today I’m gonna probably most likely
take you through some some of my
experiences I’m gonna walk you through
my process of finding creativity and
engineering in one big bowl of salad I
was born and raised in a country where
the value of math and sciences and
technology way more superseded the value
of art and expression I was one of those
people who felt like my voice was never
heard as much as I wanted to because it
was not appreciated it was always two
different worlds of Sciences and art I
felt a misfit but I felt I also felt
that my true happiness was not going to
be until I actually do what I love doing
I still remember the day one of my art
instructors sorry I thought I could just
change it from my head
didn’t you see yeah I still remember the
day I I was signed up for an art
competition in my first grade my art
instructor was very motivating she
encouraged me to take part in this
competition it was kind of a big deal
over a hundred students were taking part
in this competition I felt that this was
my moment to express myself and show the
world that I have a brain I have a mind
and that does not just have to do with
the sciences and and the technology I
went ahead took that opportunity it was
a big moment for me also because my
parents were looking forward to some way
of my expression I would I can remember
that day when I was sitting in that
competition room surrounded by a bunch
of students who were all there for one
same purpose to express themselves in a
blank
how beautiful is that energy how
beautiful is that power to magically
transfer your brain your creativity into
that emptiness how many of us actually
experience that everyday and do not
necessarily have to have a canvas in
front of them to express that I’ll share
some more examples as I move forward but
this was my moment this was my world and
I felt that I in that room
I enjoyed that energy that creative
energy that I felt could move the
mountains could move the world and I
knew at that very instant that I had to
help people understand and value their
own creativity as I finished painting
that was again I still remember was the
most beautiful moment as I finished
painting I was so proud of myself I
looked around amazing art amazing pieces
it was just mind-blowing what that not
peace of nothingness became this
masterpiece each one of them it wasn’t
until later that day I got a call from
my instructor telling my parents that
guess what your daughter won the first
prize I was in another world for me it
was not just about winning it was the
fact that I was appreciated and rewarded
for something that was so important to
me basically I can say I was being
rewarded for being myself
how easy is that for myself it was very
fortunate I took again pride but that
was the moment of great achievement for
me it was after a few years later that I
kind of found out on one day that the
the trophy that I had worn from that
competition was thrown away for for some
it might have been okay get up get over
it move on but for me it was another
shake to my perspective on how things
how am i how I was defining my happiness
at
moment I I was lost again and it was
that instant I felt like that creative
spark that I had in me that that
confidence it was gone it was dead it
was not the trophy trophy that was gone
it was my confidence that I had lost
unfortunately that’s the matter of the
fact this is how we affiliate our
successes to different objects objects I
shut myself down that day I felt like I
was not going to do any more of my
expression but guess what I kept getting
pulled into competitions I kept taking
part in in art competitions and
surprisingly enough with no motivation I
was still winning I was still getting
all those prizes and most of them in the
first position it was very encouraging
but I had I still felt like I was not I
was not doing what I felt like would
really give me the true power maybe I
was not strong enough at the moment or
maybe I did not focus too much and what
that happiness was either ways I moved
on and I started looking for happiness
around me finding creativity in other
things because I thought that I did not
have enough well being an artist in that
country wasn’t enough I happened to be a
woman as well and being a woman is
beautiful but not in my country not
completely there were a lot of struggles
growing up I was always told by my
surrounding by the society that a
woman’s place is at home a woman can do
this a woman can do that but a woman
cannot be in front of a man cannot be
better than a man I took that as a
challenge per se and more than anything
else I saw my mom make that change in me
she she would teach me every time I were
to get stuck in something she would tell
me why phone I want you to be that water
that flows around
the rocks when it finds a rock and gets
a barrier and if it doesn’t flow around
it it will pierce through that hard
surface no matter how difficult the
situation is and no matter how much
resistance you get just keep flowing and
you will find your way well guess what
that was easy
being water just flowing through the
situation let’s do it right let’s keep
going
but guess what it was so hard there was
so much energy required while going
through that process while you were
going through while I was going through
that process of going around those rocks
my entire life I felt like I was losing
a part of myself as well but I kept
going thanks to my family to cut things
short today I am a model model-based
systems engineer in cybersecurity I have
come a long way from not knowing that
part of the world to actually
understanding how that part of the world
works I deal with multiple engineers
multiple areas of engineering in in
technical non-technical in management
and I’ve had a good amount of exposure
to different things and I I thoroughly
enjoy it and and I want to share with
you the the path the way how I ended up
enjoying my experience as an engineer
I’ve worked with with hackers with with
penetration testers or I should say
security analysts in different areas
picking on their brains all the time
