The second Fe+male Tech Heroes Awards Show was held Thursday, December 11th at the Conference Center at High Tech Campus. It was another high-energy affair with a sold-out crowd of hundreds of FTH ambassadors there to support the most inspiring role models in the tech community.
The inaugural awards show in 2023 was a magical evening. We never thought the second awards show would top that event … but it did. If anything, it was more emotional, more inspiring than before.
Perhaps it’s because the FTH community has come such a long way from just two years ago. Maybe the crowd was just ready for some fun and excitement, a reason to get all dressed up for a night out on Campus. We think it’s because we’ve shone the spotlight on so many role models – women and men alike – in the past few years that we’ve gained unstoppable momentum.
It’s because we’re Impossible to Ignore.
Before we get too deep in the details of the evening, here are the winners of four award categories:
- Hidden Gem: Foziyeh Sohrabi, SMART Photonics
- Male Ally: AJ Jagtap, ASML
- Corporate Inclusion: TNO
- Female Tech Hero of the Year: Carmen van Vilsteren, Top Sector Health Holland
The event started with a flash mob from One in Motion, 16 dancers energizing the crowd and dancing in unison to “This is Me,” an empowering song by Keala Settle from The Greatest Showman soundtrack.
FTH co-founders Ingelou Stol and Hilde de Vocht welcomed everyone and led the event on stage, infusing the awards show with passion and humor in their usual style.
We had another rockstar jury panel who had the difficult task of choosing just one winner per category among the 200 nominations.
The 2025 jury:
Christine Brown, ASML, 2023 Female Tech Hero of the Year 2023
Amrita Singh, SMART Photonics, Hidden Gem 2023
Alex Tavassoli, Enliven, Male Ally 2023
Sven Bakkes, LUMO Labs, Corporate Inclusion 2023
Edith Snelders, Eindhoven University of Technology
Bart Brouwers, IO+, Gerard & Anton Community
The Conference Center was decked out with the new FTH branding, purple and orange balloons festooning the lobby and stage. Once again the Conference Center and Eurest teams transformed the space into an elegant evening venue worthy of a dressy affair, complete with a champagne tower, delicious food and a purple carpet to welcome guests.
FTH now has 33 proud Partners, organizations helping to amplify the call for gender equality in tech organizations. Hilde and Ingelou interviewed several FTH Partners on stage. We got to meet several representatives from Partner organizations and understand how their initiatives merge with our own ambitions as a community.
DJ Chelsea van de Kimmenade rocked the stage with a rendition of “Good Feeling,” a perfect song for the atmosphere of the evening. The crowd sang along as Hilde and Ingelou boogied on stage. After the presentations, Chelsea DJ’d at the after party, turning the lobby into a dance floor, complete with disco balls and lights.
If you weren’t dancing the night away, you could buy FTH merchandise, newly branded and launched just after the awards show.
At the shop were FTH sweatshirts and T-shirts, bags with clever quotes, notebooks and the ever popular stainless steel travel mugs. If you missed the chance to purchase, visit our webshop and use discount code FE+MALETECH-10 to save 10% on your order. We want to spot those “Impossible to Ignore” shirts everywhere!
And if you missed the awards show, below are some highlights from the presentations, including some excerpts from the jury reports.
Just like the awards show in 2023, some of the acceptance speeches made us cry. There were colleagues, friends and families cheering wildly for their favorite finalists. And yes, there were standing ovations.
From the jury report:
Foziyeh Sohrabi’s journey was a long one, but no one can accuse her of taking the path of least resistance.
Foziyeh comes from a region in Iran where girls’ education is oven overlooked and girls are not encouraged to dream big. Nevertheless, she powered through, overcoming countless barriers to pursue her education.
She earned a PhD in Photonics, mastering a field that challenges even the most seasoned scientists and where women are sorely underrepresented.
Today, as a Technical Project Lead at SMART Photonics, Foziyeh guides complex photonics projects with technical excellence and empathetic leadership.
Here’s a direct quote from a jury member: “Foziyeh Sohrabi lights the way in integrated photonics and in life, turning resilience into innovation and leadership into inspiration.”
