Tech-minded women invited to panel, networking event


Women interested in computer science careers are invited to a networking event at 6:30 p.m., Dec. 10, in the University Club at Arizona State University in Tempe.

The event is an inaugural gathering for Women Who Code, which has just launched a chapter in Phoenix. Hosted by several ASU professors, it will feature a short panel discussion by women who use computers prominently in their research.

The event will include refreshments and a raffle for a Samsung tablet. RSVP by Dec. 1 to saadia.khan@asu.edu.

Women Who Code (WWC) is a global nonprofit dedicated to providing women an avenue into technology careers, empowering them with skills needed for professional advancement and providing environments for networking and mentoring.

"We hope to draw faculty members and graduate students who use technology deeply, and also those who want to be mentors," says Mina Johnson-Glenberg, director of the ASU Embodied Games for Learning Lab. "Participation in computer science by women has declined over the past two decades. Women have a different voice, a different way of looking at the world, and we need them to create a different kind of software product. Half of the consumer base is female."

Panelists will include Johnson-Glenberg, whose team creates embodied games to teach fourth- through 16th-grade students about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM); Erin Walker, assistant professor in the School of Computing, Informatics and Decision Systems Engineering, who uses technology to develop intelligent tutoring systems for applications ranging from robotic learning environments to dual language learning iPad apps; Tahnja Wilson of ASU Online; and Danielle McNamara, senior research scientist in the Learning Sciences Institute, who is developing technologies for natural language processing and game-based intelligent tutoring systems for learning comprehension and writing strategies.