Three youth technologists talk about their receiving the Aspirations in Computing award and their future careers in computing and technology. Featuring Paige Frank, Ahmya Rivera, and Neha Shukla. The NCWIT Aspirations in Computing (AiC) High School Award honors 9th-12th grade women, genderqueer, and non-binary students for their computing-related achievements and interests, and encourages them to pursue their passions. Award recipients are selected based on their aptitude and aspirations in technology and computing, as demonstrated by their computing experience, computing-related activities, leadership experience, tenacity in the face of barriers to access, and future plans. Since 2007, more than 25,000 students have received an AiC Award.

For years we've been telling girls that they can grow up and be anything they want, but words aren't enough in the male-dominated world of STEM. Esteemed scientist Dr Lucia Romani is a world leader in epidemiological research and tells 9Honey it's vital for girls to actually see women like them not just entering the scientific world, but thriving there. "It's really, really important. We've seen this not only for women, but for a lot of other minorities or areas where people do not feel represented by the leaders in front of them," Dr Romani says. "Especially in leadership positions, it's still quite a male-dominated field, research and science… but [change] is possible," she continues. Growing up in Italy, Romani was always a curious child but never really considered a career in STEM until she crossed paths with an incredible woman scientist who showed her it was possible. She had become interested in social sciences towards the end of her high school years, specifically social injustice and how disparities between certain communities impacted access to things like healthcare. But it wasn't until she got her first job and worked alongside the woman who would become one of her first mentors that Romani realised what a woman like her could achieve in the science world.

Marietta Blau, PhD, was an Austrian physicist who developed photographic emulsions that could be used to capture the tracks of speeding subatomic particles. This method could also be used to accurately study reactions caused by cosmic ray events. In 1937, working with her colleague Hertha Wambacher, Blau found the first hard evidence of the disintegration of the nuclei of a heavy atom by the impact of another particle. This discovery launched the field of particle physics. Blau was forced to leave Austria in 1938 due to the country’s annexation by Nazi Germany, causing a severe break in her career. She was nominated several times for the Nobel Prize in Physics, and once for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, but never won. In 1950 the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Cecil F. Powell, who had built on Blau’s work and perfected the photographic emulsion method, using it to discover pions in cosmic rays.

Meet Malika Kapri, president of the Girls Who Code chapter at Georgia State and computer science major. This soon-to-be graduate recently accepted a full-time position to work for EY as a technology consultant helping businesses implement software. After listening to several panelists during a Girls Who Code event on Georgia State's Atlanta Campus, computer science major Malika Kapri knew she’d made the right decision to pursue a career in tech. What she didn’t realize at the time was how underrepresented women are in STEM - science, technology, engineering and mathematics - jobs across the United States. Kapri, originally from India, said she wanted to make a positive impact in the lives of women aspiring to work in STEM. Women make up one third of the STEM workforce in the U.S., according to a National Science Foundation report. Kapri, who graduates in December, has helped mentor women at GSU, even helping organize the school’s first all-women hackathon event called HackHers. At HackHers, sponsored by Girls Who Code, participants were tasked with creating a code, a presentation, a physical product or an app mock-up that would enhance the everyday lives of women. Representatives from Google, Uber, FanDuel, AT&T and Southern Company were in attendance.

Don't miss out on the chance to network and hone your professional development skills at the 2024 NPA Annual Conference! The NPA Annual Conference is the largest national conference and networking event dedicated to the postdoctoral community. Conference attendees - postdoctoral scholars, administrators, faculty, and representatives from disciplinary societies, industry, and corporations - are provided with the opportunity to gather and enhance their professional development and leadership skills.

Mojo Supermarket continues its innovative work with Girls Who Code by rolling out GirlJams, described as “an AI songwriting experience” that helps girls play around with artificial intelligence, a field that’s largely male dominated. Created with digital studio Buttermax, GirlJams invites girls to create a song using multiple AI technologies, while also learning the basics of AI generally. User supply a prompt for the subject matter of the song, and ChatGPT generates the song title and lyrics. They also input the genre of music (pop, hip-hop, etc.) and the feel of the song (upbeat, soulful, etc.) - as well as a prompt for Stable Diffusion to create the album art.
GirlJams then produces a demo of the song for users to share.

Catherine Hunt Ryan, President of Bechtel’s Manufacturing & Technology business, joined us on Diverse: a SWE podcast to talk manufacturing, technology, and leadership! Recorded live at the WE23 Diverse Podcast Studio, Catherine explores recent legislation and trends that are shaping the manufacturing landscape in this interview with SWE Past President Dayna Johnson. Listen to the episode, sponsored by Bechtel.

Alice Hamilton was an American physician, and an expert in the field of occupational health. While teaching pathology at the Women’s Medical School of Northwestern University in Chicago, Hamilton lived at Hull-House, treating poor immigrants for diseases often resulting from working conditions. In 1910 she was appointed by Illinois Governor Charles Deneen to head a survey on industrial illness in Illinois. This was the beginning of her long career in public health and workplace safety. In 1919, Hamilton joined Harvard Medical School as an assistant professor in the Department of Industrial Medicine, making her the first woman on the Harvard faculty. Hamilton died on September 22, 1970, at the age of 101. Three months later, Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

Eunice Newton Foote showed that carbon dioxide traps the heat of the sun in 1856, beating the so-called father of the greenhouse effect by at least three years. Why was she forgotten? In 1856, decades before the term “greenhouse gas” was coined, Eunice Newton Foote demonstrated the greenhouse effect in her home laboratory. She placed a glass cylinder full of carbon dioxide in sunlight and found that it heated up much more than a cylinder of ordinary air. Her conclusion: more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere results in a warmer planet. Several years later a Irish scientist named John Tyndall conducted a far more complicated experiment that demonstrated the same effect and revealed how it worked. Today Tyndall is widely known as the man who discovered the greenhouse gas effect. There’s even a crater on the moon named for him! Newton Foote, meanwhile, was lost to history—until an amateur historian stumbled on her story.

Claudine Schmuck, founder of the Gender Scan survey, joins us live in the WE23 Podcast Studio to share the latest data on the gender balance in STEM across the globe. In conversation with FY24 SWE President Alexis McKittrick, Schmuck sheds light on the challenges and opportunities faced by women engineers worldwide. She also shares data-driven practical steps to foster inclusivity in STEM at both the individual and policy levels.