None

When I woke up Tuesday morning, it felt like an ordinary day. There were no indications of the amazing time I was going to have for the next two days. When I got to work that morning, I knew I would be attending a Google Reception but I didn&rsquo;t know how amazing it would be. That day I met up with my fellow Aspirations Alum&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/veronica.wharton?directed_target_id=0">Veronica</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/krista.holden.1?directed_target_id=0">Krista</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/kwbartel?directed_target_id=0">Katie</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/kirsi.kuutti.7?directed_target_id=0">Kirsi</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/angelika.modawal?directed_target_id=0">Angelika</a>&nbsp;and we headed over to the Google Office in Washington, DC. When we arrived, we were greeted by security and casually directed upstairs to the event. Stepping out of the elevator, I was introduced to a rush of color and intricate design - Google is both beautiful and captivating! Primary colors surround you in a beautiful flow of blue, red and yellow and splashes of green. The floor is like a canvas, and the furniture is the essence.We signed in and entered the conference room. Now I have seen a few conference rooms, but none of the chairs have looked as comfortable as the Google chairs! Glancing away from the stage, I made my way towards a group of adults deep in conversation and they greeted me affably. They were both engaging and a bit obstinate in their own way. I have realized that you should never shy away from a conversation. If you speak your mind and your intentions are pure, then people will intently listen.This week I have been analyzing the process of networking. While some adolescents do not comprehend the potential benefits of proper networking, it leaves great opportunities for those who do. When networking, there are many different tactics to create a memorable impression. Initially, I ordered personal business cards. I may not have a permanent job but I was able to personalize my cards so that everyone walked away with a better understanding of who I am and what my aspirations are. Networking seems complicated at first glance, but more than that, it is intricate. It is not intricate due to the level interaction but rather due to the mannerisms. While networking, I tend to ask certain questions:<ul><li>Who are they and what do they do?</li><li>How can I aide in their aspirations</li><li>How can they aide in my aspirations</li></ul>While seemingly direct, I elaborated each question in a way that was specific to the conversation. Elaborating the conversation is extremely important because you tend to remember the tiny details, which can be utilized in the future. After collecting business cards from Google representatives, technology advocates, government positions, privates startups, etcetera, I began to write thank you emails. This is why it is important that I had personal conversations.&nbsp; While writing my emails, I am able to include parts of personal conversations, which make me memorable. Call me a geek but I believe networking was the most important part of my experience.Google was amazing but the White House does not compare. The Facebook event was enriching and I proudly departed with my giant stack of business cards. In my philosophy, opportunities breed connections, but in this never-ending cycle, connections introduce new opportunities. An experience becomes a memory, but a connection remains forever.

Networking is to People as Water is to Fish

<ul><li>“[I]t’s the ups and downs that make (coding) so much fun… and it gives me a place to solve problems and use creative ideas to come up with a solution.” // AiC Community Member Arianna Martinelli shares what inspired her to explore technology, as well as some memorable experiences along the way, in <a href="https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/education/2021/05/14/sacred-heart-teen-earns-national-award-for-aspirations-in-computing/4938220001/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">this profile</a>.</li><li>“You have to hold yourself accountable, and only those who hold themselves accountable will succeed.” // In <a href="https://www.tucsonlocalmedia.com/news/marana/article_2015e718-b19a-11eb-86d7-0b72d4e21426.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">this article</a>, AiC Community Member Pamela Galindo reflects on lessons learned from navigating the unusual circumstances of attending high school during a pandemic, and how some of those skills helped her become valedictorian of her graduating class.&nbsp;</li><li>As part of her Girl Scouts Gold Award project, AiC Community Member Maleah Brady designed a coding workshop with support from AspireIT. Students in the class made microbit name tags, light-up bookmarks,3D models of haunted houses, and more. Get the story in <a href="https://vestaviavoice.com/news/code-to-success-vhhs-junior-teaches-computer-science-to-girl/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">this article</a>.</li><li>“Hands-on training...is really crucial for me because I learn best when I’m doing things, instead of just reading them out of a textbook.” // AiC Community Member Sarah Schackel shares about her tech journey and how she’s preparing for a career in cybersecurity in <a href="https://connectedtech.org/blog/student-feature-sarah-schackel-of-waukesha-county-technical-college/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=student-feature-sarah-schackel-of-waukesha-county-technical-college" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">this video profile</a>.&nbsp;</li></ul>May ShoutoutsWe were excited to spot these AiC Community Members receiving recognition in their local news outlets this month: <a href="https://theislandnow.com/school-news/manhasset-sn/herricks-high-school-announces-2021-valedictorian-salutatorian/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rhea Rasquinha</a>; <a href="https://hooversun.com/schools/rc3-s-pam-mcclendon-named-sweet-16-finalist-for-2021-22-alab/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pam McClendon</a>; <a href="https://www.hometownsource.com/press_and_news/free/osseo-senior-high-student-earns-rising-star-computing-technology-award/article_bcbe5db8-a85b-11eb-ac67-d7003cb9faf2.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Amber McGee</a>; <a href="https://www.hhh.k12.ny.us/district/news/news-post/~board/news/post/easts-elizabeth-moon-receives-ncwit-award-for-aspirations-in-computing" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Elizabeth Moon</a>; <a href="https://www.tampabay.com/news/hillsborough/2021/05/19/academy-of-the-holy-names-tribune-scholars-profiles-and-essays/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Danielle J. Fonsing</a>; <a href="https://www.whmi.com/news/article/hartland-computer-science-student-recognized-for-breaking-traditions" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Camryn Ihrke</a>; <a href="https://alltogether.swe.org/2021/05/meet-dr-tracy-nguyen/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tracy Nguyen</a>; <a href="https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/541696503/sirihaasa-nallamothu-awarded-explorer-scholarship-from-aspire2steam-org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sirihaasa Nallamothu</a>; <a href="https://www.otmj.com/mcclendon-state-teacher-of-the-year/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pam McClendon</a>; <a href="https://themadisonrecord.com/2021/05/18/grace-hurs-talent-earns-computer-science-award-from-womens-technology-center/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Grace Hur</a>; <a href="https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/pomerado-news/news/schools/story/2021-05-06/poway-high-students-honored-for-engineering-work" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">May He, Madalyn Nguyen, Rosamaria Flores, and Isabel Vargas</a>; <a href="https://www.nkytribune.com/2021/05/national-center-for-women-information-technology-honors-three-local-award-winners/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ayushe Nagpal, Mina Ryumae, and Jillian Maher</a>; <a href="https://www.independentnews.com/news/amador-valley-students-awarded-for-aspirations-in-computing/article_fab29f16-ba45-11eb-8214-e3fe0b8c8317.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nitya Ayyagari, Hiya Shah, Suhani Singhal, and Deanna Wood</a>; and <a href="https://www.hubcityspokes.com/schools-state/mississippi-girls-aspire-reach-goals-computing-scholarships#sthash.Lbvo6M9Z.dpbs" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">44 students from across Mississippi</a>.

AiC Members In the News (May 2021)

<ul>
		
		<li>“I work to advocate for my students, to learn about their interests and learning needs, and try to push and motivate them while working with all stakeholders to help students be successful academically, socially, and emotionally.” // Get to know 2019 AiC Educator Award Recipient <a href="https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/lifestyle/people/story/2021-07-03/award-winning-stem-teacher-shows-her-students-how-subjects-apply-to-their-lives" target="_blank">Khamphet “Phet” Pease</a> in this interview.</li>
		
		<li>“I can say that without a doubt, Computer Science education in Las Cruces Public Schools would not be anywhere near where we are today without Melody championing this cause.” // This <a href="https://www.kfoxtv.com/news/local/las-cruces-computer-science-teachers-gains-national-recognition-for-education-efforts" target="_blank">profile</a> honors 2021 National Educator Award Recipient Melody Hagaman and celebrates her contributions to inclusive computing in her district.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
	
	</ul>
	
	 
	
	June and July Shoutouts
	
	School may be out for the summer, but AiC Community members haven’t stopped achieving! We spotted these students and educators being recognized by their local news: <a href="https://therecordnewspaper.org/sacred-heart-academy-students-win-national-awards/" target="_blank">Arianna Martinelli</a>; <a href="https://www.koin.com/news/oregon/lakeridge-hs-student-wins-national-computing-award/" target="_blank">Pauline Petersen</a>; <a href="https://www.thejournalnj.com/articles/shachi-benara-wins-a-2021-ncwit-award-for-aspirations-in-computing/" target="_blank">Shachi Benara</a>; <a href="https://patch.com/connecticut/vernon/2021-valedictorian-salutatorian-named-rockville-high-school" target="_blank">Emma Blanchet</a>; <a href="https://helenair.com/news/education/chs-prepares-students-for-dramatically-different-paths/article_f58d3d53-8e33-50b3-a167-53c7c389fbbe.html" target="_blank">Sarah Heller</a>; <a href="https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/caltech-undergrad-wins-dual-computer-science-awards" target="_blank">Laura Lewis</a>; <a href="https://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/local/gwinnett-teacher-honored-for-encouraging-students-to-explore-computer-science-and-technology/article_04d8788c-c86d-11eb-979f-c32e71c5bb95.html" target="_blank">Philip Peavey</a>; <a href="https://themadisonrecord.com/2021/06/08/governor-recognizes-aparna-bhooshanan-for-national-commendation/" target="_blank">Aparna Bhooshanan</a>; <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/professor-margaret-martonosi-to-receive-prestigious-2021-eckert-mauchly-award-301307027.html" target="_blank">Margaret Martonosi</a>; <a href="https://news.uark.edu/articles/57054/u-of-a-honors-college-announces-2021-bodenhamer-fellows" target="_blank">Ananya Vangoor</a>; <a href="https://www.newportri.com/story/news/education/graduation/2021/06/11/class-2021-rogers-high-school-top-10-students/7621242002/" target="_blank">Maggie Coen</a>; <a href="https://lascrucestoday.com/centennial-high-school-teacher-recipient-of-the-2021-ncwit-national-aspirations-in-computing-educator-award/" target="_blank">Melody Hagaman</a> (and <a href="https://www.ktsm.com/local/las-cruces-news/centennial-high-school-teacher-earns-2021-tech-group-award/" target="_blank">here</a>); <a href="https://www.nola.com/news/communities/crescent_city/article_1d9317ce-bff8-11eb-84b0-4f4df7d7df15.html" target="_blank">Paean Luby</a>; and <a href="https://www.rgj.com/story/opinion/columnists/2021/06/17/thank-you-washoe-county-school-district-mike-kazmierski/7722003002/" target="_blank">Leigh Metcalfe and Abbygail Nerger</a>.

