CAHSI/SACNAS Conference

NMSU is one of the founding organizations of the Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (CAHSI). CAHSI's 6th Annual Meeting was held from October 12-14, 2012, in Seattle, WA, and YWiC research assistants got the opportunity to attend and represent NMSU. A really neat aspect of this year's meeting was that CAHSI integrated with the larger SACNAS conference!

What is CAHSI?

"The core purpose of the CAHSI is to create a unified voice in an effort to consolidate the strengths, resources, and concerns of CAHSI institutions that are committed to increase the number of Hispanics who pursue and complete baccalaureate and advanced degrees in computing areas. The core purpose provides the fundamental reason for the Alliance's existence while guiding and inspiring the organization. by working as a focused, unified group, CAHSI efforts have been deliberate and effective."

For more information about CAHSI, you can visit: http://cahsi.cs.utep.edu/ABOUT/AboutCAHSI/tabid/191/Default.aspx. 

What is SACNAS?
"The Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) is a society of scientists dedicated to fostering the success of  Hispanic/Chicano and Native American scientists—from college students to professionals—to attain advanced degrees, careers, and positions of leadership in science ... The goals and outcomes SACNAS hopes to achieve are: 

1. To increase the number of Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans with advanced degrees in science and the motivation to be leaders.
2. To increase the number of Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans in science research, leadership, and teaching careers at all levels.
3. To increase governmental commitment to advancing Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans in science resulting in increased resources, elimination of barriers, and greater equity."

For more information aboout SACNAS, you can visit: http://sacnas.org/about. 

NMSU goes to Seattle! 
The 2012 SACNAS/CAHSI Conference  had a record number of attendees - approximately 3,800! Three YWiC research assistants received scholarships from CAHSI to attend this conference, and proudly attended to represent the Young Women in Computing program and NMSU. For YWiC and NMSU this conference was not just about exploring new places. SACNAS/CAHSI was about making new contacts and networking with other outreach initiatives, and taking advantage of leadership workshops. 

Representing NMSU! 

CAHSI Symposium
The CAHSI Symposium took place before the SACNAS conference started. The day started off with breakfast and a keynote speech by Rosa Enciso Baca from Microsoft. Dr. Pontelli, YWiC's Program Director, gave a presentation outlining all of the outreach activities conducted by CAHSI institutions. 

Research assistant Tasha Nesiba had the opportunity to participate in the CAHSI Student Panel themed "Lessons Learned for Academic or Research Success". Panelists each had a turn to talk about their experiences as a student and share any tips they had learned along the way. 

If you want to check out the slides prepared for the panel by Tasha and Yolian, another CAHSI student on the panel, click HERE. 

Relevant workshops and sessions
This conference provided participants the opportunity to attend special sessions designed to inspire attendees. These sessions varied in content and included sessions featuring technical talks, leadership workshops, research presentations, and in-depth conversations with scientists.  

Over the course of the conference, YWiC members attended sessions including: 

• CAHSI Symposium
• Making New Contacts: Learning to Network Strategically
• Engaging Underrepresented Communities with Science Using Social Networking
• Making Our Voices Heard: Negotiating the Promises and Challenges of STEM Education for Historically Underrepresented Youth
• How Safe Are We From Cyberattacks: Protecting Our Infrastructure and Computers from Intruders
• Effectively Managing Conflict

Conference Speakers
Hugely influential in the success of SACNAS/CAHSI conferences are the keynote speakers and cultural programs. One speaker in particular stood out to our students: Dr. Steven Strogatz. 

"Dr. Steven Strogatz is the Jacob Gould Schurman professor of applied mathematics at Cornell University. A renowned teacher and one of the world's most highly cited mathematicians, he blogs about math for the New York Times and has been a frequent guest on National Public Radio's 'RadioLab'." Dr. Strogatz spoke candidly about past experiences and his journey to finding out what he wanted to accomplish in life, effectively inspiring the audience to pursue their intellectual passions. 

As part of their mission to create awareness and foster feelings of solidarity and community among all peoples, SACNAS and CAHSI incorporate the cultures and customs of people native to the conference site into the conference programming. This year, Native American tribes of the Pacific Northwest were prominently featured in all general conference keynote sessions, presenting Pendleton blankets to speakers at the conclusions of their presentations. Other cultural programs at the conference included:  

• Native American cultural presentation
• Pachanga on Friday evening
• Pow Wow on Saturday evening

To learn more about Dr. Strogatz, other keynote speakers, and more about the cultural programs presented at SACNAS/CAHSI please visit: http://sacnas.confex.com/sacnas/2012/webprogram/meeting.html#2012-10-11.

Out on the Town!
Seattle is an incredible city, featuring tastes and styles from unique and eclectic to urban and high profile. Of course we had to take some time out of our busy schedule to see the city and tour some of its most recognized points of interest including the Seattle Aquarium,  Pike's Place Market, Seattle Gum Wall, Space Needle, Pacific Science Center, and Original Starbucks!

