Have you ever struggled with critical professional growth questions? Perhaps you’ve wondered:

• How would an internship influence my graduation timeline?
• What should I choose as a career: academia, industry, government?
• How do I approach a prospective employer?

If you have such questions and would like to ask for advice from senior MTT-S members, we’ve got you covered!

The “Ask Us Anything” workshop series is coming to a smaller MTT-S-sponsored conference near you! Please attend and get your questions answered.

Where can I attend an “Ask-Us-Anything” workshop?

So far in 2025, the Ask Us Anything workshops have been organized at the following conferences and events:

• Texas Symposium on Microwave Circuits & Systems (08-09 April, Texas, USA)
• Baylor University IEEE/MTT-S Student Branch Chapter: Special “Ask us Anything Event”, April 10, 2025
• IEEE Wireless and Microwave Technology Conference (14-15 April, Cocoa Beach, Florida, USA)
• IEEE/MTT-S Discussion at the Information Technology University in Lahore, Pakistan, April 14, 2025
• International Conference on Microwave, Antennas & Circuits (16-17 April, Islamabad, Pakistan)
• International Wireless Symposium (19-22 May, Xi’an, China)
• IEEE Wireless Power Technology Conference & Expo (3-6 June, Rome, Italy)
• IEEE’s 20th Symposium on Antenna Technology and Electromagnetics (20-23 July, St. John’s, NL, Canada)

The upcoming conferences that will host Ask Us Anything workshops are:

• IEEE International Microwave & Antenna Symposium (20-23 October, Nairobi, Kenya)
• SBMO/IEEE MTT-S International Microwave and Optoelectronics Conference (9-12 November, Campina Grande, Brazil)
• Asia-Pacific Microwave Conference (2-5 December, Jeju, South Korea)
• Microwaves, Antennas, & Propagation Conference (14-18 December, Kochi, Kerala, India)

I’m a conference organizer; how can I bring “Ask Us Anything” to my conference?

To organize an “Ask us Anything” workshop at your conference, please e-mail Erin Kiley and Sulekha Chattopadhyay: emkiley@mcla.edu and sulekhac@ieee.org .

IEEE MTTS-Ask Us Anything workshop at the ‘International Microwave and Antenna Symposium (IMAS) 2025 in Nairobi, Kenya

The MTTS-supported ‘Ask Us Anything’ Workshop series is focused on students who often struggle with critical professional growth questions—such as the impact of internships on their graduation timelines, choosing between academia and industry positions, or approaching prospective employers. This is particularly the case for students who are the first in their family to attend university, or who otherwise lacked people, outside of their own Ph.D. supervisors, whose frank professional advice they could ask. The intent of this workshop is to provide clear answers to students’ questions and help them feel welcome into MTT-S.

At the ‘International Microwave and Antenna Symposium (IMAS) 2025 in Nairobi, Kenya, Dr. Sulekha Chattopadhyay. and Dr. Rabia Yahya encouraged students to actively engage and ask questions. This led to a lively and inspiring discussion, with many students expressing interest in opportunities to connect with experts in Microwaves and Terahertz technologies—particularly regarding future career prospects and research collaborations. Thanks to the friendly and informal atmosphere, even some of the more reserved students found the confidence to speak up and participate enthusiastically.