AiC Members In the News (June/July 2021)

<img src="https://ncwit-aspirations-service-stage-public.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/aic_educatorawardevent_banner.png" alt="Educator Award Virtual Event Banner">&nbsp;
	
	<img src="https://ncwit-aspirations-service-stage-public.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/aic_educatorawardevent_circlethumb.png" alt="Award Circle thumb" style="float: right;" >Join the National Center for Women &amp; Information Technology (NCWIT) in celebrating the 2021 NCWIT Aspirations in Computing (AiC) Educator Award recipients on August 25! NCWIT is thrilled to bring together&nbsp;ALL&nbsp;2021&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aspirations.org/award-programs/aic-educator-award" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NCWIT AiC Educator Award</a> recipients and student endorsers to celebrate the phenomenal work of informal and formal educators who encourage aspiring technologists in tech and computing. In addition to the celebration, we will engage in insightful discussion as we hear from leaders in Computer Science education and delve deeper into racial and gender justice, so we can all reflect and improve upon our inclusive practices.
	
	<h2>Wednesday, August 25, 2021 for 60 minutes, starting at 
5 p.m. PST // 6 p.m. MST // 7 p.m. CST // 8 p.m. EST</h2>
	
	<h4>Register</h4>
	
	To attend, <a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9jaaQ3RtTcKJv6mb34OWzw" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">register on Zoom</a>.
	
	<h4>Speakers</h4>
	
	<ul>
		<li>Keynote Speaker: <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/sociology/jax-j-gonzalez" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" >Jax Gonzalez</a></li>
		
		<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/miriamcy/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" >Miriam Ynocencio</a>, Director, Design Thinking Practice Lead, AT&amp;T</li>
		
		<li><a href="https://ncwit.org/profile/terry-hogan-2/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" >Terry Hogan</a>, President and CTO, NCWIT</li>
		
		<li>Featuring <a href="/announcing-the-2021-ncwit-national-aic-educator-award-recipients" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" >2021 NCWIT National AiC Educator Award Recipients</a>: Angela DeHart, Melody Hagaman, and Philip Peavy</li>
	
	</ul>
	
	<h4>AiC Educator Resources</h4>
	
	<ul>
		
		<li>Explore <a href="/affiliate-toolkit/aic-educator-resources" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">this list of NCWIT resources</a> for ways to engage underrepresented students, to enrich computing education by integrating computing skills into existing curricula, and more: <a href="/affiliate-toolkit/aic-educator-resources" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" >www.aspirations.org/aic-educator-resources</a>.</li>
	
	</ul>
	
	<h4>Psst. Did you know that applications for the 2022 Award for Aspirations in Computing open on September 1, 2021? We hope you will consider encouraging a <a href="https://forms.gle/eE6ZKUiRTFKLQxfE9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" >student</a> or <a href="https://forms.gle/eE6ZKUiRTFKLQxfE9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" >educator</a> to apply now!</h4>
	
	&nbsp;
	
	The AiC Educator Award is sponsored by AT&amp;T.

2021 Aspirations in Computing Educator Award Virtual Event

<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://ncwit-aspirations-service-stage-public.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/2021_aic_collegiateevent_registrationwebpagebanner2.jpg" alt="Virtual Event Banner">&nbsp;<h3>Selected from more than 150 applicants, the <a href="/2021-ncwit-collegiate-award-recipients-announced" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">18 Winners and Honorable Mentions</a> are excited to share their expertise around six innovative topics related to computing and technology.</h3>&nbsp;<img src="https://ncwit-aspirations-service-stage-public.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/2021_collegiatephotogrid.jpg" alt="Photos of Recipients">&nbsp;<h2>Thursday, June 3, 2021</h2><h2>6:00 p.m. - 7:10 p.m. EDT</h2></div>

<h3>Event Recording</h3>
Coming soon!


<h3>Event Agenda</h3>
NCWIT Collegiate Award recipients and discussants engaged in conversation with additional event participants. Participants were able to attend two rounds of breakout sessions and select one of three topics each round.
<div align="center"><table style="width:75%"><tbody><tr bgcolor="#b3d9f3"><td style="width:30%">6:00-6:02 p.m. ET</td><td style="width:70%">Welcome</td></tr><tr bgcolor="#f6f8fc"><td style="width:30%">6:02-6:07 p.m. ET</td><td style="width:70%">Congratulatory Remarks from Terry Hogan, NCWIT President &amp; CTO</td></tr><tr bgcolor="#b3d9f3"><td style="width:30%">6:07-6:10 p.m. ET</td><td style="width:70%">Transition to Breakout Session A</td></tr><tr bgcolor="#f6f8fc"><td style="width:30%">6:10-6:35 p.m. ET</td><td style="width:70%"><div>Breakout Session A</div><ul><li style="margin-left: 40px;">Bioinformatics</li><li style="margin-left: 40px;">Big Data &amp; Quantum Computing</li><li style="margin-left: 40px;">Computer Systems and Networks</li></ul></td></tr><tr bgcolor="#b3d9f3"><td style="width:30%">6:35-6:40 p.m. ET</td><td style="width:70%">Transition to Breakout Session B</td></tr><tr bgcolor="#f6f8fc"><td style="width:30%">6:40-7:05 p.m. ET</td><td style="width:70%"><div>Breakout Session B</div><ul><li style="margin-left: 40px;">Computer Vision and Robotics</li><li style="margin-left: 40px;">Natural Language Processing</li><li style="margin-left: 40px;">Social Impact &amp; AI</li></ul></td></tr><tr bgcolor="#b3d9f3"><td style="width:30%">7:05-7:10 p.m. ET</td><td style="width:70%">Closing Remarks</td></tr></tbody></table></div>

<h3>Additional Information</h3>
<ul>
	<li>Download the program: (<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QDH08PePb7fq7uD6OYa91GcMr3G_oSeY/view?usp=sharing">PDF</a>).</li>
	<li>Please submit any questions to: <a href="mailto:aichelp@ncwit.org?subject=Inquiry%20re%3A%20the%202020%20Aspirations%20in%20Computing%20Virtual%20Award%20Event" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">aichelp@ncwit.org</a>.</li>
</ul>

<h3>2021 Collegiate Award Recipient Videos</h3>
Watch the award winning students speak about their projects and what's next for them below:
<ul>
	<li>Freshmen/Sophomore/Two-Year Institution Award Recipients (<a href="https://vimeo.com/555341463" target="_blank">View Video</a>)</li>
	<li>Junior/Senior Award Recipients (<a href="https://vimeo.com/555341840" target="_blank">View Video</a>)</li>
	<li>Graduate Award Recipients (<a href="https://vimeo.com/555342248" target="_blank">View Video</a>)</li>
</ul>

2021 NCWIT Collegiate Award Showcase

When she was in the sixth grade, AiC Community Member Baylee Herman was already designing technical solutions for agricultural challenges, including a wireless system for monitoring her pig’s feed and water. Since then, as <a href="https://www.fairfieldsuntimes.com/school/school_news/simms-high-school-10th-grader-baylee-herman-earns-recognition-for-it-projects/article_dbcaac1c-a459-11eb-b74b-bf44024c21d9.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">her local newspaper</a> reports, “[s]he has provided sensors and code for both the local water users association and local irrigation company.” She also “upgraded a local farmer’s center pivot control system by adding monitors and alerts to it and has prototypes for compost and grain bin temperature sensors in the works.”We also spotted these AiC Community members making headlines in their local news this month: <a href="https://news.syr.edu/blog/2021/04/15/breitbeck-storino-named-class-of-2022-senior-class-marshals/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ava Breitbeck</a>; <a href="https://www.hamilton.k12.wi.us/news-releases/2021/04/hamilton-senior-wins-state-computing-award/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Madeline Tharp</a>; <a href="https://www.seeleylake.com/story/2021/04/22/news/sshs-junior-recognized-for-computing-aspirations/7273.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Aspen Derry</a>; <a href="https://natchitochesparishjournal.com/2021/04/22/sanjeetha-peters-receives-ncwit-aspirations-in-computing-aic-educator-award/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sanjeetha Peters</a>; <a href="https://news.fiu.edu/2021/fiu-graduates-celebrate-real-triumphs-at-first-in-person-commencement-since-pandemic-began" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Patricia Garcia</a>; <a href="https://patch.com/colorado/littleton/littleton-6-school-district-hhss-mike-rudolph-wins-2021-ncwit-aspirations" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Educator Mike Rudolph and four students from Littleton, Colorado</a>; <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/04/26/2217154/0/en/INTERalliance-Celebrates-Community-Members-for-Receiving-2021-NCWIT-Awards.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ayushe Nagpal and Mina Ryumae; Jillian Maher</a>; <a href="https://www.media.mit.edu/posts/farita-tasnim-chosen-as-a-winner-of-2021-ncwit-award/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Farita Tasnim</a>; <a href="https://jgpr.net/2021/04/28/oyster-river-high-school-student-receives-national-award-in-computing/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kelly Zhang</a>; <a href="https://www.sidneyherald.com/news/montana-recognizes-17-high-school-women-for-computing-achievements/article_30071132-9981-11eb-aab5-27baae284dc4.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">17 students from Montana</a>; <a href="https://miamilaker.com/News-Article/spartans-win-computer-achievement-awards" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">three students from Miami Lakes, Florida</a>; <a href="https://www.fortsmithschools.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&amp;DomainID=3967&amp;ModuleInstanceID=39&amp;ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&amp;RenderLoc=0&amp;FlexDataID=103674&amp;PageID=6960" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">four students from Fort Smith, Arkansas</a>; and <a href="https://www.usm.edu/news/2021/release/computing-awards-winners.php" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">16 students from Mississippi</a>.