King Tut Exhibit - Science Center

Seattle Aquarium

Our thoughts

"The CAHSI/SACNAS conference was so much fun! It was great to meet new people who are CAHSI members, and I loved learning about the different cultures of the region." - Tasha

"I really enjoyed listening to the keynote speeches, especially Dr. Steven Strogatz. I felt like the experience helped me grow both professionally and academically." - Janie







"Thanks CAHSI for providing me the funding to attend this wonderful conference!" - Jen

Bring on the Inspiration! #ghc12

For the 4th year in a row, YWiC participated in the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC) on October 3 - 6, 2012!

What is GHC?
"Inspired by the legacy of Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, the Anita Borg Institute's Grace Hopper Celebration is designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. It is the largest technical conference for women in computing and results in collaborative proposals, networking and mentoring for junior women and increased visibility for the contributors of women in computing. Conference presenters are leaders in their respective fields, representing industry, academia, and government. Top researchers present their work while special sessions focus on the role of women in today's technology fields." (http://gracehopper.org/2012/about/history-of-the-conference/)

NMSU goes to Baltimore! 
The 2012 GHC was held in Baltimore, MD, and had a record number of attendees - approximately 3600!  NMSU/YWiC proudly contributed to that number with 9 students and 1 staff member.

Top: Janie, Jen, Liz, Tasha, Nicole
Bottom: Becca, Steph, Alyssa, Sam, Noor

For YWiC, the conference is not just about having fun in a new city (even though there is always time for exploration). The group strives to make the most out of the conference, by networking with technical women and other outreach programs, attending inspirational keynote speeches, attending relevant workshops/sessions, and presenting YWiC research to share curricula and successful outreach methodologies.

GHC Student Poster Session
For the second year in a row, YWiC presented 2 posters in the student poster session. The abstracts for the posters were:

Young Women in Computing: Expanding Into a Multifaceted Outreach Program - The Young Women in Computing (YWiC) program began in 2006 as part of the National Science Foundation’s Broadening Participation in Computing grant. YWiC focuses on sparking middle school and high school women’s interest in technology fields. Over the past six years, the program has established a successful and sustainable outreach program. Building upon an initial five-week summer camp for high school females, the program has now become a multifaceted computer science community outreach program with a strong foundation in local school districts, as well as New Mexico State University (NMSU).
To view or download the entire poster click HERE.

LilyPad Arduino vs. App Inventor: Effects of Software Development Tools on Female Interest in Technology - Young Women in Computing (YWiC) is an outreach program at New Mexico State University targeting middle and high school females. The program’s latest project has been conducting a city-wide app programming competition for middle and high school students. Teams consist of 2 to 3 students, whose goal is to design a socially beneficial app using the Android platform. YWiC hopes to excite the students about possibilities in computer science, encourage collaboration, and provide them with tools to further their interests in technology. Research will focus on the impact of diversity within groups.
To view or download the entire poster click HERE.


The format of the poster session was pretty casual. Poster presenters spent the evening standing by their posters as conference attendees were free to circulate the area. YWiC research assistants received many interesting questions about their research and networked with other representatives from similar outreach initiatives.

Enjoying the poster session 

Poster session action shot!

Relevant workshops and sessions

GHC provided conference participants the opportunity to attend special sessions designed to inspire attendees. Over the course of the conference, YWiC members attended sessions including: 

• Are We There in Mentoring for Diversity?
• Recruiting and Retaining Women from Underrepresented Groups
• How to Get There: Secrets for Success, in the style of GLEE
• From Engineer to Executive: the Path Forward
• Student Organizations Supporting Women in Computing and Technology: Why & How?
• Tempering the Imposter Syndrome
• Women and Innovation
• Are We There Yet? Education and Innovation for Girls and Women
• Get There by Taking the Lead! NSF Funding Opportunities and Effective Proposal Writing Strategies

Keynote Takeaways

A large part of what makes GHC fabulous are the influential speakers. This year, the most inspirational speaker was Nora Denzel, a Technical Executive and Corporate Board Member for SABA and Overland Storage. 

Nora was an incredible speaker that captivated the audience with her humor and poise. Her 5 tips for women pursuing careers in computing included:

1. Things happen in your career for you, so you shouldn't think of your obstacles as obstacles. Studies have found that attitude is the best indicator of success. A positive good attitude can take you very far in both work and life.
2. It isn't what you know in your job, it's how fast you learn.
3. Act as if you're confident even if you don't always feel that way.
4. Control your career PR Agent... which is you. Control your own "press releases" and don't disclose your faults and limitations unnecessarily. You need to have confidence in yourself, so that others can have confidence in you. Nora said that "performance reviews are like frying bacon. When you're naked, you know it will hurt, you just don't know where". 
5. It takes a village. Make sure you have a network that you nurture. "It's not what you know and who you know. It's who knows that you know what you know".

