IIT’s IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) affinity group recently wrapped up SyncUp, its signature mentorship program, which brought together over 150 enthusiastic participants for a week of learning, growth, and deep connections. The initiative, held at the IIT Campus, Colombo 04 aimed to empower undergraduates and establishing a foundation for their career and personal growth through a blend of guidance, introspection, and practical mentoring.

The journey began on August 3rd with the SyncUp Induction and continued on August 5th with the SyncUp Accelerator, a dynamic event featuring inspiring sessions by Industry professionals.

Anderson Kirubaharan encouraged participants to embrace entrepreneurship, Dilshara Hetti Arachchige shared insights on creating revenue-driven products, and Shanthi Rajesh reflected on engineering-to-leadership journeys. The day’s excitement was further amplified with interactive events like Human Bingo, live Q&As, and thrilling giveaways.

The highlight of the program was the SyncUp Finale on August 8th, was intended to foster in-depth, individualized mentorship experiences. First- and second-year participants were paired with third- and fourth-year students who already had industry experience, guaranteeing pertinent counsel and useful insights. A broad language model was used to link mentees with senior peers based on their shared interests and career goals as well.

A STEMLink briefing marked the day by outlining the mentor-mentee model and strategies for enhancing these interactions. The next step was 1 : 1 mentoring sessions, where mentees spoke with more seasoned peers about their goals, challenges, and career ambitions. There were also Speed mentoring rounds giving participants the opportunity to interact with several mentors and quickly acquire a variety of viewpoints in order to gain new insights and divers perspectives.

SyncUp not only provided a platform that enabled students to interact, reflect but allowed to accelerate their own personal and professional journeys with thought-provoking keynotes, lively activities, practical mentorship and thrilling rewards.

While the mentor-mentee challenge fostered teamwork, creativity, and problem-solving in an entertaining and captivating manner, a reflections session was there, allowing mentees to reflect on their learning and share their growth experiences and observations. The climax was made more exciting by the winners receiving prizes from Serendib, Laser Tag, Fun Factory, and Pearl Bay.

With its successful launch, SyncUp successfully set the stage for a lasting impact: empowering connections and sparking growth well beyond the program’s conclusion.