AiC Members In the News (April 2021)

&nbsp;
	
	<img src="https://ncwit-aspirations-service-stage-public.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ncwit_nationalaiceducatoraward_webgraphic.png" style="width: 250px; float: right;" alt="National AiC Educator Award">The  National NCWIT Aspirations in Computing (AiC) Educator Award elevates one or more educators whose work exemplifies the best of the AiC Educator Award. The Award identifies outstanding formal and informal educators who play a pivotal role in encouraging 9th-12th grade students who self-identify as women, genderqueer, or non-binary to explore their interest in computing and technology. The award also recognizes these educators for their efforts to promote gender equity in computing.
	
	In its fourth year running, NCWIT is pleased to announce the 2021 National NCWIT AiC Educator Award recipients: Angela DeHart, Melody Hagaman, and Philip Peavy. Read their full commendations below.
	
	The National AiC Educator Award is sponsored by AT&amp;T.
	
	<h2>Angela DeHart</h2>
	
	<img src="https://ncwit-aspirations-service-stage-public.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/2021_natedaward_angeladehart.png" alt="Angela DeHart Circle thumb" style="width: 250px; float: right;">Angela DeHart leads the STEM Impressionists (SIP) program in Ashburn, Virginia. In this program, which she founded while working as a middle school teacher, participants create events and activities that allow them to form partnerships and reach out to younger students from underrepresented groups at the elementary and middle school levels. SIP projects have included hackathons, micro:bit workshops, and a cross-national collaboration with Code Tigers, a STEM organization located in New Delhi, India. DeHart says, “Most of my work as a facilitator comes from listening to kids talk, learning, and supporting them at the intersection of where they can/need to grow and [where] I have the experience [and] skills to help them. Any gaps are filled by partnering with others.”
	
	One of the tenets that DeHart has woven into the foundations of the SIP program is, “When you teach, you learn material at a deeper level.” Another is that “diversity creates better, more inclusive decisions.” From putting student accomplishments on display to bringing students with her to co-present at national STEM events, DeHart strives to give her students opportunities to share their knowledge. She is also committed to ensuring that students of color have greater access to diverse technical role models. “When I go to STEM events,” she says, “I am the ‘only one’ or one of very few people of color in the room. We need to change that reality. It matters to the millions of Black and Brown students that are in school and love to nerd out on STEM. They need to see more examples of how they, too, can be a STEM expert, can enter the field of computer science, and not be alone.”
	
	<h2>Melody Hagaman</h2>
	
	<img src="https://ncwit-aspirations-service-stage-public.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/2021_natedaward_melodyhagaman.png" alt="Melody Hagaman Photo" style="width: 250px; float: right;" >
	
	Melody Hagaman teaches computer science for grades nine through twelve at Centennial High School in Las Cruces, New Mexico. When she started the computer science program at her school, it consisted of a single, advanced class with content dictated by the state. However, many of her students struggled with jumping into a dual-credit course as their first taste of computer science, due to learning disabilities, language barriers, or other obstacles. This motivated her to negotiate for the opportunity to create an introductory course that would be accessible to more students with diverse backgrounds, support needs, and experience levels. In the nine years since then, the program has developed into a full five-course computer science pathway.
	
	Hagaman developed creative recruitment and outreach events, such as interactive presentations in freshman classes, to educate students from underrepresented groups about opportunities in coding. After attending the Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing, Hagaman was inspired to develop an eTextiles course to recruit a broader range of students, even traveling to Austria to receive training. “Every aspect of eTextiles,” she observes, “teaches computer science through the lens of fashion design as an alternative to the traditional game or app-based curricula generally utilized by introductory-level programming courses. eTextiles has dramatically shifted demographics in my program, with more girls, students who are BIPOC, and students with special needs going on to continue studying computer science in my school and in college.” For the past ten years, Hagaman has facilitated equity-based, cross-curricular professional development for computing educators at the national level through Project GUTS and Tapestry.
	
	<h2>Philip Peavy</h2>
	
	<img src="https://ncwit-aspirations-service-stage-public.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/2021_natedaward_philippeavy.png" alt="Philip Peavy Circle thumb" style="width: 250px; float: right;" >Philip Peavy is a computer science teacher at Paul Duke STEM High School in Norcross, Georgia, where he specializes in teaching cybersecurity and game design. A strong advocate of making STEM and computer science opportunities available to all students, he expanded his school’s CyberPatriot club from having one female member to having two all-female competitive teams. Realizing that high school cybersecurity programs are often restricted to top-achieving students (when they are available at all), Peavy developed a cybersecurity curriculum that is designed to be accessible for all students. He uses a culturally responsive, project-based learning approach in his classes, in which students work on real problems that they want to fix in their community, and then present their findings. This helps students enjoy the process and want to keep learning, because, as Peavy says, “it applies to their lives.”
	
	Peavy is also helping to expand access to computing programs for all learners by offering professional development for other teachers. He started a computer science certification preparation program in his district, which has helped more than 20 educators become computer science certified. He also creates resources for teaching game design content and supports other teachers in helping their students become certified game developers. He has presented at several national conferences on how to create a cybersecurity pathway in any school or district. “The biggest thing I have learned,” he says, “is to build relationships with the students and show students they can be successful.”
	
	&nbsp;

Announcing the 2021 NCWIT National AiC Educator Award Recipients

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	<img src="https://ncwit-aspirations-service-stage-public.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/2021_aic_allawardevent_zoombanner2.png" alt="Award for AiC Virtual Event Banner">
	
	The National Center for Women &amp; Information Technology (NCWIT) is excited to present the 2021 Award for Aspirations in Computing (AiC) virtual event, celebrating ALL recipients. With some help from influential professionals in tech, and former award recipients, we are thrilled to connect and engage with all of the new recipients, as we welcome them into the AiC Community.
	
	&nbsp;
	
	<div align="center"><iframe class="ql-video ql-align-center" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/goEYrrK1lp0" height="315" width="560"></iframe></div>
	
	
<div align="center"><h2>Saturday, June 5, 2021 
	4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. EDT</h2></div>
	
	<h4>How To Join</h4>
	
	If you are a 2021 Award for AiC recipient, check your email⁠ – you received an invitation to register there. If you cannot find the email, reach out to <a href="mailto:aichelp@ncwit.org?subject=Inquiry%20re%3A%202020%20AiC%20Virtual%20Award%20Event" target="_blank">aichelp@ncwit.org</a>. Other guests (parents, educators, supporters, etc.) can watch via YouTube, starting at 4:00 p.m. EDT.
	
	<h4><img src="https://ncwit-aspirations-service-stage-public.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/aic_hsawardevent_pooja_circlephoto250.png" alt="Pooja Chandrashekar Circle thumb" style="width: 250px; float: right;" >Featuring Keynote Speaker Pooja Chandrashekar, Founder and CEO, ProjectCSGIRLS</h4>
	
	<a href="https://poojachandrashekar.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pooja</a> is currently a second-year MD/MBA student at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Business School. She graduated from Harvard College with an AB in Biomedical Engineering and subsequently completed a Fulbright Scholarship in India. Pooja is passionate about building an equitable healthcare system by improving healthcare delivery for underserved patients. She also cares deeply about educational equity and advocates for STEM education for girls and low-income students. Pooja is a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow and was named to the 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 Healthcare list.
	
	Other Special Guests
	
	<ul>
		
		<li>Technology Concepts Group International, LLC&nbsp;President and CEO&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ncwit.org/profile/avis-yates-rivers" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Avis Yates Rivers</a></li>
		
		<li>a panel of past Award for AiC recipients, including  Ivanska Báez Cartagena,  Allison Collier, Morgan King, and Sandra Soueid</li>
	
	</ul>
	
	<h4>Additional Information</h4>
	
	Follow @NCWITAIC on <a href="https://twitter.com/ncwitaic" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/aspirationsaward/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/ncwitaic/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a> for event updates and highlights. Please submit any questions to: <a href="mailto:aichelp@ncwit.org?subject=Inquiry%20re%3A%20the%202020%20Aspirations%20in%20Computing%20Virtual%20Award%20Event" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">aichelp@ncwit.org</a>.
	
