Session 3: 1:55 PM – 2:55 PM
Riding the Technology Wave: Computer Scientists Building a Better Tomorrow
Location: Royal Palm 4, 5 & 6
Panel: Reetal Pai (Texas A&M), Valerie Hajdik (Texas A&M), Nancy Amato (Texas A&M), Valerie Taylor (Texas A&M), Leah Jameison (Purdue)
In their 2002 study of computer science students at CMU, Jane Margolis and Allan Fisher (Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing) found that women who gravitated towards computer science seemed to have a desire to connect technology to a larger social context. Identifying ways to make connections between professional activities and the community around us might have greater implications with regards to retaining women in computer science and also help encourage high school girls choose computer science as a “socially responsible career”.
With this panel, we seek to increase an understanding of the different ways computer scientists use their professional qualifications to positively impact the world around them. We will look at some successful projects that have combined computer science/ technological learning with socially beneficial projects (Grid Computing, EPICS). We will look at how women organizations and individuals can use their professional learning to have a social impact.
Technical Women in Industry, Trends, and Promising Practices
Location: San Diego Conference Room
Panel: Kara Helander (Vice President, Catalyst Western Region), Betty Shanahan (Executive Director & CEO, Society of Women Engineers), Telle Whitney (President, Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology)
This workshop brings together the work and expertise of three different and complementary organizations and presents their work in the area of retaining and advancing technical women in Industry.
First half sets the landscape, with research and information from Catalyst, SWE, ABI and data from other sources to describe what the numbers are in the pipeline and industry, and what issues women face working in technical jobs.
Includes:
- Catalyst’s research on the barriers and success factors for women in business. Includes insights from their projects, “Women in the High-Tech Industry: Understanding the Drivers of Retention and Advancement”, “Women and Men in US Corporate Leadership, Same workplace, Different Realities”, and “Women “Take Care”, Men “Take Charge”, Stereotypes of US Business Leaders Revealed.”
- SWE’s research from chairing Engineers Week 2006
- Anita Borg Institute’s early results from their study of technical careers in Industry
The second portion of the workshop focuses on solutions, and includes both models of change, and promising practices drawn from the work of the three organizations. Company examples include both technology companies, but also examples from other industries.
Opportunities for Women in International Companies
Location: Sunrise Conference Room
Panelists: Pramila Mullan, Moderator (Director, Middleware Group, France Telecom R&D San Francisco Division), Qian Diao (Intel Research Center, Santa Clara, CA), Meichun Hsu (Director of HP Labs, China), Kristin Lauter (Microsoft Research Center, Redmond, WA)
This panel addresses the opportunities and issues for women interested in working in an international laboratory environment. In a flat world, organizations and individuals need to collaborate with their peers in all different regions of the world. Leveraging R&D strengths across the globe has become a key priority for those organizations that are fueled by innovation. Yet, cultural differences play a factor in the professional roles that women are able to play in these international labs. This panel discussion explores the cross section of opportunities for women internationally as well as potential glass ceiling and other issues they will face as they leverage these opportunities.
Invited Technical Speaker: Deborah Johnson
Rethinking Ethics and Computing
Location: Sunset Conference Room
Presenter: Deborah Johnson, University of Virginia
The field of computer ethics is now roughly twenty years old and seems to be thriving in terms of scholarship and pedagogy. Scholarship in the field can be characterized as focusing on the ethical issues arising ‘around’ and ‘from’ the development of computing, that is from the new capacities and endeavors made possible by computers. The topics that are typically addressed in textbooks, journals, and monographs include issues of professional ethics, privacy and surveillance, intellectual property, liability-accountability-responsibility, as well as particular types of computing such as data mining, search engines, modeling and simulation, virtual reality, online media, etc. This approach has been successful in drawing attention to issues and providing analysis that helps to better understand the issues and inform policy. Nevertheless, the approach has certain limitations that need to be addressed. When computer ethical issues are conceived as issues arising ‘around’ and ‘from’ computing, computers and computer systems themselves are hidden from the sights of computer ethics. Computer ethicists are left to address computer systems after they have been designed and appear at their doorsteps. This puts computer ethics in a reactive role and blocks the opportunity to be proactive and to address ethical issues at earlier stages in the development of computer systems. A focus on ethics ‘in’ computer technology is needed. Here computer systems would be understood to be value-laden, moral entities. In order to make this shift to ethics ‘in’ computer systems, two steps are necessary. First, computer technology must be understood to be not just machines and physical objects, but rather, to be socio-technical systems; computer systems are combinations of social practices, social relationships, social institutions, and artifacts. Second, computer ethics must be understood to include a focus on the design of computer systems. The implications of these two shifts call for a retooling of the field of computer ethics including a better understanding of socio-technical systems.
What’s So Cool About Working on Hot Technology?
Location: Golden West Conference Room
Panelists: Una O’Neill (CA), Jennifer Walker (Cisco), Debra Richardson (UCI), Laura Takacs (Goldman Sachs), Sihem Amer-Yahia (Yahoo!); Panel Moderator is Lucy Sanders (NCWIT)
One of the most exhilarating things about creating technology is the “aha!” moment when you solve the problem. Technology trends are always exciting, and ever changing. What is changing our lives today, often becomes obsolete as new trends emerge tomorrow. Come and hear from a number of technologists who are leading the technology trends in companies that affect your lives. Our panelists will describe technologies that are exciting in their diverse businesses, and tell you what they think will be hot in your lives tomorrow.
Split Session
Location: Royal Palm 1, 2 & 3
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EPIC Panel: “Hot, Hip, and from the Heart – Women Engaging Cyberinfrastructurespeak”
Panel: Stephenie McLean (Renaissance Computing Institute), Jennifer Teig Von Hoffman (Boston University), Maria Williams (University of New Mexico)
Young people are coming of age in a world that is being transformed by information technology. What will this new world be like and how might it transform our lives?
Cyberinfrastructure (CI) is a term recently coined by NSF to describe all the resources –software, hardware and other technologies, as well as human resources that support current and future developments in science and engineering. The panelists are leaders in the creation, development, and utilization of cyberinfrastructure with considerable experience and vision in bringing CI to new communities.
The panelists believe CI is hot and hip and they will speak from the heart about why they are engaged and how their activities have impacted their lives professionally and personally.
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Discovering the Nature of Life: an Overview of Bioinformatics
Presenter: Graciela Gonzalez, Arizona State University
Bioinformatics is the field of science in which biology, computer science, and information technology merge into a single discipline. This workshop is a journey through all these different areas and how they are being applied to advancing one of the last remaining quests for humanity: understanding the nature of life. The workshop will discuss tools and techniques available today.