what is it that makes you special what
is it that you do that you enjoy why
can’t I do something that would make me
happy as well and then finally Rumi
whispered to me in my ear
one time when I read through this coat
let the beauty of what you love be what
you do I had to apply that to my life
now beauty of what you
be what you do I can’t do that I have to
make a living I have to make people
happy I have to be a strong independent
woman in a corporate world how am I
gonna do that
be happy the beauty that doesn’t just
while I was still in that process of
finding that beauty and understanding
what would make me happy and what what
is it that I loved I came across this
engineering director in my company
well-known well recognized a wonderful
person and this was my chance to talk to
him and ask him hey so I see that you’re
very successful you recognize and this
is the image that I feel like would
define my success as well so how about
we talk could you mentor me probably it
was more than happy we had our first
meeting we talked about things and how
to develop our goals and everything and
I was going I started feeling like this
is again one of those things where I
could just read through and understand
and then the most dreaded question came
up he asked me so Wafaa let’s become
begin our mentoring process my first
question to you where do you see
yourself in five years has anyone heard
that question before well yes and I
asked you to ask that question you to
yourself every day but guess what when I
was asked that question I was blank
I had just googled before coming to him
the things to keep in mind before going
to mentor and how to address those
questions and I had a list of why don’t
you see myself doing this I see myself
being a program manager running and six
million dollar program and managing the
finances and being an expert and I don’t
know radar based technology yeah I had
figured all that out but for that
instant I felt lost and it was on my
face and I told him either I and that
was my moment to decide whether I lied
to him or just be honest and pour myself
out
I did I I couldn’t lie and I told him
the truth I see myself sitting in this
huge art warehouse that’s my studio
right in front of me is my easel around
me as my paints on the walls I see my
artwork my paintings and then this is
all the paint splattered around me these
huge ceilings they’re all covered in my
art and this is me this is me enjoying
my art that was my world
and as I kept saying how much I was
enjoying telling him about my dream I
felt like oh I think this is the moment
where I should start packing up my
thoughts and start heading out of the
office because most likely he thinks
that I was in the wrong place and I was
pursuing wrong goals and I would never
be an engineer for sure and it wasn’t
until that moment when he responded that
changed my world he said to me
nothing should changed Wafaa your art is
who you are
bring that to work make that your
discriminator the way you deal with
situations interact with people solve
problems design infrastructures and do
bigger things as an engineer is what you
should bring to to your work something
as little as the way you dress up is
what you’re going to bring to the to
your work as well that’s you and guess
what since then every time I sit around
engineers be it hundreds of engineers or
20 or five I dress up as myself the way
I feel I can express myself I don’t
necessarily follow a specific code but
I’m respected for how I walk into the
room with my own self I felt the dear
that day when I walked out of his office
I was myself and I never changed I felt
like I had found that creative spark
that confidence
that I had lost a couple of years ago
that I could not find I was so happy
once again
now I had to plan or everything again I
had to figure out how I’m gonna bring my
creativity to work manifestation of this
appeared while I was reading Arianna
Huffington’s biography on Pablo Picasso
one of my favorites he said according to
Picasso it’s not what an artist does
that counts but what he is which really
made me understand how beautiful his art
was because he never differentiated the
two since then I decided to bring art to
my work my projects became my canvas
everything about technology or anything
to do with engineering became my my my
canvas and and I had to just walk in
with my creative toolkit to make that
difference and that’s what what I
thought was going to make that
difference I have worked with a bunch of
penetration testers we we go down to
different systems and have to break into
those systems to see how secure they are
and make sure that we can find flaws in
those systems if you’re not familiar
with that you’d realize it’s a very very
exciting field because all you really
have to do is you use your brain to do
things and see things that not everyone
can see we had to scrape off the layers
of the unseen we had to understand what
were the things that not everyone could
see so we could bring in that change
well before any hacker or threats could
detected we had to figure out a solution
that was the part of creativity I enjoy
it it was that very challenging and it
was the most important thing during this
process was the idea of thinking outside
the box because that was what made it
very different and that is where the
creativity and the work actually
happened for me
well like Albert Einstein said after a
certain high level of technical skill is
achieved science and art tend to coil is
in
headaches plasticity inform the greatest
how many of you are familiar with the
she concentrate well just to give an
overview this was this is a train in a
train system in Japan where the the they
were having a initial issue when when
the train was launched and the issue
with it was that was very loud and it
was having disturbance in the community
the engineers were trying to figure out
the present to the problem and the basic
idea was that it was the round shape of
the train that prevented it from being
very subtle so they brought in this this
engineer a design engineer who also
happened to be a birdwatcher well who