	&nbsp;

2021 NCWIT Aspirations All Awardee Celebration

<img src="https://ncwit-aspirations-service-stage-public.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ncwit_aic_collegiateaward_logo_fullcolor_web_0.png" alt="NCWIT Collegiate Award Logo" style="width: 250px; height: 110px; float: right;" />
NCWIT is pleased to announce winners and honorable mentions of the 2021 <a href="/award-programs/aic-collegiate-award" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NCWIT Collegiate Award</a>, honoring the outstanding computing accomplishments of undergraduate and graduate students who self-identify as women, genderqueer, or non-binary. Conferred annually, the award recognizes technical contributions to projects that demonstrate a high level of innovation and potential impact.
View a complete list of the 2021 recipients below.
The entire NCWIT AiC program platform is supported generously by Apple. AiC also receives support for specific national program elements; the NCWIT Collegiate Award is sponsored by Qualcomm and Amazon with additional support from Palo Alto Networks.
<h2>Winners</h2>
<ul>
	<li>Laura Lewis, California Institute of Technology, Implementing Remote-State Preparation on a Noisy Intermediate-Size Quantum Device This project addresses the problem of blind and verifiable delegated quantum computation, in which a user performs a computation on a quantum computer and can be assured that the answer is correct (verifiable) without revealing the computation being performed (blind). The researcher programmed and created quantum circuits for the evaluation of certain functions, known as Noisy Trapdoor Claw-Free (NTCF) functions, which are crucial to the process that allows a user to check an answer that they obtain from the quantum computer. (<a href="https://youtu.be/feC7Z3Iy6g0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li>
	<li>Isha Puri, Harvard University, A Scalable and Freely Accessible Machine Learning Based Web Application for the Early Detection of Dyslexia By implementing a novel combination of different machine learning algorithms, this research was able to produce the first-ever eye-tracking methodology that uses the standard computer webcam to screen for dyslexia. The application was able to predict if a child has a higher risk of dyslexia with an accuracy of 90.18 percent. Because it is completely free and doesn't require any specialized equipment, this application has the potential to make highly accurate dyslexia screening accessible to millions of families around the world. (This project video is currently unavailable to view online.)</li>
	<li>Rachel Guo, Harvard University, Enhancing Poaching Predictions for Under-Resourced Wildlife Conservation Parks Using Remote Sensing Imagery The Protection Assistant for Wildlife Security (PAWS) is a machine learning approach to helping rangers in wildlife refuge areas around the world identify the areas with highest risk of illegal poaching. PAWS uses publicly available remote sensing satellite imagery to extract geospatial features that impact poaching probability. The pipeline inputs these extracted features, historical patrol data, and prediction labels to train on, and it outputs predictions of probability of poaching risk for each cell, resulting in a risk map that rangers can use to patrol areas with highest poaching risk. (<a href="https://youtu.be/L2gx-LFgsm8" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li>
	<li>Marissa Sumathipala, Harvard University, Network Medicine Platform for Predicting Noncoding RNA Drug Targets This project leverages network science and machine learning for in silico prediction of the effectiveness of specific non-coding RNAs for use as therapeutics, bypassing more expensive experimental methods. The researcher created a computational platform called Theraplexus by constructing a heterogeneous network model from massive genomic and transcriptomic datasets that model the molecular mechanisms that go awry in disease. Novel algorithms powered by network science analytics and artificial intelligence are used to predict and prioritize drug targets for any given disease. (<a href="https://youtu.be/v8emLw8d6ys" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li>
	<li>Farita Tasnim, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Real-Time Decoding of Facial Strains via Conformable Piezoelectric Interfaces The aim of this project is to realize conformable sensors and systems that can translate patterns of facial soft tissue biokinematics into interpretable electrical signals to enable new forms of nonverbal communication. The researchers created cFaCES, or the conformable (i.e. stretchable and flexible) Facial Code Extrapolation Sensor, which makes precise measurements of soft tissue biokinematics to recognize distinct facial motions, and thus facilitate nonverbal communication for patients who lack the ability to speak or interact with traditional electronic communication interfaces. (<a href="https://youtu.be/pvH7Q-cz2Xc" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li>
	<li>Angelique Taylor, University of California - San Diego, Robot Social Navigation in the Emergency Department Robots can be used in hospital emergency departments (EDs) to help with tasks such as stocking and delivering supplies, but to perform these tasks, they must understand the context of complex hospital environments and the people working around them, and they must make intelligent social decisions to avoid causing disruptions to patient care. This project developed a new system called the Safety-Critical Deep Q-Network (SafeDQN), which uses a reinforcement learning agent to enable a robot to navigate in the ED while identifying and avoiding areas in which high-acuity patients are being treated. (<a href="https://youtu.be/7axxhOfqgJk" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li>
</ul>
<h2>Honorable Mentions</h2>
<ul>
	<li>Alexandra Chin, Wellesley College, Olfactory Communications System This project developed a prototype of an end-to-end device that can identify an odorant and replicate that odor across any distance, allowing users to effectively communicate a wide range of smells. The system consists of three sub-blocks: electronic nose (or “e-nose”), communication system, and synthesis. The e-nose detects unique features of a smell using volatile organic compound sensors and creates a signature for that smell. An identification algorithm compares the smell signature to a dynamic plot of past signatures to determine the odorant, then the application sends the information via bluetooth to a synthesis machine. (<a href="https://youtu.be/SNelQ-AME_s" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li>
	<li>Kirthi Kumar, University of California - Berkeley, Developing Novel Computational Models for Prescription and Illicit Drug Addiction Dynamics in the COVID-19-Amplified Opioid Epidemic Computational modeling for opioid addiction via an infectious disease model is a novel method of approaching the opioid crisis. The typical framework for mathematical models, known as Susceptible-Infected-Recovered (SIR) models, involve the classic compartmental model with ordinary differential equations (ODEs) that describe phases or dynamics of infectious diseases. These models have been widely used for viruses such as malaria and Zika, and most recently, COVID-19. This project explores two mathematical models: the first describing the dynamics of prescription-based addiction, and the second describing the dynamics of addiction influenced by social behavior. (<a href="https://youtu.be/ihyRsZfPtXo" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li>
	<li>Alexandra Szewc, Johns Hopkins University, Cytoscope: CD4 Count Estimator To address the need for more affordable detection, diagnostic, and treatment monitoring options for HIV, this project developed a tool called CytoScope: a low-cost, Raspberry Pi-powered microscope capable of imaging blood smears and calculating CD4 Count estimates for low-income HIV/AIDS patients. The CytoScope is armed with a CellProfiler pipeline that takes a microscope image of a stained blood smear as input, and provides the red and white blood cell counts within the smear as output, allowing for the estimation of a CD4 count. (<a href="https://youtu.be/j0dnE8JVABE" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li>
	<li>Victoria Xin, Stanford University, Predicting Antihypertensive Medication Efficacy through Machine Learning Survival Analyses in a Revascularized Patient Population Patients who have undergone coronary revascularization procedures often experience hypertension, but the most effective antihypertensive medication for this population of patients is currently unknown. This project aimed to address this gap in medical knowledge by leveraging Random Survival Forests (RSF), a machine learning method, and Kaplan-Meier survival analyses, a statistical technique. Specifically, stroke risk was examined in revascularized patients from the Antihypertensive and Lipid Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial based on the medications they received: amlodipine, chlorthalidone, or lisinopril. (<a href="https://youtu.​be/H7hYPbi6REU" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li>
	<li>Brianna Garland, Stevens Institute of Technology, Design of Grail Automated Healthcare Records The Grail Automated Healthcare Records project is designed to give patients autonomy over their personal health data, protect confidentiality, and reduce redundancy in the collection of medical information. The researcher used XDL (a data description language) to create an inclusive and frictionless interface in which medical data is received, including new capabilities to ensure user dignity. Once the information is entered into the form, it can then be shared with any doctor. Individuals can also update their information at any time. (<a href="https://youtu.be/V1ChCHn7a5o" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li>
	<li>Erin Howard, Western Washington University, Leveraging Statistical Analysis to Develop Labels for Astronomical Time Series Data Developing effective machine learning training labels for classifying new time series data can be a daunting task, particularly for a classification that has many representations. This project shows how statistical analysis (Lomb-Scargle, Autocorrelation, Box Least Squares, and z-score) can be used to pre-classify a portion of the data and lessen the burden of manual classification. Once these statistical patterns are found in a smaller sample data set that has already been manually classified, a statistical model can be developed and applied to a more expansive portion of the data set in order to provide classification labels. (<a href="https://youtu.be/JXdeBRFfIuE" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li>
	<li>Evani Radiya-Dixit, Stanford University, Learning Efficient Natural Language Processing Models In computational research, strong deep learning performance has been achieved with increasingly large models. The goal of this project is to reduce the high memory and compute needs of NLP models by developing a training procedure that sparsifies models by reducing the number of parameters used. The researcher developed two key techniques to share parameters between the pre-trained and fine-tuned models: learning fewer parameters during fine-tuning, and learning sparsity during fine-tuning. Together, these techniques save significant memory and computational cost in large language models without notable performance degradation. (<a href="https://youtu.be/8ujIK3BgqXw" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li>
	<li>Maya Venkatraman, Columbia University, Adding YouTube HLS Output to OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) This project, adding the protocol known as HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) as a method of streaming video to YouTube from OBS (Open Broadcaster Software), began as a means to solve an important problem in the field of video compression: the tradeoff between video quality and buffering. The project involved adding a new option in OBS for streaming HLS to YouTube. The researcher implemented this output in C/C++ and wrote HLS-specific methods, ensuring that the appropriate HTTP requests got sent and that video and audio packets got muxed (i.e. combined) together as needed for transmission. (<a href="https://youtu.be/q7LPTCnjeE8" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li>
	<li>Hannaneh Barahouei Pasandi, Virginia Commonwealth University, A Learning-Based Framework for Self-Driving Design of Networking Protocols Machine learning (ML)-based solutions for communication protocol design can reduce manual efforts to tune individual protocol parameters. However, these solutions are hard to interpret due to the black-box nature of the ML techniques. While other proposed ML-based methods mainly focus on tuning individual protocol parameters, the main contribution of this project is to decouple a protocol into a set of parametric modules, with each module representing a main protocol functionality and used as Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) input in order to better understand the generated protocols’ design and analyze them in a systematic fashion. (<a href="https://youtu.be/8K5OgUXyYC4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li>
	<li>Isabel Cachola, Johns Hopkins University, TLDR: Extreme Summarization of Scientific Documents This project aimed to use machine learning to automatically generate TLDR (“Too Long; Didn’t Read”) statements, or single-sentence, extreme summaries of scientific documents that are commonly used on social media and review sites. Because there was no existing publicly available dataset available for training, the researchers curated a dataset of 5.4K TLDRs. They also introduced a new training technique that improved the generated statements in both automatic metrics and in human evaluation by exploiting the similarity between titles and TLDRs. (<a href="https://youtu.be/SVOuIqI62Ng" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li>
	<li>Israa Qasem Jaradat, University of Texas - Arlington, Automatic Cherry-picking Detection and Correction in Textual Data Cherry-picking refers to the practice of building up an argument by omitting evidence against the case and exaggerating evidence that supports the case. To address this problem, the researcher developed Cherry, the first-ever end-to-end automatic tool that tackles cherry-picking detection and correction in textual data. Cherry detects cherry-picking in a given news article by analyzing the context of the event covered by the article using stories from alternative sources. Stories are then segmented, and the importance of a segment with respect to the event is the basis for determining whether it is cherry-picked or not. (<a href="https://youtu.be/PN7uNEgy0eg" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li>
	<li>Lexi Rindone, Johns Hopkins University, High-Resolution Quantitative 3D Imaging of Blood Vessels and Bone Cells in the Skull Emerging technologies focused on regenerating bone through a combination of biomaterials, biologics, and stem cells could provide groundbreaking treatments for patients suffering from craniofacial injuries. However, translating these technologies to clinical practice has been challenging due to a lack of fundamental understanding about how key cellular players interact to grow new bone. This project focuses on identifying the necessary environment to induce vascularized craniofacial bone regeneration by using a novel imaging platform that couples advanced molecular biology techniques with 3D quantitative image analysis to characterize cellular relationships within the skull. (<a href="https://youtu.be/NL8sBl-84mA" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li>
</ul>
<h2>2021 Collegiate Award Recipient Videos</h2>
Watch the award winning students speak about their projects and what's next for them below:
<ul>
	<li>Freshmen/Sophomore/Two-Year Institution Award Recipients (<a href="https://vimeo.com/555341463" target="_blank">View Video</a>)</li>
	<li>Junior/Senior Award Recipients (<a href="https://vimeo.com/555341840" target="_blank">View Video</a>)</li>
	<li>Graduate Award Recipients (<a href="https://vimeo.com/555342248" target="_blank">View Video</a>)</li>
</ul>

