnet.

Steve Fullerton, director of the NOC, said, “Staff members within the NOC get asked to continue stretching their knowledge boundaries. When this opportunity came up, I encouraged Pauline to apply. She is her team’s lead networking person and is curious to learn and grow. Getting accepted to represent Clemson University at SC23 will allow her to further her knowledge in the networking arena and make new contacts. As her manager, I could not be more excited for her.”