Self-Driven Women

Recorded discussion

Pit Stop to the Podium

Conversation with MIT-PITT-RW autonomous racing team leaders on the state of autonomous driving technology at the university level.

Recorded panel

Women in Mobility: The Power of Mentorship

Influential women in autonomous driving technology and mobility discuss being a mentor, receiving mentorship, and tips for cultivating it.

Inaugural #SelfDrivenWomen event

Self-Driven Women: Opportunities and Challenges

Waymo COO Tekedra Mawakwana moderates a panel with three female leaders in transportation and mobility, followed by attendee Q&A.

Waymo Events is a gathering place for people shaping the future of mobility. The program welcomes students, early-career builders, and experienced professionals who are interested in autonomous driving, robotics, systems engineering, and product strategy. By focusing on community and shared learning, the events create space for people to exchange ideas, hear different perspectives, and build a network that can continue well beyond a single session.

The Self-Driven Women community reflects the growing importance of diverse teams working on complex mobility challenges. Women across engineering, operations, product, planning, and business are contributing to vehicles and systems that are changing how people and goods move. The program highlights these varied paths, encouraging participation from anyone who wants to learn, contribute, and grow alongside others in the field.

Recent virtual events have explored how autonomous racing connects academic research with practical engineering experience. Conversations with members of a university racing team can show how teams approach vehicle development, motion planning, controls, multi-agent systems, and real-world testing. For students, this kind of event offers a window into collaborative technical work. For professionals, it highlights how university projects inform broader discussions about automation and mobility.

Getting involved in mobility does not always require an engineering title. Event discussions often touch on product development, business strategy, operations, user experience, and the human side of autonomous vehicles. Career stages differ, but curiosity about technology and a willingness to learn are common threads. Whether you are a student, career changer, mentor, or experienced practitioner, community events can help you find a relevant entry point.

Autonomous driving depends on many disciplines working together. A vehicle that operates safely in the world requires more than a single breakthrough; it takes careful planning, reliable sensing, thoughtful interfaces, sound decision-making, and strong execution across teams. Waymo Events brings these perspectives into a single conversation so attendees can better understand how technical work, product thinking, and human interaction shape the final experience.

University involvement plays an important role in the broader autonomous driving ecosystem. Student teams gain practical experience by building, testing, and iterating on real systems. That work develops technical confidence and exposes participants to the realities of teamwork, deadlines, and iteration. It also creates a natural bridge between classroom learning and industry, where ideas about automated motion, robotics, and sustainable mobility can be tested and refined.

Mentorship and community can accelerate a career in technology. Events create opportunities to learn from people who have worked on autonomous vehicles, mobility products, and company operations, while also connecting peers who may be facing similar choices. Sharing experiences across roles and organizations can make complex career paths feel more navigable, especially for participants building portfolios, exploring new fields, or seeking greater equity in the mobility industry.

The name Self-Driven Women carries a clear idea: people are the driving force behind the technology. Community members bring distinct experiences in engineering, robotics, strategy, product, and entrepreneurship, and those perspectives can improve both the systems being built and the organizations creating them. The program emphasizes collaboration across backgrounds so that the future of mobility is shaped by a broader range of voices and ideas.

Waymo Events serves as an invitation to watch, learn, and participate. Recorded sessions make it easier to explore conversations at your own pace, while live gatherings offer chances to ask questions and meet others working in mobility and related fields. Whether your interests lie in autonomous vehicles, business operations, sustainable transportation, or the culture of technology, the community provides a place to connect with the ideas and people moving mobility forward.

Recorded discussion

Engineering the Future of Autonomy

Self-driven women engineering the future of autonomy, with focus on engineering roles across the autonomy sector.