To learn more about Nora and other GHC speakers visit: http://gracehopper.org/2012/conference/keynotes-plenary-sessions

Fun, fun, fun!

Career fairs don't always have to be boring. At GHC companies and organizations from industry, academia, and government put together fun activities at their booths. This year, Google had a photobooth which proved to be popular!

Baltimore is a beautiful city, so of course there was opportunity for exploration. YWiC/NMSU students took an evening off to explore the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore. Activities included shopping and dinner on the harbor! 

There is just something about shopping that brings people closer together :)

It is worth noting that Baltimore was the site of the first ever YWiC worst outfit contest! The goal was to go into a store and find the worst combination of clothes to try on. It was a blast!

Worst Outfit Contest winner!

Hear from the students

After the conference, students were asked to say a little bit about what they learned or took away from GHC. It shows what a difference GHC makes for students!

"I've learned that lots of progress has been made towards accomplishing the goal of getting women and minorities into C-STEM fields, but we still have a long way to go before this goal is achieved." - Jen

"At conferences like the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, networking is essential and also happens to be super fun!"  - Janie

"This year was the best! First, I was prepared to talk to companies and network with others. Second, I had a blast with all of the YWiC gals. :) I was proud to be one of the 3,600 technical women attending"  - Noor

"This was my favorite GHC yet. There was great opportunity for networking with others. I had the chance to have several job interviews / assessments, and I left with good leads for my future!"  - Nicole

"This year was a great networking opportunity for me. I was able to meet new people that I will probably be working with in the future, and also people from different companies that are really interesting."  - Liz

"GHC never disappoints me. Every year the conference gets bigger and better, and I love it! It allows me to make new connections and grow my professional network. I wholeheartedly believe in the advancement of women in technology, and it is a wonderful experience being surrounded with so many technical women who believe the same. The powerful speakers, awesome sessions, and wonderful people make it an experience that sends me back to school with tons of inspiration to share!"  - Tasha

"Once again, GHC has inspired me to become a better woman in computing.  Not only did I learn about various topics in the informative sessions, but I was able to network with other women in IT from around the world." - Sam

The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing has always been a favorite of YWiC. We cannot wait until next year! To see more photos from YWiC's GHC experience check out:  http://bit.ly/R3mJHP 

First Roadshows of the Semester!!

Last week YWIC held four consecutive PicoCricket roadshows. It was a fantastic start to our roadshow season and we couldn't have asked for better students! This post will outline how YWiC conducts roadshows for middle school students. 

What is a roadshow? 

Roadshows have been the foundation for all of YWiC’s work with middle school students. They are presentations to students and are comprised of three parts: 

1. Raising awareness of the diversity and possibilities offered by the field of computing
2. Educating students in concepts of algorithmic design 
3. A hands-on project where concepts are put into practice 

Yay, computer science! 

Who conducts the roadshows?

YWiC has found that students are more engaged and are more comfortable asking questions when presentations are given by YWiC undergraduate research assistants. The research assistants serve as near-peer role models and mentors to the students.

YWiC research assistants - "We love roadshows!"

Everyone was interactive and we loved it.

What is the roadshow curriculum?

During the project phase of the roadshow, students are taught how to use PicoCricket Robotics. The PicoCricket kit includes small hardware pieces, sensors, lights, speaker, motor, and others. 

After introducing all of the pieces and their functions, the students build a base robot from the components.

Once the robot is built, we proceed to teach the student what it takes to program the PicoCrickets using PicoBlocks - the IDE. PicoBlocks is a great tool for students at this level, because all of the programming is drag-and-drop style. 

Teaching PicoBlocks! This is what a roadshow looks like on our end. 

The programming curriculum for this roadshow consisted of learning how to:

• use a light sensor or a sound sensor to power the motor of the PicoCricket
• use a display to show the value of light/sounds measured by the sensor 
• set an LED light color based on the amount of light/sound measured

What makes roadshows extra fun for students?

Not only do students get to experiment with programming hardware pieces, they get to add a creative element to their PicoCricket. YWiC provides students with the opportunity to use arts and crafts to spice up or make their project "prettier". 

Arts and crafts supplies provided.

Students always make the cutest arts and crafts figures!

The PicoCricket kit also includes Lego pieces - students are also fond of these. 

We had some awesome projects at the end of every session!

Its a dump truck!

Saturn!

Roadshow statistics!

Our first roadshows were a great success! We held four sessions for students from Snell Middle School, Vista Middle School, Deming Middle School, and Lynn Middle School. At the end of the day,  we had worked with over 100 students. We loved it and the students loved it - nothing gets better than that! :) 

Meet the YWiC Team!