The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) Selects Recipients of the 2021 NCWIT Collegiate Award

<ul><li>“My teachers and things like NCWIT helped boost my confidence. I’m one of two girls in the club, but we keep our heads high. We know we are needed and valued.” // In <a href="https://www.iste.org/explore/empowered-learner/more-girls-choosing-computer-science-despite-roadblocks" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">this article</a>, AiC Community Members Diya Nair and Alexandra Marlette talk about the structural challenges they faced in pursuing computing interests – and the support that helped them keep going.&nbsp;</li><li>“[R]ight now more than ever we need to maximize innovation and creativity and in order to do that we need everyone. We need kids, we need girls, we need everyone from every single corner of life.” // In <a href="https://denver.cbslocal.com/2021/03/17/gitanjali-rao-girls-science-special-guest-speaker/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">this interview</a>, AiC Community Member Gitanjali Rao talks about the critical importance of diversity in STEM.&nbsp;</li><li>“As I began building bigger and bigger projects, I was so amazed at how something as simple as basically broken English on your computer screen can create something that’s really complex. It can calculate complex mathematical equations, it can display graphics, it can do all sorts of things.” // AiC Community Member <a href="http://www.theblakebeat.com/senior-wins-prestigious-technology-award-hopes-to-show-women-can-succeed-in-stem/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Maxine Hsu</a> wants to let girls know that coding can open a world of possibilities.&nbsp;</li></ul>March ShoutoutsAlthough this school year has been unusual, one thing that hasn’t changed is AiC Community members’ commitment to pursuing their dreams. We spotted these students and educators getting recognized for their accomplishments: <a href="https://sheridanmedia.com/news/40838/first-federal-presents-donation-to-scsd2/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kate Moran</a>; <a href="https://news.gulfbreezenews.com/articles/gbhs-student-wins-computer-award/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Adrienne Flowers</a>; <a href="https://www.swnewsmedia.com/savage_pacer/news/education/burnsville-student-named-minnesota-aspirations-in-computing-award-winner/article_ae6bd094-22af-51ee-b418-4af6b88a502e.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Maria Pena Chavez</a>; <a href="https://cse.ucsd.edu/about/news/cse-research-sets-two-students-ncwit-collegiate-award" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Angelique Taylor and Nicole Meister</a>; <a href="https://www.shorewood.k12.wi.us/apps/news/article/1400912" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Shubh Goyal</a>; <a href="https://sheridanmedia.com/news/41508/sc-computer-science-instructor-receives-award/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">E. Anne Gunn</a>; <a href="https://www.timesnewspapers.com/webster-kirkwoodtimes/webster-high-senior-earns-recognition/article_def4fe42-7d08-11eb-922c-eba66205dd66.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Anna Tetreault</a>; <a href="https://www.swoknews.com/news/apache-student-wins-national-computing-award/article_61bfa7d5-5539-567c-958a-60ce15d50d5c.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Camryn Grabeal</a>; <a href="https://www.pvschools.net/newscenter/paradise-valley-high-crest-teacher-receives-2021-ncwit-arizona-affiliate-educator-award" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Michelle Cannon</a>; <a href="https://farmingtonvoice.com/farmington-high-student-teacher-win-computing-awards/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tejaswini Ravula and Jason Canfield</a>; <a href="https://fcnp.com/2021/03/24/justice-high-student-chosen-as-it-award-winner-in-va/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Yabesra Ewnetu</a>; <a href="https://www.tnonline.com/20210326/student-wins-technology-award/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Uma Purani</a>; <a href="https://www.crowrivermedia.com/hutchinsonleader/news/local/schmitz-recognized-for-computing-talent/article_83e3efed-f8a6-5168-bca0-c21d734f3c30.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cecilia Schmitz</a>; <a href="https://www.wku.edu/news/articles/index.php?view=article&amp;articleid=9482" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">three students from Bowling Green, Kentucky</a>; <a href="https://patch.com/alabama/mountain-brook/9-mbhs-students-win-awards-aspirations-computing" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">nine students from Mountain Brook, Alabama</a>; and <a href="https://www.baldwinschool.org/news-story?pk=1162511" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">four students from Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania</a>.

AiC Members In the News (March 2021)

One Hundred Fifty U.S. Educators Are Recognized for Their Efforts To Promote Equity in Computing

