Welcoming the New ACM-W Asia-Pacific Committee
The ACM-W Global Leadership team is happy to announce the new ACM-W Asia Pacific Committee that will support a wide range of initiatives in the ACM-W Asia-Pacific region. The team includes the following roles and the associated members:
- Regional Activities Chair: Dr. Bimlesh Wadhwa, Associate Professor and Assistant Dean (Student Life) at the National University of Singapore(NUS)
- Communication Chair: Dr.Lay-Ki Soon, Associate Professor in the School of Information Technology, Monash University, Malaysia.
- Celebrations Chair: Dr. Anuja Dharmaratne, Associate Professor in the Department of Human-Centred Computing, Monash University, Australia.
- Chapters Chair: Dr. Heena Thimani, Data Scientist and Director at iAnanya Datalytix Pvt. Ltd. in Ahmedabad, India

Dr. Bimlesh Wadhwa, Associate Professor and Assistant Dean (Student Life) at the National University of Singapore(NUS), is a trailblazing educator and researcher in Human-Computer Interaction, Software Engineering, and Computational Thinking. The first PhD in Computer Science from Delhi University, she mentors students, publishes in top conferences like CHI and FSE, and serves as a reviewer for premier venues. Dr. Wadhwa, an active member and supporter of ACM-W activities, established NUS’s Women in Tech student group. She also serves on the ACM-W Rising and Shining Stars Awards panel. Beyond academia, she founded a community program, Code for Community, for underserved communities, showcasing her dedication to societal impact through education and technology.

Dr.Lay-Ki Soon is an Associate Professor at the School of Information Technology at Monash University Malaysia. She graduated with a Ph.D (Engineering) in Web Engineering from Soongsil University, Korea. Her main research interests include applied natural language processing and data management. She teaches Databases, Business Intelligence, and Data Warehousing to both Masters and undergraduate students in Monash. Her passion for teaching won her Faculty of IT Education Excellence Award in Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning in 2021. Beyond the classroom, Dr. Soon has been the Associate Head (Graduate Research) of the School of Information Technology since November 2018. Before her tenure at Monash University Malaysia, Dr. Soon was a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Computing and Informatics (FCI) at Multimedia University (MMU). She was appointed Deputy Dean (Research and Innovation) of FCI, MMU, from March 2016 to August 2018. Recently, she was awarded the Supervisor of the Year Award 2024 by the Monash University Postgraduate Association for her dedication to rendering quality postgraduate supervision. In addition to her university roles, Dr. Soon also lent her expertise as a Research Fellow at the leading telecommunication company in Malaysia – Telekom Malaysia R&D, where she contributed significantly to the call data records database optimization project. Besides, Dr. Soon has conducted courses on Relational and NoSQL Databases, enriching the skillsets of professionals beyond the academic realm.

Dr. Anuja Dharmaratne is a lecturer and researcher with over 26 years of academic experience. She works at the Faculty of IT, Monash University, as an Associate Professor and the Director of Education at the Department of Human-Centered Computing. She has previously worked at the Monash University Malaysia campus and the University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC), holding various administrative roles and serving various Education positions. She has also supervised many undergraduate and postgraduate students in their research projects. She has a Doctorate in Information Engineering from Hiroshima University, Japan. Her research interests include computational geometry, learning analytics, Game-based education, Image Processing, and Computer Vision.

Dr. Heena Timani has been a Data Scientist and Director at iAnanya Datalytix Pvt. Ltd. in Ahmedabad, India, since 2020. Before this, she was a faculty member in the School of Computer Studies at Ahmedabad University from 2009 to 2019, where she delivered courses in Business Analytics and Data Science. From 2000 to 2009, she worked as an assistant professor at H.L Institute of Computer Applications. Heena completed her Ph.D. in Statistics from Bhavnagar University, specializing in the applications of Bayesian Networks in Business Intelligence and Analytics. Her research areas are Bayesian inference, probabilistic graphical models, and data science. She is the author of Advanced Mathematics and Scientific and Statistical Computing: A Programming Approach, published by Books India Publications for undergraduate computing students.
In 2014, Heena was a faculty sponsor to establish the ACM-W Student chapter at Ahmedabad University. She served in the ACM Ahmedabad Professional Chapter (India), holding the position of Vice Chair from 2015- 2017 and as Chair from 2017-2019. Since 2018, she dedicated her time to work on the ACM Women India Committee, initially serving as Treasurer from 2018-2019 and later as Chair from 2019- 2021 to 2021-2023. Currently, she contributes as the Past Chair of the ACM-W India Committee (2023-2025).

The first ACM-W Asia-Pacific Committee meeting took place during the Celebration of Women in Computing, “ACM-W INDIA CELEBRATIONS,” held at Chitkara University, Chandigarh, India, on November 29, 2024. The strategy for this region was planned, and the committee was introduced.
The ACM Women Asia-Pacific aims to fulfill and strengthen the ACM-W’s mission in the Asia-Pacific region. ACM-W supports, celebrates, and advocates for the full engagement of women in all aspects of the computing field globally. ACM-W Student Chapters are created to help recruit and retain students in computing programs. ACM-W Professional Chapters sponsor activities to educate women about careers in computing, provide networking opportunities, and acknowledge their contributions to the field. ACM-W Asia-Pacific committee looks forward to creating collaborative projects with ACM-W student and professional chapters in the region.