ESnet and the Women in Networking at SC (WINS) Program

SC24 WINS leadership, left to right: WINS Team Co-Lead Fatema Bannat-Wala (ESnet), WINS Co-Lead and DevOps Team Member Karen Lopez (NREL, WINS alum), WINS Program Director Brenna Meade (Indiana University, WINS alum), SCinet Chair Angie Asmus (Colorado State University, WINS alum); ESnet WINS Director Kate Robinson (ESnet, WINS alum); and SCinet Executive Advisor Jason Zurawski (ESnet WINS cofounder).

ESnet has long co-led a workforce development/diversity initiative at the SC conference called Women in Networking at SC (WINS). The program was first piloted in 2015 to increase gender diversity in the research and education (R&E) community’s ranks of network and computer systems engineers. 

WINS was officially launched in 2016 by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), the Keystone Initiative for Network Based Education and Research (KINBER), and the Department of Energy’s Energy Science Network (ESnet), funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and directly by ESnet. These days, running the WINS program is a joint effort between UCAR, ESnet, American Indian Higher Education Consortium, and Indiana University. Financial support for the WINS program continues to come from NSF and ESnet (supported by DOE), as well as a number of sponsors at every level, from funding travel expenses for participants to sponsoring a networking luncheon. 

How WINS Works

From the start, WINS’ primary goal has been to enable five to seven early to mid-career women in the R&E network community to participate in the setup, build out, and live operation of SCinet. Designed over many months and constructed in a few weeks by an army of volunteers, SCinet is the “world’s fastest temporary network.” It serves both as a testbed for leading-edge technologies and computing demonstrations and as the production conference network at the international conference on high performance computing, networking, data storage and data analysis known as SC. 

WINS awardee Indira Kassymkhanova at SC16; she is now an ESnet network engineer.

Through a competitive application process, WINS selects and provides travel funding for early- to mid-career women to participate as SCinet volunteers. They are matched with a SCinet team and a mentor based on skills and interest area, which range from wireless networking to IP routing, from fiber-optic cable installation to cybersecurity. The 56 WINS participants have come from diverse backgrounds, traveling to SC from 25 states from home institutions that include community colleges, tribal school systems, DOE national labs, global R&E networks, and for-profit organizations. More importantly for career development and networking, nearly half of WINS alumni have returned to SC — and more than a dozen of them have played leadership roles, often multiple times. 

ESnet’s Multi-Layered Support of WINS

ESnet has been a staunch supporter and funder of WINS since the program was piloted in 2015 with assistance from ESnet Science Engagement team members Kate Mace, Lauren Rotman, and Jason Zurawski, who were honored with a 2017 CENIC Innovations in Networking Award for Experimental Applications; ESnet’s Mary Hester also played a key role. 

“I am incredibly proud of how WINS has contributed to growing a more diverse and inclusive networking community,” said ESnet Executive Director Inder Monga, who serves on the WINS executive leadership committee. “ESnet has also benefited greatly from the technical, leadership, and other skills that our WINS alumni, staff volunteers, and mentors have acquired through their participation in the program over the years.”  

ESnet continues to serve on the WINS management team and assist with the application process and selection process, in addition to directly funding several new and returning participants each year: 

• Zurawski has served on the WINS management committee since inception
• Network Engineer Kate Robinson, a WINS alum, is ESnet’s WINS Director 
• Security Engineer Fatema Bannat-Wala is Co-Lead of the WINS Team for SC24
• Science Engagement’s Eli Dart has served on the WINS application review committee since 2018 and supports the program in an advisory capacity.
• ESnet’s Business Office team assists with travel logistics and expense reports for all ESnet-funded WINS awardees.
• Many ESnet network engineers have served as SCinet mentors to WINS awardees 
• ESnet network engineer Indira Kassymkhanova was a SC16 WINS awardee 

Learn More About WINS

• Apply for WINS December through January
• Read the Dec. 2024 feature story, “WINS Has Built a Powerful Network of Women in Networking”
• 2019 HPC Wire Award