would have thought a birdwatcher would
help solve one of the greatest problems
of its time what he did was by observing
different movements in different forms
of creativity and in nature he he
brought that into his work and his
design process he used he used the body
of a penguin and the the wings of an owl
and the most beautiful part the the beak
of a Kingfisher to completely redesign
this train which changed everything this
train was was as fast as about 200 miles
per hour carrying about 68 million
people a day was a complete new
revolution was basically what a creative
spark from an artist or an observer who
had seen something in the nature and
brought it to an object to make it
different to make it in a way that we as
if we were to follow a simple clear path
would probably have not solve it until
we really looked beyond the obvious so
that’s where I I figured out my life and
I I decided to say that I
I like to engine art or I’m I’m
thoroughly involved in engine arting
which is where I feel the the notion of
form and an aesthetics and beauty is
married to the logic and structure where
when they both are combined together
give you a completely different approach
to to the world historically speaking
the world in the past have nothing been
different only I felt like when I’ve
been involved in understanding the art I
felt like they were appreciated for
being artists more than being just
engineers the creativity was
demonstrated through different forms and
it was also provided in the function of
their their masterpieces one of those
very significant artists is da Vinci as
you know he he was not just an engineer
he was not just an artist he was a blend
a perfect blend of both he introduced
very very strong mathematical notions to
explain to us how our world around is
not just limited to form but also
function and vice versa
he showed us different perspectives on
how to perceive things and solve
problems this is what I define
creativity not just limiting ourselves
to what is given to us but also finding
the true meaning inside it scraping off
that layer to see that creativity is not
just about confining to the rules it’s
about understanding those rules and
making things better as well
so I basically closed off my my
heartfelt conversation with you with the
with the few takeaways that I want to
for you to understand moving forward in
life and as you are in life as well you
come across a lot of pressures a lot of
things that will make you want to change
the way you see things
do things and you know what that will do
that will eventually kill the inside of
you you’ll realize that you would want
to be someone and want to please someone
but while doing it
you’ll be losing your own self as well
don’t let that happen
you’re only going to go negative you’re
only going to be difficult on your own
self be the person who accepts you who
you are
prove that to the world because that is
the creativity that the world will see
and it will outshine you no matter what
it is that’s it for me thank you very
much [Applause]
take you through some some of my
experiences I’m gonna walk you through
my process of finding creativity and
engineering in one big bowl of salad I
was born and raised in a country where
the value of math and sciences and
technology way more superseded the value
of art and expression I was one of those
people who felt like my voice was never
heard as much as I wanted to because it
was not appreciated it was always two
different worlds of Sciences and art I
felt a misfit but I felt I also felt
that my true happiness was not going to
be until I actually do what I love doing
I still remember the day one of my art
instructors sorry I thought I could just
change it from my head
didn’t you see yeah I still remember the
day I I was signed up for an art
competition in my first grade my art
instructor was very motivating she
encouraged me to take part in this
competition it was kind of a big deal
over a hundred students were taking part
in this competition I felt that this was
my moment to express myself and show the
world that I have a brain I have a mind
and that does not just have to do with
the sciences and and the technology I
went ahead took that opportunity it was
a big moment for me also because my
parents were looking forward to some way
of my expression I would I can remember
that day when I was sitting in that
competition room surrounded by a bunch
of students who were all there for one
same purpose to express themselves in a
blank
how beautiful is that energy how
beautiful is that power to magically
transfer your brain your creativity into
that emptiness how many of us actually
experience that everyday and do not
necessarily have to have a canvas in
front of them to express that I’ll share
some more examples as I move forward but
this was my moment this was my world and
I felt that I in that room
I enjoyed that energy that creative
energy that I felt could move the
mountains could move the world and I
knew at that very instant that I had to
help people understand and value their
own creativity as I finished painting
that was again I still remember was the
most beautiful moment as I finished
painting I was so proud of myself I
looked around amazing art amazing pieces
it was just mind-blowing what that not
peace of nothingness became this
masterpiece each one of them it wasn’t
until later that day I got a call from
my instructor telling my parents that
guess what your daughter won the first
prize I was in another world for me it
was not just about winning it was the
fact that I was appreciated and rewarded
for something that was so important to
me basically I can say I was being
rewarded for being myself
how easy is that for myself it was very
fortunate I took again pride but that
was the moment of great achievement for
me it was after a few years later that I
kind of found out on one day that the
the trophy that I had worn from that
competition was thrown away for for some
it might have been okay get up get over
it move on but for me it was another
shake to my perspective on how things
how am i how I was defining my happiness
