Behind the celebratory moments of multiple degrees, are years of carrying the responsibility of many, as a singular person: balancing both professional and graduate school responsibilities, nurturing future generations while supporting her parents, and many self-sacrifices. “In fact, part of my master’s capstone thesis explored this very challenge, particularly the difficulties of managing family responsibilities while pursuing professional growth in a demanding and constantly evolving field like cybersecurity,” says the multitasking powerhouse. Sajida learned to take it one day, one assignment, and one exam at a time through every available moment: listening to lectures while cooking dinner, doing homework while in the car line to pick up her kids from school, and spending nights studying for exams while her family slept. As someone building her own future while holding a multi-generational family together, Sajida learned and leaned into the importance of personal wellness. Her favorite way to destress and connect? Her Zumba group! “It’s not just about physical fitness, exercise is an excellent way to “let you hair down” and recharge your energy,” reflects the AiC Stories Ambassador. Her journey has been hectic, but gratifying.

"The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science" by Dava Sobel. Between 1899 and 1902, in a converted wooden shed with a leaking glass roof on a Paris side street, Marie Curie spent the years that would win her the Nobel Prize in Physics: grinding, dissolving, and refining ton after ton of a black mineral called pitchblende in search of the two new elements she had already named, polonium and radium. It was punishing, dangerous work. She lost weight; her hands blistered; the notebooks she kept are so contaminated with radioactivity that scientists today can still handle them only in lead-lined boxes. She emerged with a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903, a second Nobel in Chemistry in 1911 -- making her the only person ever to win in two different sciences -- and a term she had coined for the phenomenon she had spent her life chasing: radioactivity. Nearly a century after her death, as Dava Sobel notes in her opening pages, Marie Curie remains the only woman scientist most people can name. Sobel -- the Pulitzer Prize-nominated author of "The Glass Universe" and "Galileo's Daughter" -- uses Curie's remarkable life as the frame for a wider recovery: the story of the more than forty young women scientists Curie trained, hired, and championed in her Paris laboratory, and who went on to build careers of their own across Europe and North America. Ellen Gleditsch became the first woman chemist elected to Norway's Academy of Sciences. Marguerite Perey discovered a new element, francium. Harriet Brooks did pioneering work on atomic disintegration. Woman by woman, chapter by chapter, Sobel makes the case that Marie Curie was not simply the greatest woman in the history of science but also its most consequential mentor. "The Elements of Marie Curie" is at once a fresh, moving portrait of an icon and a substantial addition to the historical record of the women whose work made modern physics and chemistry what they are. Highly recommended for adult readers.

Every year, we remind the research community that women’s contributions to science need to be better recognized and rewarded. The importance of this was underlined only last month, when 2026 became another year in which no women were awarded a Nobel prize in the sciences or economics. The Nature Awards for Inspiring Women in Science, a partnership with the Estée Lauder Companies, are intended to help bend the curve of recognition. Given the awards’ focus on women in the early stages of their careers, they are also intended to create a legacy that will benefit others for many years to come. This year, the Nature Awards for Inspiring Women in Science recognized Taghried Abdelmagid in the Science Outreach category and Alexandra Paterson in the Science Achievement category.

Educators & Counselors: A career in cybersecurity can offer your students: Problem-solving opportunities; Technical skill development ; A sense of purpose by protecting others. A rewarding future in a world that increasingly relies on technology. And cybersecurity talent can from a variety of passions and skills! With just six quick questions your students can explore which cybersecurity career may be a good fit for them.

An overlooked contribution. A dismissive response. An invitation to share a different perspective. Everyday interactions influence which ideas move forward. This interactive workshop explores the microbehaviors that shape participation, recognition, and innovation. Through realistic workplace scenarios, you’ll practice spotting and interrupting the moments that matter. Leave with practical responses and strategies you can adapt immediately to ensure no one’s expertise is left on the table. Attendees will gain exclusive insights to actionable recommendations. You will learn practical strategies and responses that you can adapt to your specific context to ensure that you’re engaging the full team’s expertise and not leaving anyone’s insights on the table. NCWIT fueled the expansion of the tech workforce by activating a research-backed, full-ecosystem approach to broaden access to and participation in technical fields. This innovative professional development opportunity will feature insights from and conversation with NCWIT Research Scientists, Dr. Catherine Ashcraft and Dr. Sharmaine Jackson.

You can buy the best AI tools on the market, hire the right consultants, and check all the boxes. And it will still go sideways if you ignore culture – and especially the people who create that culture. This is the part most organizations skip. But it’s the part that determines whether everything else works. Getting AI Culture right – that is, the shared norms, values and practices related to AI – starts with understanding mindsets. Whether they know it or not, leaders and organizations usually have a mix of what we call AI mindsets. These mindsets seep out in subtle (or sometimes not so subtle) “tells” — what gets implemented and how, what gets communicated and how, what gets ignored, and how concerns get handled. Organizations that don’t understand these mindsets will shape their AI cultures by default. This rarely ends well. But if they do understand these mindsets, they can shape their AI cultures by design.

An interactive overview of the newly redesigned Teach Engineering website that features a “no-cost to you” digital library packed with thousands of standards-aligned STEM lessons, hands-on activities, and unit plans. Designed by university faculty and classroom teachers, this session will show educators, parents, and community members how to easily access and implement real-world engineering resources to inspire the next generation of problem solvers.

As electric vehicles become more common, the electromagnetic noise they generate is an issue that more designers must address. Ms. Burnham brings lessons learned from several years of troubleshooting electric vehicles, both hybrid and plug-in, to discuss some of the most important EV noise factors.

Over two decades at MIT, Hamilton forged new paths in computer science and engineering. Her groundbreaking work included leading the team that programmed the first computers that took humans to the moon. Margaret Hamilton, a profoundly influential computer scientist best known for leading the software engineering team at MIT’s Instrumentation Lab during NASA’s Apollo program, died on Sep. 30. She was 90. A computing pioneer who authored over 130 publications, Hamilton helped to establish software engineering as a dedicated discipline. She worked at MIT from 1959 until the mid-1970s, after which she became a successful computing entrepreneur and CEO. Her life’s work was recognized with many awards and honors, including the 2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama, whose citation noted: “Hamilton defined new forms of software engineering and helped launch an industry that would forever change human history. Her software architecture led to giant leaps for humankind, writing the code that helped America set foot on the moon.”

For the past two decades, NCWIT social scientists have been your go-to source for research-based guidance to ensure your computing departments and organizations help support success for all. As AI becomes increasingly central to computing department decisions around curriculum, pedagogy, and policy, this research symposium will present research-informed insights and actionable takeaways to apply to your current approaches to integrating AI into your teaching, research, and work.