<ul><li>“At 17 years old, [AiC Community Member Kavya] Kopparapu invented <a href="https://www.webmd.com/healthheroes/2017-inventor-kavya-kopparapu" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Eyeagnosis</a>, a device that connects to your smartphone that can take a photo of your retina. It uses an artificial intelligence algorithm that processes the image and provides a diagnosis for diabetic retinopathy.” // Learn more about Kavya’s innovations in <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/20-old-scientist-inspires-her-195910803.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">this profile</a>.</li></ul>February ShoutoutsAiC Community members are up to great things, and we’re not the only ones who are excited about it. Local news outlets honored many students and educators this month, including: <a href="https://www.nhbr.com/tech-tidbits-from-around-nh-96/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sara Fung</a>; <a href="https://patch.com/connecticut/stamford/stamford-student-earns-national-recognition" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Adena Russel</a>; <a href="https://westnewsmagazine.com/2021/02/08/132720/eshelman-recognized-in-computer-science" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Amanda Eshelman</a>; <a href="https://times-journal.com/news/article_85f80760-6d60-11eb-bbfb-0f5487b0abfb.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Laurel Shugart</a>; <a href="https://sanduskyregister.com/news/304153/ohly-named-national-merit-scholarship-finalist/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kamryn Ohly</a>; <a href="https://www.newsbreak.com/georgia/milton/news/2168682930352/milton-student-wins-national-computing-award" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Asmi Kumar</a>; <a href="http://chfhsnews.com/2021/02/18/ncwit-award-for-aspirations-in-computer-science-won-by-flowers-student/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nasrin Ali</a>; <a href="https://fcnp.com/2021/02/24/justice-high-student-receives-honor-in-stem/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Aya Ahmed</a>; <a href="https://www.olatheschools.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&amp;DomainID=2802&amp;ModuleInstanceID=25681&amp;ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&amp;RenderLoc=0&amp;FlexDataID=37070&amp;PageID=9056" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Carlie Scheer and Alana Schmalzried-Lugo</a>; <a href="https://www.pvschools.net/schoolshttps://ncwit-aspirations-service-stage-public.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Paradise%20Valley%20High/PDFS/THREE_CREST_Students_Earn_National_NCWIT_Award.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Megan Howell, Oceana Covington and Laysa Sreenivasan</a>; <a href="https://www.bishops.com/about/mission" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Claire Zhao and Shirley Xu</a>; <a href="https://www.fcps.edu/news/three-students-recognized-ncwit" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">three students from Fairfax County, Virginia</a>; <a href="https://www.millmag.org/r2i2-students-in-pursuit-of-careers-in-the-field-win-technology-awards/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">four students from Columbia, South Carolina</a>; <a href="https://www.huntsvillecityschools.org/schools/huntsville-high-school/six-honored-national-center-women-information-technology-ncwit" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">six students from Huntsville, Alabama</a>; <a href="https://lsr7.org/news/lsr7-students-receive-regional-recognition-for-technology/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">eight students from Lee’s Summit, Missouri</a>; <a href="https://www.warrenhills.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&amp;ModuleInstanceID=8959&amp;ViewID=DEDCCD34-7C24-4AF2-812A-33C0075398BC&amp;RenderLoc=0&amp;FlexDataID=31618&amp;PageID=1&amp;Tag=&amp;Comments=true" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">seven students from Warren Hills, New Jersey</a>; <a href="https://www.ugdsb.ca/blog/two-cwdhs-students-have-won-the-ncwit-aspirations-in-computing-award/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">two students from Guelph, Ontario</a>; <a href="https://www.herald-dispatch.com/features_entertainment/joyce-spencer-community-news-for-friday-feb-26/article_b0441a9e-3c90-586e-acc0-13e01524838b.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">twelve students from Huntington, West Virginia</a>; <a href="https://www.phacs.org/apps/news/article/1394896" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">four students from Cambridge, Massachusetts</a>; and <a href="https://www.northwoodschool.org/news/four-students-receive-award-aic" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">four students from Lake Placid, New York</a>. Congratulations to all!

AiC Members In the News (February 2021)

<ul><li>AiC Community Member Angelik Laboy Torres wanted to help members of her family who were struggling with diabetes, so she “created a non-intrusive, wearable technology that helps diabetics painlessly monitor their glucose levels.” Learn more about her tech journey in <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeseq/2021/01/06/drawing-her-own-doors-to-opportunities-in-tech/?sh=56609a816346" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">this Forbes profile</a>.&nbsp;</li><li>“It’s exciting to see young students eager to learn about how to secure their online presence at school, home, and in their community.” // AiC Community Member Samina Mondal started a cybersecurity curriculum for K-12 students that now reaches students across the country. Find out more <a href="https://www.dvidshub.net/news/386450/nrl-cyberweek-students-catching-fire-nationwide" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.&nbsp;</li><li>“Being a girl in STEM and different biases that I’ve had to deal with… I think that has definitely influenced what I do and why I want to do it so that I can set up a better pathway for future generations after me.” // AiC Community Member and GeekWire Junior Geek of the Month Merrill Keating loves finding ways to use technology to give back to her community. Learn about her many initiatives <a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2021/junior-geek-month-uw-student-16-merrill-keating-leads-girls-along-stem-path/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.</li><li>What factors determine how well a plant will grow… in space? That’s what AiC Community Member Melika Osareh is trying to find out! She and her research colleagues are testing seedlings to determine which varieties are most resistant to changes in gravity. Learn more about her experiments <a href="https://utlc.uncg.edu/blog-post/growing-plants-in-space/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.</li></ul>January ShoutoutsThe results are in! The recipients of the 2021 NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing were announced this January, and local news outlets are ready to celebrate winners from their districts. We spotted these names in the news: <a href="https://www.thesheridanpress.com/moran-semifinalist-for-national-merit-scholarship-program-boasts-high-academic-achievements/article_4042c31e-6265-11eb-8d63-3fbe90556034.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kathryn Moran</a>; <a href="https://www.saintmartincleveland.org/about/news/2021/01/29/janae-cunningham-21-wins-ohios-rising-stars-ncwit-award-for-aspirations-in-computing" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Janae Cunningham</a>; <a href="https://mcpasd.k12.wi.us/mhs/news/three-mhs-students-recognized-ncwit" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Shardha Godishala, Keerthi Peddinti, and Alli Smith</a>.

AiC Members In the News (January 2021)

FOUR HUNDRED U.S. HIGH SCHOOL WOMEN ARE RECOGNIZED FOR TECHNOLOGICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

<ul><li>AiC Community Member and Reinvented Magazine Founder Caeley Looney collaborated with Beauty and the Bolt to create a 2021 calendar called “<a href="https://womenyoushouldknow.net/2021-calendar-12-stem-royals-power-tools-inspire-girls/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Princesses with Power Tools</a>.” Featuring women technologists from a variety of fields, the project is about letting girls know that they don’t have to choose between interests in STEM and other hobbies; there is room in the tech world for all of who they are.&nbsp;</li><li>AiC Community Member and Harvard Medical Student Pooja Chandrashekar uses technologies such as VR, natural language processing, and machine learning to develop innovative approaches to a variety of medical challenges. This fall, she was listed as one of <a href="https://www.forbes.com/30-under-30/2021/healthcare/?fbclid=IwAR0P90Vja27MlWKog40zx_X7nuf83wA3aA1PhLE85RDSA1LD3DsdwhWiBdU&amp;profile=pooja-chandrashekar" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Forbes Magazine</a>’s 30 under 30 in Health Care.&nbsp;</li><li>“It really opened my eyes to this whole other career and opportunities, and that’s why I... want to pass the torch.” // AiC Community Member Kimi Du is using Zoom to teach coding classes for younger students during the pandemic. Along the way, she’s been mentored by another AiC Community Member, Swetha Prabakaran, who founded the nonprofit organization Everybody Code Now. Get the story <a href="https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/education/after-discovering-a-love-for-computers-cedar-falls-junior-is-leading-her-own-girls-coding/article_ee6ab165-f314-530a-a2bc-f890d135c330.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.</li></ul>November and December ShoutoutsThis winter, local news outlets are celebrating the achievements of AiC Community members! We spotted these names in the news: <a href="https://abc13.com/high-school-scholarship-citgo-success-stories/7432299/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Martha Moreno</a>; <a href="https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/pomerado-news/news/schools/story/2020-11-13/poway-high-engineering-students-honored" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Madalyn Nguyen</a>; and <a href="https://luddy.indiana.edu/news/story.html?story=Luddy-students-named-finalists-for-2021-NCWIT-Collegiate-Award" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Emma Cai, Maram Muhsen, and Sarah Robertson</a>. &nbsp;

AiC Members In the News (November-December 2020)