at
moment I I was lost again and it was
that instant I felt like that creative
spark that I had in me that that
confidence it was gone it was dead it
was not the trophy trophy that was gone
it was my confidence that I had lost
unfortunately that’s the matter of the
fact this is how we affiliate our
successes to different objects objects I
shut myself down that day I felt like I
was not going to do any more of my
expression but guess what I kept getting
pulled into competitions I kept taking
part in in art competitions and
surprisingly enough with no motivation I
was still winning I was still getting
all those prizes and most of them in the
first position it was very encouraging
but I had I still felt like I was not I
was not doing what I felt like would
really give me the true power maybe I
was not strong enough at the moment or
maybe I did not focus too much and what
that happiness was either ways I moved
on and I started looking for happiness
around me finding creativity in other
things because I thought that I did not
have enough well being an artist in that
country wasn’t enough I happened to be a
woman as well and being a woman is
beautiful but not in my country not
completely there were a lot of struggles
growing up I was always told by my
surrounding by the society that a
woman’s place is at home a woman can do
this a woman can do that but a woman
cannot be in front of a man cannot be
better than a man I took that as a
challenge per se and more than anything
else I saw my mom make that change in me
she she would teach me every time I were
to get stuck in something she would tell
me why phone I want you to be that water
that flows around
the rocks when it finds a rock and gets
a barrier and if it doesn’t flow around
it it will pierce through that hard
surface no matter how difficult the
situation is and no matter how much
resistance you get just keep flowing and
you will find your way well guess what
that was easy
being water just flowing through the
situation let’s do it right let’s keep
going
but guess what it was so hard there was
so much energy required while going
through that process while you were
going through while I was going through
that process of going around those rocks
my entire life I felt like I was losing
a part of myself as well but I kept
going thanks to my family to cut things
short today I am a model model-based
systems engineer in cybersecurity I have
come a long way from not knowing that
part of the world to actually
understanding how that part of the world
works I deal with multiple engineers
multiple areas of engineering in in
technical non-technical in management
and I’ve had a good amount of exposure
to different things and I I thoroughly
enjoy it and and I want to share with
you the the path the way how I ended up
enjoying my experience as an engineer
I’ve worked with with hackers with with
penetration testers or I should say
security analysts in different areas
picking on their brains all the time
what is it that makes you special what
is it that you do that you enjoy why
can’t I do something that would make me
happy as well and then finally Rumi
whispered to me in my ear
one time when I read through this coat
let the beauty of what you love be what
you do I had to apply that to my life
now beauty of what you
be what you do I can’t do that I have to
make a living I have to make people
happy I have to be a strong independent
woman in a corporate world how am I
gonna do that
be happy the beauty that doesn’t just
while I was still in that process of
finding that beauty and understanding
what would make me happy and what what
is it that I loved I came across this
engineering director in my company
well-known well recognized a wonderful
person and this was my chance to talk to
him and ask him hey so I see that you’re
very successful you recognize and this
is the image that I feel like would
define my success as well so how about
we talk could you mentor me probably it
was more than happy we had our first
meeting we talked about things and how
to develop our goals and everything and
I was going I started feeling like this
is again one of those things where I
could just read through and understand
and then the most dreaded question came
up he asked me so Wafaa let’s become
begin our mentoring process my first
question to you where do you see
yourself in five years has anyone heard
that question before well yes and I
asked you to ask that question you to
yourself every day but guess what when I
was asked that question I was blank
I had just googled before coming to him
the things to keep in mind before going
to mentor and how to address those
questions and I had a list of why don’t
you see myself doing this I see myself
being a program manager running and six
million dollar program and managing the
finances and being an expert and I don’t
know radar based technology yeah I had
figured all that out but for that
instant I felt lost and it was on my
face and I told him either I and that
was my moment to decide whether I lied
to him or just be honest and pour myself
out
I did I I couldn’t lie and I told him
the truth I see myself sitting in this
huge art warehouse that’s my studio
right in front of me is my easel around
me as my paints on the walls I see my
artwork my paintings and then this is
all the paint splattered around me these
huge ceilings they’re all covered in my
art and this is me this is me enjoying
my art that was my world
and as I kept saying how much I was
enjoying telling him about my dream I
felt like oh I think this is the moment
where I should start packing up my
thoughts and start heading out of the
office because most likely he thinks
that I was in the wrong place and I was
pursuing wrong goals and I would never
be an engineer for sure and it wasn’t
until that moment when he responded that
changed my world he said to me
nothing should changed Wafaa your art is
who you are
bring that to work make that your
discriminator the way you deal with
situations interact with people solve
problems design infrastructures and do
bigger things as an engineer is what you
