Two professors from Purdue’s Department of Computer and Information Technology will be leading this year’s Indiana Celebration of Women in Computing conference (InWIC), March 6-7, 2014. It is open to university students in computing, providing them with networking and career opportunities.
Professors Alka Harriger and Dawn Laux are leading the annual conference, which strives to provide women in computing with a more affordable, more convenient version of the national Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHCWC).
“It provides a reinforcement as to why it’s important for women to hold roles in these fields, as well as it provides students with a network and community of entrepreneurs, professionals, professors and fellow students,” Harriger said.
Students from nine universities will attend, including from Purdue, DePauw, Notre Dame, IUPUI, Ivy Tech, Ball State and Indiana. InWIC also includes a career fair and interview periods during which companies can talk with prospective candidates.
Debjani Biswas, Tammy Fisher and Rebecca Kramer are some of the influential figures who deliver keynote addresses at the 2015 InWIC (full bios on the InWIC web site). Debjani Biswas has a unique and eclectic combination of executive and corporate experience: 21 years at PepsiCo, Texas Instruments, and Tata Administrative Services. She was named the 2013 National Association for Professional Women ’s Woman of the Year for contributions towards diversity and gender equity. Tammy Fisher is an independent consultant and owner of A Horse to Water Consulting. She has 31 years of professional experience in the consumer goods, logistics, and healthcare industries. Rebecca Kramer is an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University. In 2013, she founded Purdue's Fabrication Laboratory, the "Faboratory," which combines manufacturing, materials, and robotics. She was recently named to Forbes' 2015 "30 Under 30 Who are Moving the World" list in the manufacturing category.
About InWIC
InWIC was founded by a faculty member in DePauw University. It was designed with inspiration from the Grace Hopper Conference and aimed to tackle the biggest issues students faced with attending these conferences. Both conferences strive to increase women participation in computing and related disciplines.The biggest issues students faced when they wanted to attend GHCWC was the travel cost, travel distance and scheduling. The GHCWC conference tends to be very large and in locations that might require long travel. Students found this to be a challenge because it normally would interfere with varying degrees with their schedule.
Because of these reasons, organizers saw a need to do a regional version of this conference. InWIC was received very well and has inspired multiple regional versions of the conference. One of the biggest differences between these regional conferences and the GHCWC conference is the size. At the regional conferences, students have groups of 100-300 students and faculty as opposed to the 7,000 at the GHCWC conference. This allows them the opportunity to network and socialize in a more intimate setting.
Visit the InWIC web site for more information.
Comments
Congratulations Alka and Dawn for their continued leadership.