UBCO Girls In Tech is bringing you
The Northwest ACM Women in Computing Celebration
Saturday, March 14th 2020
9:30 am to 3:30 pm
UBC Okanagan Campus - Engineering, Management and Education (EME) Building
We CAN Tech is the UBC Okanagan ACM-W Celebration, a Regional Celebration that will bring women, minorities in tech and allies together in ways that support their participation in computing.
The event provides a venue for future computing professionals to gain confidence in their skills, network with each other, and learn from accomplished technical women. Distinguished speakers will address the students and faculty with talks focused on their technical achievements and how they successfully manage their careers.
We invite you to attend this celebration, whether you are a minority within the tech industry or an ally who is seeking to learn more about the industry itself.
Our Speakers
Dr. Margo Seltzer
Dr Seltzer is a researcher in computer systems, the Canada 150 Research Chair and the Cheriton Family Chair in Computer Science at the University of British Columbia.
She was a professor of Computer Science and director at the Center for Research on Computation and Society at Harvard’s school of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Her research has been funded by prominent tech companies like Google, Microsoft, IBM, NetApp, and Oracle.
Jacquie Armstrong
Jacquie Armstrong is the Director, Technology and head of studio for the Disney office in Kelowna.
As a technology leader, Jacquie is passionate about digital transformation, building strong teams and a champion of women in tech. Additionally, Jacquie brings to her role perspective and insights gained from years competing in the sport of Women’s Curling at the elite levels. She graduated from the University of British Columbia with a BSc in Computer Science, and was featured in the UBC Science Alumni community: https://science.ubc.ca/alumni/notes/curling-coding
Panelists
Giulia Rossi
Student Independent Research Club
Giulia is a third-year Mechanical Engineering UBCO student from Milan, Italy. Other than her courses, she works in the MURPH program (Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Projects in Health) and is a co-founder of the STEM Student Independent Research Club that was started last October to promote student interest in research. She believes that student-led research is a fundamental experience that helps students develop resourcefulness when facing unfamiliar topics.
Anita Tse
nwPlus
Anita is a 5th-year Computer Science student at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver) and has completed both Software Developer and DevOps Engineer internships through co-op. Outside of school and work, she is the Co-President of nwPlus UBC— the team behind Western Canada’s largest hackathon, nwHacks, North America’s largest Local Hack Day, and Vancouver's first all-female* hackathon, cmd-f. Through nwPlus, she shares her passion for fostering community, leaping out of comfort zones, and proving that tech can be for everyone.
Meg Broswick
Northwest Hydraulic Consultants
Meg Broswick is a professional engineer with Northwest Hydraulic Consultants Ltd (NHC). Meg manages a small office of 5 engineers and technicians in Kamloops, BC. Her experience includes a broad range of water resource applications, including hydraulic modeling, scour and erosion protection, channel restoration, conceptual and detailed designs, and dam safety. Additionally, she has had the opportunity to support both local and provincial governments during emergency flood response situations since 2011. Meg graduated from the UNBC/UBC Environmental Engineering program in 2009 and has over 10 years of engineering consulting experience. In addition to her work life, she regularly volunteers as a mountain bike coach for local organizations in Kamloops and the Lower Mainland, and is a mother to a rather cute tiny human and an adorable dog.Workshops
Arduino Lightshow
Tech Workshop
Led by Kiera ShepherdCome learn the basics of Arduino by building a small traffic light! We will provide Arduino Kits, but bring your own laptop if you're interested in this workshop!
Download the Arduino IDE from here: https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software
Kiera is a third-year computer science student here at UBC Okanagan. Currently, she works as the Student Assistant at GEERing Up Engineering Outreach Kelowna, where she helps with STEM outreach for youth. As part of her job, she has taught programming and tech to kids!Building a Network
Non-Tech Workshop
Led by Christine McHansonToday there is only one currency that matters, and it sets the successful apart from the mediocre. It doesn’t matter if you are a technical genius or not, or whether you are an introvert or extrovert.
The currency is your network of professional relationships. This determines your informal power and influence – inside a company, in your industry, and in the world.
Come join us at the networking workshop to learn how to grow your powerbase, become visible, and start being selected to lead great projects or get hired for your next strategic position.
Christine spent 15 years working as a chemical engineer in various roles in heavy industry. She split her career between working on-site in manufacturing plants and at the corporate headquarters as an internal expert consultant. Over the years she realized regardless of location or role, there was often a gap of basic communication, leadership and business skills that were killing some of the best ideas and discouraging their top technical talent. Today she works with engineers and other scientists as a leadership and business coach that helps them achieve the results they aspire for. How to be a Better Ally
Non-Tech Workshop
Led by Dr. Ramon LawrenceThis workshop identifies actions that allies (or anyone really) can take to accelerate change efforts and create more inclusive environments for minorities in the technology field.
Dr. Ramon Lawrence is an associate professor of computer science and Director of the Master of Data Science program at the University of British Columbia Okanagan. His research interests are database systems, embedded devices, and software development. The research has produced 70 publications and $1.5 million dollars in research funding. Dr. Lawrence is an award-winning professor including winning the UBC award for teaching excellence and innovation in 2017 and a 9-time member of the teaching honor role recognizing the top 10% of instructors at UBCO. He is the founder of Unity Data Inc. (www.unityjdbc.com) that provides software for data integration from multiple sources and is a database consultant for enterprises, including Fortune 500 companies such as GE, requiring Big Data (and small data) solutions. Pioneering work on MongoDB produced software for SQL querying and integrating MongoDB with enterprise relational systems that is used by numerous companies worldwide including Apple, Bank of America, Barrick Gold, and the US Defense Department. Dr. Lawrence is a member of the ACM and a senior member of IEEE. Schedule
| Time | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 09:30 - 10:15 | Registration and Breakfast | EME Foyer |
| Get to know your table | ||
| 10:15 - 10:30 | Welcome Address | EME Foyer |
| 10:30 - 11:30 | Speaker - Jacquie Armstrong | EME 0050 |
| 11:30 - 12:15 | Concurrent Workshops | TBD |
| 12:15 - 13:00 | Lunch | EME Foyer |
| Women in Tech Kahoot | ||
| 13:00 - 14:00 | Leadership Panel | EME 0050 |
| 14:00 - 15:00 | Keynote Speech - Dr. Margo Seltzer | EME 0050 |
| 15:00 - 15:30 | Closing Address | EME 0050 |
| 15:30 - 16:00 | Networking Period | EME Foyer |