should bring to to your work something
as little as the way you dress up is
what you’re going to bring to the to
your work as well that’s you and guess
what since then every time I sit around
engineers be it hundreds of engineers or
20 or five I dress up as myself the way
I feel I can express myself I don’t
necessarily follow a specific code but
I’m respected for how I walk into the
room with my own self I felt the dear
that day when I walked out of his office
I was myself and I never changed I felt
like I had found that creative spark
that confidence
that I had lost a couple of years ago
that I could not find I was so happy
once again
now I had to plan or everything again I
had to figure out how I’m gonna bring my
creativity to work manifestation of this
appeared while I was reading Arianna
Huffington’s biography on Pablo Picasso
one of my favorites he said according to
Picasso it’s not what an artist does
that counts but what he is which really
made me understand how beautiful his art
was because he never differentiated the
two since then I decided to bring art to
my work my projects became my canvas
everything about technology or anything
to do with engineering became my my my
canvas and and I had to just walk in
with my creative toolkit to make that
difference and that’s what what I
thought was going to make that
difference I have worked with a bunch of
penetration testers we we go down to
different systems and have to break into
those systems to see how secure they are
and make sure that we can find flaws in
those systems if you’re not familiar
with that you’d realize it’s a very very
exciting field because all you really
have to do is you use your brain to do
things and see things that not everyone
can see we had to scrape off the layers
of the unseen we had to understand what
were the things that not everyone could
see so we could bring in that change
well before any hacker or threats could
detected we had to figure out a solution
that was the part of creativity I enjoy
it it was that very challenging and it
was the most important thing during this
process was the idea of thinking outside
the box because that was what made it
very different and that is where the
creativity and the work actually
happened for me
well like Albert Einstein said after a
certain high level of technical skill is
achieved science and art tend to coil is
in
headaches plasticity inform the greatest
how many of you are familiar with the
she concentrate well just to give an
overview this was this is a train in a
train system in Japan where the the they
were having a initial issue when when
the train was launched and the issue
with it was that was very loud and it
was having disturbance in the community
the engineers were trying to figure out
the present to the problem and the basic
idea was that it was the round shape of
the train that prevented it from being
very subtle so they brought in this this
engineer a design engineer who also
happened to be a birdwatcher well who
would have thought a birdwatcher would
help solve one of the greatest problems
of its time what he did was by observing
different movements in different forms
of creativity and in nature he he
brought that into his work and his
design process he used he used the body
of a penguin and the the wings of an owl
and the most beautiful part the the beak
of a Kingfisher to completely redesign
this train which changed everything this
train was was as fast as about 200 miles
per hour carrying about 68 million
people a day was a complete new
revolution was basically what a creative
spark from an artist or an observer who
had seen something in the nature and
brought it to an object to make it
different to make it in a way that we as
if we were to follow a simple clear path
would probably have not solve it until
we really looked beyond the obvious so
that’s where I I figured out my life and
I I decided to say that I
I like to engine art or I’m I’m
thoroughly involved in engine arting
which is where I feel the the notion of
form and an aesthetics and beauty is
married to the logic and structure where
when they both are combined together
give you a completely different approach
to to the world historically speaking
the world in the past have nothing been
different only I felt like when I’ve
been involved in understanding the art I
felt like they were appreciated for
being artists more than being just
engineers the creativity was
demonstrated through different forms and
it was also provided in the function of
their their masterpieces one of those
very significant artists is da Vinci as
you know he he was not just an engineer
he was not just an artist he was a blend
a perfect blend of both he introduced
very very strong mathematical notions to
explain to us how our world around is
not just limited to form but also
function and vice versa
he showed us different perspectives on
how to perceive things and solve
problems this is what I define
creativity not just limiting ourselves
to what is given to us but also finding
the true meaning inside it scraping off
that layer to see that creativity is not
just about confining to the rules it’s
about understanding those rules and
making things better as well
so I basically closed off my my
heartfelt conversation with you with the
with the few takeaways that I want to
for you to understand moving forward in
life and as you are in life as well you
come across a lot of pressures a lot of
things that will make you want to change
the way you see things
do things and you know what that will do
that will eventually kill the inside of
you you’ll realize that you would want
to be someone and want to please someone
but while doing it
you’ll be losing your own self as well
don’t let that happen
you’re only going to go negative you’re
only going to be difficult on your own
self be the person who accepts you who
you are
prove that to the world because that is
the creativity that the world will see
and it will outshine you no matter what
it is that’s it for me thank you very
much [Applause]
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