YWiC has come a long way since 2006! Of course, the program hasn't expanded on its own. A program director, a couple of program coordinators, and six undergraduate research assistants make up the fabulous YWiC team that has driven the program to success! Each individual contributes great energy and ideas toward the overall goals of the program, so it's worth mentioning a little bit about each person!

Dr. Pontelli

Dr. Enrico Pontelli is the program director for Young Women in Computing, as well as the head of the Computer Science Department at New Mexico State University. He is the PI on the NSF grant that funds YWiC, along with several other members of the faculty and staff in NMSU Computer Science. Dr. Pontelli received a Laurea (Bachelors) in Computer Science University of Udine, a Masters Degree in Computer Science in from University of Houston, and a PhD in Computer Science from New Mexico State University.



Becca Galves


Becca earned her BA in Geography from Colgate University, and her MBA from NMSU. While earning her graduate degree, she was a Learning Specialist with what is now SSS-Hardman. She spent nine years coordinating academic support avenues with our fabulous Aggie student-athletes. Her job entails scheduling and helping at the community outreach events in Middle Schools and High Schools, promoting and assisting in scheduling the monthly Speaker Series, coordinating communication with awareness, and help increase publicity for all assests of the program.



Rachel Jensen


Rachel has been working with YWiC since its first summer camp in 2006. In 2007, she became a program coordinator. She earned her undergraduate degree in business administration from Easter New Mexico University in 2006, then her MBA in 2007. Her job entails coordinating the various outreach programs under the YWiC umbrella which include: our speaker series on prominent women in computer science, middle and high school outreach, Botball, conference opportunities, tutoring, summer programs etc. She loves spending time with her family: wonderful husband Weston, baby boy Nolan and newborn Baylee.



Janie Chen

Janie is an undergraduate research assistant with YWiC. She started working for the program in Spring 2010, and is a senior majoring in Information System. Janie participated in compiling research from past years to put into technical posters, which were presented at the 2010 and 2011 Grace Hopper Celebrations of Women in Computing, and the 2011 Richard Tapia Conference. Since 2011, she has also been involved in teaching and assisting YWiC's annual summer camps for middle school and high school females. In her spare time she likes longboarding, and camping.



Jen Dana

Jen is an undergraduate research assistant with YWiC at NMSU. She is majoring in Criminal Justice and minoring in Computer Systems. Jen participates in various activities, specializing in the areas of leadership, communication, and middle and high school outreach programs to increase female interest in STEM-C fields. Jen attended the 2010 and 2011 Grace Hopper Celebration's of Women in Computing with YWiC, first as a student participant and then as a poster presenter and scholarship recipient in 2011. In her spare time Jen enjoys hiking and longboarding with her crew.






Stephanie Marquez

Stephanie is an undergraduate research assistant with the Young Women in Computing program at New Mexico State University. She began working with YWiC in the Spring of 2010 as a freshman, and is currently a senior majoring in Business Computer Information Systems (BCIS). Recently, she spent a summer interning with GE Healthcare in the ITLP (Information Technology Leadership Program). Stephanie has worked as an assistant instructor in YWiC summer camps, teaching LilyPad Arduino and Alice. She was a poster presenter at the 2010 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, and a poster presenter and scholarship recipient at the 2011 Celebration. In her spare time Stephanie likes reading and spending time with her family.



Tasha Nesiba


Tasha is a junior at New Mexico State University majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Mathematics. She was hired as a YWiC research assistant in Fall 2009 in her senior year of high school. Tasha assists with YWiC community outreach activities, presentations, and workshops. One of her main focuses is maintaining and updating the program's website and developing graphic design elements for promotional materials. She has spent the last three summers interning at Google, most recently developing with the Google+ team. Tasha is a big fan of Google, Nike, Desperate Housewives, and anything sports related.



Alyssa Soliz

Alyssa is an undergraduate research assistant for YWiC. She is a junior at New Mexico State University and is majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Mathematics. She attended the YWiC summer camp in 2007 and recently joined the staff in 2011. She is involved in YWiC’s outreach activities, PicoCricket workshops, and summer camps. In 2011, Alyssa attended the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing along with many other wonderful women from the YWiC program. In her spare time, she enjoys taking her dog, Monster, for walks and baking for her friends.

Nicole Ray

Nicole is an undergraduate research assistant with Young Women in Computing. She is a senior at New Mexico State University majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Mathematics. She participated in the first two YWiC Summer Camp in 2006 and 2007, then returned in 2008 as a classroom assistant, and has worked as a research assistant ever since. During the 2010 Spring semester she studied abroad in England and did charity work in both Turkey and Indonesia. In her spare time, she fills several leadership roles in her church college group and enjoys cinematography, guitar, longboarding, and many different sports.