She organizes events, runs a book club and leads outdoor activities. She lifts others as she climbs, showing young women who come from similar backgrounds what is possible when talent and opportunity intersect.
"I see myself and my own journey in Foziyeh," said Amrita. "That’s why presenting this award to you, my colleague, is all the sweeter. By the way, I did not vote in this category! But it’s fitting that you should win the Hidden Gem Award. Using my own quote here: You are a beacon of inspiration for women everywhere.”
Foziyeh’s remarks:
"I received this award because of not giving up. Life is not always very simple, I do not want to go to the details of life, but there were moments that I said to myself this is not the last moment of life and I should stand up.
I am here because of people, universities, professors and companies that gave me the opportunity to grow and to have hope and I believe there are lots of people all around the world hidden; no one knows them but given the opportunity, they can grow and they can shine."
From the jury report:
“AJ Jagtap isn’t all talk and no action when it comes to inclusion. He’s committed to giving back to society and the workplace. He practices allyship without shouting it, building one connection at a time.
AJ models allyship by actively participating in the Women@ASML network and coordinating events such as International Women's Day. But he goes beyond participating and takes ownership.
He asks what more can be done and then does it.
He became a member of the new ASML Allyship Board to support more colleagues on their allyship journey. And he is a board member of Connect, ASML’s international employees network. AJ helps international colleagues build partnerships within the workforce and navigate a new host country without losing their cultural identities.
He shows up when it matters most.
For Fe+male Tech Heroes, the term “male ally” has a powerful and intentional meaning.
It describes men who use their influence to lift others up, challenge bias, foster psychological safety and help build a tech world where everyone can thrive.
AJ Jagtap is an ally in every sense of the word, the “guy who gets it.”
Corporate Inclusion Award Winner: TNO
From the jury report:
“If the Male Ally award goes to the “guy who gets it,” the Corporate Inclusion Award goes to the organization that “gets it.”
And TNO “gets” something powerful: inclusion fuels innovation.
TNO has woven inclusion into the very fabric of its mission, making it as fundamental to their work as the science itself.
TNO has achieved 34% overall female representation. This is impressive in a research field where women remain vastly underrepresented.
The Gender Equality Plan turns words into action. It outlines measurable goals and clear responsibilities, clearing the path for women to advance into leadership roles.
A Diversity Steering Committee governs this work with training programs and evaluation processes to ensure inclusion is implemented in daily practice … in every lab and every meeting room.
They conduct research on women’s health, inclusive labor markets, workplace accessibility and equitable participation. This research directly affects public services and informs policy across the Netherlands.
These inclusion practices are not treated as a standalone human resources effort but are part of TNO’s broader scientific and social impact.
From TNO’s own DEI page (yes, they have one of those), it reads, “TNO strives to be a place where diversity, equity and inclusion, and working on these topics, are the most normal things in the world.”
“By everyone’s account, Carmen van Vilsteren is a MedTech maven, a true badass.
She’s a firestarter, sparking innovation and weaving together technology, female founders, investment and impact to fundamentally shape the Dutch MedTech landscape.
Carmen understands technology to the core but also knows how to translate that knowledge into vision, team and results.
She is a leader with guts, brains and a big heart, someone who inspires by doing.
In a sector that is still dominated by men, she dares to speak out about the need for diversity and inclusion.
Carmen shows that leadership is not about power but about courage and authenticity.
Among her greatest achievements is the path she’s carved for women in engineering. She forges ahead, pushes past barriers … and yes, breaks the proverbial glass ceiling … then reaches down to pull others up.
Carmen is resolute in her pursuit for change. She demonstrates the future of technology is diverse, human-centric and undeniably female.”
Carmen was a bit breathless on stage as she accepted her award. As it turns out, in more than 40 years, Carmen told the crowd she has never won an award for her contributions.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as everyone stood and applauded this pillar in the MedTech community.
After the awards presentations, the stage filled with all finalists, award winners, jury members and the FTH team, followed by the after party that had the Conference Center thumping with dancing, lights, music and lots and lots of laughter.
It was a grand affair and the perfect ending to a perfect event.
Thanks to everyone who attended and to everyone who supports Fe+male Tech Heroes!
See all the photos of the event here!
