Prism Award

Seema Chopra, Ph.D.

The Boeing Company


For groundbreaking contributions to artificial intelligence; for comprehensive advocacy of women in technology; and for raising the visibility of SWE across India and around the world.

Seema Chopra, Ph.D., is currently the global technology leader in artificial intelligence for global Boeing Research and Technology in Bengaluru, India. In this position, she shapes the artificial intelligence (AI) strategy for all global teams in countries outside the United States by collaborating with industry experts and pulling global sources of AI and machine learning knowledge into The Boeing Company. Her team develops end-to-end solutions for all aspects of data analytics and manages multidisciplinary, globally dispersed teams at Boeing businesses and partners.

Dr. Chopra is also a Boeing technical fellow, the first in AI outside the United States. She is responsible for promoting technical excellence and innovation within Boeing and ensuring sustained technical contributions by demonstrating leadership, mentorship, and vision.

Dr. Chopra has served with distinction in these roles. She holds seven U.S. patents, with 15 more pending in the United States and in India. She has registered 10 trade secrets and published more than 35 articles in international technical publications, advancing global knowledge in such fields as AI, data analytics, machine learning, and fault diagnosis and prognosis.

She is a frequent volunteer and leader with professional societies and social welfare organizations, including the Society of Women Engineers. An active member of SWE since 2008, she received the SWE Leadership Award in 2017. She then became a SWE Global Ambassador. Dr. Chopra is a frequent speaker at regional and international conferences, with a particular focus on presenting to women engineers. She has spoken throughout India, increasing SWE’s footprint in her country. She co-founded the SWE Bengaluru Affiliate and has worked within Boeing to obtain sponsorship for SWE events.

Through her efforts, Boeing India has been an ongoing sponsor for WE Local since 2018, and became a platinum sponsor for the 2021 WE Local India virtual conference, and the only gold sponsor for the 2018 WE Local Pune conference. As WE Local advisory board vice president, she helped to establish and organize a WE Local in Bengaluru, engaged Boeing India as a bronze sponsor, and hosted an event welcoming more than 1,000 women engineer attendees.

Dr. Chopra has also employed her technical and leadership skills locally, inspiring school students, especially girls, to pursue careers in engineering. Because she was drawn to engineering as a young girl fascinated by machines, she strongly believes in helping girls in India discover the wonders of science and technology. Volunteering with the Saraswati Shishu Mandir school network in Bengaluru, she engages students in grades 8–10 through presentations, informal conversations, and such projects as building working gliders and model satellites.

Dr. Chopra earned a B.Tech in instrumentation and control engineering at Kurukshetra University; an M.Tech with distinction in control engineering at the National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra; and a Ph.D. in control engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee. She and her husband have two young sons. She is a fitness enthusiast who enjoys long-distance cycling, swimming, and yoga.

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