News from ACM-W Celebrations

The Michigan Celebration of Women in Computing Holds its Fifth Event

Contributed by Laura Dillon

On March 20th and 21st, over 220 women convened on the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor campus for the Fifth Michigan Celebration of Women in Computing (MICWiC 2015).  Geared primarily for undergraduate women in computing fields, the event was organized by women from nine Michigan colleges and universities and two Michigan-based companies.

The conference started on Friday, March 20th with a poster session, a banquet, and a keynote entitled “Talking to R2D2” by Dr. Joyce Chai from Michigan State University’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering. As stated by one attendee, “[Joyce] was clearly an expert in her field and displayed passion in her academic and out-of-work activities!”  Friday evening also featured two Birds of a Feather Sessions and speed interviewing.

The following day started with a keynote from Heidi Musser of USAA on leadership, diversity, innovation and transformation.  The talk was very well received. One student commented, “[Heidi’s] talk motivated me to not be afraid of the difficult tasks in the future. It was refreshing to not have to ‘be perfect’ as I feel I have to in classes a lot. The focus here was on learning and that was good and the way things should be.”

Saturday’s events also included several parallel panel sessions, lightening talks, a poster session and a session on outreach.  MICWiC 2015 concluded with a career fair that connected student attendees with several area employers.

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