<img alt="NCWIT Collegiate Award Logo" src="https://ncwit-aspirations-service-stage-public.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ncwit_aic_collegiateaward_logo_fullcolor_web_0.png" style="width: 250px; height: 110px; float: right;" />NCWIT is pleased to announce finalists for the 2021 <a href="/award-programs/aic-collegiate-award" target="_blank">NCWIT Collegiate Award</a>, celebrating 82 undergraduate and graduate students who self-identify as women, genderqueer, or non-binary from 57 academic institutions nationwide.Conferred annually, the NCWIT Collegiate Award recognizes technical contributions to projects that demonstrate a high level of innovation and potential impact. The 82 finalists were selected based on their achievements and technical abilities exhibited through their projects submitted in their Preliminary Round applications.View a complete list of the 2021 finalists below.Final Round application reviews are open February 1 through February 26. Find out how to volunteer at <a href="/get-involved/volunteer-reviewers" target="_blank">www.aspirations.org/VolunteerReviewer</a>.The entire NCWIT AiC program platform is supported generously by Apple. AiC also receives support for specific national program elements; the NCWIT Collegiate Award is sponsored by Qualcomm and Amazon with additional support from Palo Alto Networks.<h3 style="color:#195995">Finalists</h3><table border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td>&bull; Isabel Abonitalla, Hunter College City University of New York (CUNY), Applying Frontal Cortex Metabolites Quantified by 7-Tesla 1H-MRS to Predict Multiple Sclerosis Subtype Through Recursive Partitioning and Conditional Inference Trees</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Fatima Ali, University of California - Irvine, Logistics Platform for the Farmlink Project</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Fatma Arslan, University of Texas - Arlington, Semantically-Informed Data-Driven Factual Claim Verification</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Hannaneh Barahouei Pasandi, Virginia Commonwealth University, A Learning-Based Framework for Self-Driving Design of Networking Protocols</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Sarah Bloom, Stanford University, Suryodaya Web App to Remote Control Configurations and Visualize Data from Low-Cost, Energy-Efficient Greenhouse in Rural India</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Amanda Bolden, University of Dayton, Smart Cane</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Alicia Boyd, DePaul University, Intersectional Quantitative Analysis of the #MeToo Movement</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Jacqueline Brown, Marshall University, A Theil Index-Based Countermeasure Against Advanced Vampire Attack in the Internet of Things</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Isabel Cachola, Johns Hopkins University, TLDR: Extreme Summarization of Scientific Documents</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Leqian (Emma) Cai,&nbsp;Indiana University - Bloomington, Deicing Robot on High Voltage Wire</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Isha Chakraborty, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), A Novel Application of Polygenic Risk Scores To Transcription Phenotypes</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Hope Chambers, University of Oklahoma, Cerebral Palsy Symbiotic Robot</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Hanjie Chen, University of Virginia, Learning Variational Word Masks to Improve the Interpretability of Neural Text Classifiers</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Hannah Chen California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Evaluating Operational Implementation of the Deep Space Network&#39;s Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN)</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Alexandra Chin, Wellesley College, Olfactory Communications System</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Anoushka Chintada, University of California - Los Angeles, Confirming the Existence of K2 Candidate Exoplanets Using the Transit Method</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Shivali Choudhary, California State University - East Bay, IRFIS</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Tara Chugh, University of Chicago, COVID-19 Policy and Mobility Data Science Project</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Kira Corbett, Oregon State University, Synthesis: A Robotics Simulation Tool to Combine CAD and Code</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Audrey Cui, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), From Pixel to Paragraph: A Deep Artwork Analysis Paragraph Generator</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Meenakshi Das, Auburn University, Accessible Block-Based Programming for K-12 Students with Visual and Hearing Disabilities</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Ukamaka Ezimora, University of California - Merced, Sepia Sisters&#39;s Voting Game / Python Voting System</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Erica Fagnan, University of California - Santa Barbara, Graph Theoretic Treatment of Nanocarbon Structures</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Katelyn France, University of Minnesota - Duluth, &quot;Anaphylactic Shocker!&quot; Creating Novel Medtech Devices and Supporting the Next Generation of Womxn in STEAM</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Kyla Gabriel, University of Alabama - Birmingham, COVID-19 Environmental Screening</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Vinitha Gadiraju, University of Colorado - Boulder, BrailleBlocks: Braille Toys for Collaborative Literacy Learning</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Patricia Garcia, Florida International University, College Thrifts</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Brianna Garland, Stevens Institute of Technology, Design of Grail Automated Healthcare Records</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Megan Goulet, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Health Empowerment by Analytics, Learning, and Semantics (HEALS) Project</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Jennifer Guerrero, City Colleges of Chicago - Wilbur Wright College, PlanIt</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Rachel Guo, Harvard University, Enhancing Poaching Predictions for Under-Resourced Wildlife Conservation Parks Using Remote Sensing Imagery</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Erin Howard, Western Washington University, Leveraging Statistical Analysis to Develop Labels for Astronomical Time Series Data</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Emma Hubbell, Quinnipiac University, Figure it Out: a Game to Increase Data Driven Decision Making in Public Health</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Sneha Iyer, University of Virginia, An AI application to Diagnose Melanoma by Analyzing Image Files</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Israa Jaradat, University of Texas - Arlington, Automatic Cherry-Picking Detection and Correction in Textual Data</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Dana Joseph, Yale University, Understanding Cardiac Hypertrophy Through Computational Models of Eccentric Heart Contractions</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Johanna Karras, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Comparing Regularized Maximum Likelihood and Deep Neural Network Methods for Black Hole Imaging</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Lauren Klein University of Southern California, Automated Analysis of Infant-Mother Coordination</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Aparna Kumar, Columbia University, Natya*ML</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Kirthi Kumar, University of California - Berkeley, Developing Novel Computational Models for Prescription and Illicit Drug Addiction Dynamics in the COVID-19-Amplified Opioid Epidemic</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Caitlin Lau, Cornell University, Drag Augmented Reality Toolkit</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Laura Lewis, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Implementing Remote-State Preparation on a Noisy Intermediate-Size Quantum Device</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Kaitlyn Ludlam, University of Florida, AstroBot STEM NonProfit Corp./astrobotstem.org</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Suchita Lulla, University of Colorado - Boulder, Understanding PCR Primer Bias and its Impact on the Study of Var Genes in P. Falciparum</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Cassandra Marcussen, Columbia University, Parallelized Parsing for Fast Machine Learning Systems</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Adriana Martinez, Carnegie Mellon University, Autolab</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Nicole Meister, Princeton University, Bringing Technology to Conservation Groups by Creating Accessible Mangrove Monitoring and Classification Tools</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Maram Muhsen, Indiana University - Bloomington, Folic Acid Supplementation Rescues Valproic Acid-Induced Developmental Neurotoxicity and Behavioral Alterations in Zebrafish Embryos</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Divya Nagaraj, Stanford University, Weak Labeling Pipeline for Clinical Information Extraction from Unstructured MRI Notes</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Chariane Nkengfack, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Toute</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Obianuju Okafor, University of North Texas, Helping Students with Cerebral Palsy Program via Voice-Enabled Block-based Programming</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Melika Osareh, University of North Carolina - Greensboro, 2D-Clinostat Testing for Gravity Randomizing Effect on Arabidopsis Thaliana Plants</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Abigayle Peterson, Western Washington University, Magnify Wellness</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Yao Hodalo Poudima, University of Maryland - College Park, CerSmart</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Anika Pruthi, College of New Jersey, SMILE: A Novel Diagnostic and Monitoring Tool For Facial Paralysis</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Isha Puri, Harvard University, A Scalable and Freely Accessible Machine Learning Based Web Application for the Early Detection of Dyslexia</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Evani Radiya-Dixit, Stanford University, Learning Efficient Natural Language Processing Models</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Kimari Rennis, New York University, I Forgot How to Cry</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Alexandra Rindone, Johns Hopkins University, High-Resolution Quantitative 3D Imaging of Blood Vessels and Bone Cells in the Skull</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Sarah Robertson, Indiana University - Bloomington, Construction of Cancer-Associated circRNA-miRNA Networks</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Devika Shanbhag, Carnegie Mellon University, Power Plane Design Using Reinforcement Learning</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Nikita Sietsema, Calvin College, Train Go Sorry</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Anika Singh, University of Texas - Austin, Object Classification Using Segments of Point Cloud Data for Tactile Sensing</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Mabel Smith, University of Virginia, Zon Loopt Running Routes</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Jenna Sorsen, Bethel University - Saint Paul, Lights for Lives</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Ashley Suh, Tufts University, CAVA++: An Automatic Visualization Recommendation System via Knowledge Graphs for Data-Enriched Exploration</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Marissa Sumathipala, Harvard University, Network Medicine Platform for Predicting Noncoding RNA Drug Targets</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Alexandra Szewc, Johns Hopkins University, Cytoscope: CD4 Count Estimator</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Farita Tasnim, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Real-Time Decoding of Facial Strains via Conformable Piezoelectric Interfaces</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Angelique Taylor, University of California - San Diego, Robot Social Navigation in the Emergency Department</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Maya Venkatraman, Columbia University, Adding YouTube HLS Output to OBS (Open Broadcaster Software)</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Sherrie Wang, Stanford University, Mapping Crop Types in India with Smartphone Crowdsourcing and Deep Learning</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Yaxuan Wang, Rice University, Speedup of Bayesian Inference of Species Phylogenies</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Zhixue Wang, Duke University, Big Data for Reproductive Health (bd4rh)</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Chrysm Watson Ross, University of New Mexico, COVID-19 Misinformation Analysis</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Linda Weng, University of Michigan, Vitam</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Arissa Wongpanich, University of California - Berkeley, Asynchronous Methods for Scaling Up Distributed Deep Learning on High Performance Computing Clusters</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Sirinda Wongpanich, University of California - Berkeley, Natural Language Processing and Deep Learning for Precision Healthcare</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Victoria Xin Stanford University, Predicting Antihypertensive Medication Efficacy through Machine Learning Survival Analyses in a Revascularized Patient Population</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Alice Yeh, University of California - Berkeley, GEM: Leveraging Wearable Technology for Personal Safety</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Maya Zeng, El Camino College, Portable Wireless Signal Booster Concept Paper</td></tr><tr><td>&bull; Victoria Zhang, Harvard University, Patterns and Symmetries in Spiking Neural Networks</td></tr></tbody></table>&nbsp;

The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) Selects Finalists for the 2021 NCWIT Collegiate Award

<img src="https://ncwit-aspirations-service-stage-public.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/languageaic_blog_graphic_webpage.jpg" alt="Language Matters Banner"> The NCWIT Aspirations in Computing (AiC) program was founded on the premise that recognizing talented technical girls would be powerful. That was in 2007, and the program has grown from 8 students in the first award ceremony to more than 4,000 in 2020. During the past 13 years, we added Aspirations Affiliates to build a network of dedicated local committees who helped us scale this program, and who shared in the joy of encouraging young women to succeed in their tech and computing studies. AiC Award recipients were gathered together into what we now call the AiC Community, and in 2015 we added additional pathways for those in post-secondary studies to join this community.&nbsp;Today, nearly 20,000 strong, the AiC Community is a diverse place, and it provides a unique network for helping members find others who share their technology interests. Still, we continue to hear that AiC Community members are the “only one in their class.” Because&nbsp;gender inequities in the tech field persist, and those are where NCWIT focuses, often the “only one” refers to gender, but it can also refer to racial/ethnic identity, to disability status, or to a lack of prior experience in computing. Some students are the first in their family to take an interest in tech or come from schools with inadequate technology curriculum. The AiC Community helps mitigate the feelings of aloneness for many and routinely provides needed door-openings to opportunities. The AiC Community is always, we hope, a safe space for members to ask questions, seek and give advice, and feel welcomed no matter what their lived experience is.A few years ago, NCWIT AiC program staff started to expand our gender language to signal our intentions of being more inclusive. Last year, we defined the eligibility for our programs to include both non-binary and genderqueer people, as well as anyone who self-identifies as a woman. We’ve added pronouns to our profile data, and for the past few years, we have addressed our community with the word “womxn.” To be honest, not all of our staff was well-versed in, nor completely comfortable with, non-binary constructs of gender, but we have examined our own lack of knowledge and worked to improve our awareness of how we understand gender. Our use of expanded gender-identifying language was introduced with the knowledge that for some, it would not go far enough, and for others in our community it might be perplexing.&nbsp;We recognize that the lived experiences of women, non-binary, and genderqueer individuals are NOT equivalent. This program exists to close the gender gap, specifically as it impacts individuals who have been historically marginalized in the computing and tech experience.<h4>Creating An Inclusive Space</h4>Recently, a series of AiC Instagram ads “Calling All Womxn” was criticized for being transphobic, and it was suggested that grouping non-binary and genderqueer individuals with women implied an equivalency between the experiences of those who identify as non-binary or genderqueer and the experiences of those who identify as women. NCWIT AiC staff reviewed the comments, discussed internally, and felt that we were falling short of our goal of using language to be more inclusive. NCWIT AiC decided with immediate effect to discontinue using the term womxn, instead using “women,” “individuals who self-identify as women,” or “women, genderqueer, and non-binary.” We recognize that the latter phrasing refers to three different identities of individuals, but they all have one thing in common: all are historically marginalized genders, and our program seeks to give space and encouragement to those who have been historically marginalized. The truth is, there is not one word or phrase that encompasses all identities, and there shouldn't be; all of us, and all of you, need to take up space.The NCWIT AiC staff will continue to reflect on and update our language use; we also remain fully committed to addressing the common challenges that people of marginalized genders face in the tech industry. Our work and initiatives will still push to combat isolation, inequitable distribution of opportunities, and gender bias. These challenges may be experienced by all individuals in workforce settings, but unfortunately it is still true that women, genderqueer, and non-binary individuals in the tech industry are impacted significantly more.Language is nuanced, and oftentimes it takes more words to say what we mean, so NCWIT AiC communications may get longer! It remains our goal to be inclusive in our words and actions. We hope that you will let us know when we fall short and also when we do something that feels right. If you have any questions or comments, we encourage you to contact NCWIT AiC at <a href="mailto:aichelp@ncwit.org?subject=Language%20Matters" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">aichelp@ncwit.org</a>.~ NCWIT Aspirations in Computing

Language Matters: Expressing Inclusivity Through Terminology

<ul><li>AiC Community Member Ria Doshi wrote the book series The Code Detectives, featuring young women who use technology to solve mysteries in their community, as a way to help girls from diverse backgrounds see themselves in computing. Ria was recently named one of The Mars Generation’s 24 Under 24 Global Leaders in STEM. Find out what inspires Ria in <a href="https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area-teen-author-honored-for-stem-work/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">this KRON-4 interview</a>.&nbsp;</li><li>“She just decided at some point she was going to go forward and figure this out and be a computer programmer.” // In <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/ct-sta-oak-lawn-computing-award-st-1023-20201024-ee26mll3anedrfd4ujxmva7h74-story.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">this Chicago Tribune profile</a>, meet AiC Community Member Loreen Tumeh, and find out how her passion and persistence helped her overcome obstacles and succeed at coding.&nbsp;</li><li>As part of a Girl Scouts Gold Award project focused on increasing access to STEM opportunities for girls, AiC Community Member Madalyn Nguyen started a FIRST Robotics program at a middle school in a low-income neighborhood, founded the Society of Women Engineers Club for high school students, organized a Girls in STEM Inspiration Day… and more! Get the full story <a href="https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/pomerado-news/news/story/2020-10-23/girl-scout-shares-her-love-of-stem-while-earning-gold-award" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.</li><li>“Her face lights up as the code she had been struggling with for seemingly so long finally worked.” // In <a href="https://ucsdcreate.wordpress.com/2020/10/27/girls-dont-give-up/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">this blog post</a>, AiC Community Member Joyce Garofalo reflects on the lessons she learned through leading an AspireIT program that offered free coding courses to underrepresented low-income students between the ages of 8 and 11.</li></ul>

AiC Members in the News (October 2020)

<ul><li>“The more of us who find our confidence and our voice, the more powerful we become, and the bigger the waves we make.” // In <a href="https://sheisrare.org/2020/09/03/caeley-looney-l3harris-technologies-passion-for-space/?fbclid=IwAR3vG9Ih2EUUwAZLWndIi4CNEizle_uXvqywpH3CEJmbwFfq1baP_cW3YkY" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">this interview</a> for the She is Rare STEM Stories series, AiC Community Member Caeley Looney talks frankly about some of the challenges she has overcome, and why her job really is rocket science.&nbsp;</li><li>AiC Community Member Skyler Wharton believes that “machine learning developers have a responsibility to recognize the harm that systems we build cause and the power imbalance that exists between us and the people who participate in our systems, and then work to reduce harm.” They published <a href="https://medium.com/@skylerwharton/machine-learning-systems-as-tools-of-oppression-d83c23d57136" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">this article</a> to help equip developers with the tools necessary to create more equitable systems.&nbsp;</li><li>“Year after year, I witnessed the girls at camp grow in confidence and glow with excitement at the STEM activities we were doing.” // In <a href="https://www.csteachers.org/Stories/encouraging-young-women%E2%80%99s-interests-in-computing" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">this CSTA blog post</a>, 2020 National Educator Award Winner Catherine Tabor and AiC Community Member Aya Abdelgawad talk about the impact that the Aspirations in Computing and AspireIT programs have had on their own lives and on their entire community.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>Connecticut AiC Affiliate Educator Award Recipient Christopher Kerr’s goal is to help his students become “mindful young adults who will choose love over hate and happiness above all else.” In <a href="https://connecticut.csteachers.org/Stories/congratulations-christopher-kerr" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">this article</a>, learn how he started a peer mentoring program that led to a dramatic increase in the number of women students in his computing classes.</li></ul>September ShoutoutsWhen high school and college womxn get recognized for their achievements in STEM, it can help younger students envision themselves following a similar path. That’s just one reason why we love seeing AiC Community members in the news! This month, we saw&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/eset-announces-winners-of-2020-women-in-cybersecurity-scholarship-awards-301121809.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Annabelle Klosterman</a>, <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/ct-sta-southtowners-st-0924-20200922-rvpdh3hx6bbjnb4o6jnzyrw3hy-story.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Loreen Tumeh</a>, <a href="https://www.indiawest.com/news/global_indian/four-innovative-indian-american-youths-named-winners-of-barron-prize-for-young-heroes/article_0e11600c-ff06-11ea-ad40-2fe76365d068.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kavi Dolasia</a>, <a href="https://www.sandyjournal.com/2020/09/09/327440/five-local-students-top-technology-awards-in-computing" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">five students from the Sandy, Utah area</a> and <a href="https://www.rivertonjournal.com/2020/09/14/327741/four-students-top-technology-awards-in-computing" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">four students from Riverton, Utah</a> making headlines in their local news.

AiC Members in the News (September 2020)

<img src="https://ncwit-aspirations-service-stage-public.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/earlydeadline_eventpagebanner.jpg" alt="Banner">
	
	<div align="center">
	<h2 class="ql-align-center">Thursday, October 22, 2020 
	4:00PM PT / 5:00PM MT / 6:00PM CT / 7:00PM ET</h2>
	
	Looking to connect further with your womxn in tech peers? Submit your application by 11:59 p.m. EDT on October 15, 2020 to receive an invitation to this exclusive event to connect with like-minded individuals and hear from inspiring members of the NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Community.</div>
	
	<h4>Featured Speaker:</h4>
	
	<img src="https://ncwit-aspirations-service-stage-public.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/gemmabusoni_photocircle.png" style="width: 200px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; float: right;" alt="Gemma Busoni">
	
	 Gemma Busoni, Director of Education, BuildBox
	
	Gemma currently serves as the head of Global Education at Buildbox. Prior to stepping into her current role, Gemma gained extensive experience in education and gaming and has been recognized as an Award for AiC National Winner, a Thiel Fellowship winner, graced the cover of Seventeen magazine alongside Michelle Obama, and co-founded Discovr Labs. Gemma's achievements earned her a spot on the list of Forbes 30 Under 30.
	
	<h3>Additional Speakers:</h3>
	
	<ul>
		
		<li> Caeley Looney,&nbsp;Mission Analyst, L3Harris Technologies; Founder and Editor in Chief, Reinvented Magazine</li>
		
		<li><a href="https://medium.com/@helenamerk" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Helena Merk</a>,&nbsp;CEO and Co-Founder, Glimpse</li>
	
	</ul>
	
	This an exclusive event for 2021 Award for Aspirations in Computing (AiC) and NCWIT Collegiate Award applicants. Invitations will be sent to all Award for AiC applicants and NCWIT Collegiate Award applicants who submit their applications by October 15.*
	
	*Note: Award for AiC applicants only have to submit an application by October 15 to receive an invite to the event. (You do not have to have an educator endorsement or parental approval completed by that date. Likewise, NCWIT Collegiate Award applicants do not have to have their application endorsed by October 15 to be invited to the event.)
	
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