Girls In Tech

“100 Women – 100 Visions” is a portrait series celebrating women scientists and engineers, from all academic levels at the Imperial College in London in support of International Women’s Day.

On the whole, the series aims to capture a sense of the growing community of women scientists and engineers across the college, and their increasingly important role in all disciplines and levels of academic work.  Each photo gives the women a chance to express themselves; and also shows the diversity of the students and senior staff included in the project.

These portraits include women such as:

• A pharmacologist who has become a myocardial physiologist and finally a stem cell biologist.
• An undergraduate student in neuroscience, division of surgery, oncology, reproductive biology and anaesthetics.
• A MRes student in Green chemistry, energy and the environment, department of chemistry
• A professor of respiratory pharmacology, National Heart and Lung Institute
• A research post-graduate in the department of communications and signal processing, department of electrical and electronic engineering

To check out more of the profiles, and read about this great project, go to: http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/scc/100women100visions/index.html

In her new book:  When Turtles Fly: Secrets of Successful People Who Know How to Stick Their Necks Out, Nikki Stone, motivational speaker and aerial skiing Olympic gold medalist, shares the techniques she used to overcome a debilitating injury to achieve the gold, helping readers realize and reach their own personal and professional goals.  She is a motivational speaker for Fortune 500 companies and has seen what makes an individual most successful in the boardroom and on the slopes.  Over the last five years, she researched the similarities of 40 different highly-successful individuals — including the Prince Albert of Monaco, Dr. Stephen Covey, Shaun White medal-winning snowboarder, Steve Young and many more.  And no matter the field or endeavor, she found that ”The Turtle Effect philosophy” was at the core of everyone’s success.

Taught to her by her mother, Stone describes “The Turtle Effect” as including these elements:

Have a Soft Inside — let your heart drive your actions — This includes the great advice of:  Do the things you hate first so you can truly get pleasure from the parts of your job and day that you are most passionate about.  First thing in the morning write down five things you don’t like to do. Do each before 11:00 a.m., and check off that you’ve done them. Doing the thing you hate most will allow you to spend the rest of the day or week focusing on the things you enjoy the most.

Develop Your Hard Shell — stay strong against life’s challenges.  This includes:

• Enhance Your Focus
• Be Committed
• Overcoming Adversities  (Ask yourself, “If I knew I couldn’t fail, what would I try?” After you answer this question, ask yourself why it would be so awful to fail at the task or activity. We learn much more from our failures than we learn from our accomplishments.)

Be Willing to Stick Your Neck Out –

• Build Your Confidence
• Start Taking Risks &
• Find Your Teamwork

Applying this philosophy, she finds that “the same factors work to put someone at the top of their game, whether you are a triumphant athlete, Fortune 500 CEO, an accomplished politician, successful educator, or even an effective parent.”  Here’s to your turtle-like successes!

And check out her book or the website:  Click here

As the next generation of leaders prepares to take its place as the decision makers of tomorrow, well trained and educated engineers are becoming more and more in demand. Many industries rely on engineers to provide both expertise and a creative vision of the future. And In spite of the urgent need to develop our nation’s engineering talent, the fact remains that a large majority of engineers are men. Girls often feel discouraged from pursuing opportunities in engineering. We’d like to see that changed! So, we are encouraging you to participate in the National Engineers Week Foundation’s Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day – February 18th in cities around the U.S.  Women engineers and their male counterparts will mentor and reach as many as 1 million girls around the country with workshops, tours, on-line discussions and a host of hands-on activities at local businesses, universities and libraries.  All of these events deliver the message that a career in engineering is within the grasp of every young woman who is looking to play a role in addressing the issues her generation will face as it comes of age.

“The Girl Day vision is to broaden the way girls and young women look at engineering and help them to see that it touches our lives in ways we might not even be aware of,” said Leslie Collins, executive director, National Engineers Week Foundation. They want to make sure to deliver the message that “making more women engineers needs to be one of this nation’s most important engineering projects.”

Some of the events happening in various locales include:

• Siemens Industry, Inc. in West Chicago , IL will hold its annual ‘Introduce a Girl to Engineering event’ for girls in 5th through 11th grade, hosted by women engineers. Girls who attend will complete several experiments associated with different engineering disciplines. Other highlights will include a short video about engineering and a factory tour.

• The New York City Transit Museum will present a program recognizing the key role that women engineers play throughout the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s (MTA) agencies. Attendees will hear first-hand from representatives of various programs about their goals, ambitions, and experiences in the MTA workforce. Panelists include a Design Manager with NYC Transit Capital Program Management – Signals and Systems Program and a Design Manager, NYC Transit Capital Program Management – Stations Program.

• In Kihei , Hawaii , Maui Economic Development Board’s (MEDB) Women In Technology Project will host Maui ’s 10th annual ‘Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day’ event. Middle school girls will be given an opportunity for a half-day of job-shadowing with an engineer and fun, hands-on engineering-based activities. The event is free and open to 7th & 8th grade girls. The WIT Project is also expanding its outreach by arranging presentations by local engineers at Maui County middle schools.

• The Redding, California members of the Society of Women Engineers will host a Girl Day event where approximately 50 young women will learn about science and engineering. Hands on workshops will include: Best Bounce, Spaghetti Egg Drop, Electromagnetism, and Kinetic Energy.

For more information on the Foundation’s week of events, and Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, visit their website at:   www.eweek.org.

Rounding up a “Top 5″ list of the top gadgets for women this holiday season was a bit daunting — there are much more than 5 to choose.  So, I decided to list the top 8. Some of these are carryovers from last year, I’m sure. Some of them are expected; and others are unique. So, here is the rundown.

(Not necessarily in order of popularity.)
1.  The Kindle 2: Electronic book-reader extraordinaire

2.   The Canon Powershot Sx

3.  Digital photo frames (to go with the above)

4.  The TomTom GO530

5.  Sea to Summit Pocket Shower or the Green Mobile Phone charger (for the outdoorsy/environmentalists of us)

6.  The Motorola Droid, iPhone 3G, or MP4 player

7.  Fitbit: Calculates the amount of calories you burn while walking around the office + access your Fitbit page to manage you meals and overall health

8.  Bendi: The silicone mat light-up keyboard.

A little bit for everyone — computer, outdoors, or home-related, alike.  Perhaps you’ll see something on the list that you might want to add to yours.

Enjoy your Holidays!

In the report, “Women in IT: The Facts” published on October 14, the latest findings from recent research on technical women was presented by NCWIT (National Center for Women & Information Technology), sponsored by the Workforce Alliance. The report also lays out the “business case” for increasing women’s participation in the technology industry, (which we know was needed all along!).

The report endeavors to be used by change agents and advocates for gender reform in order to raise awareness and promote action in addressing the key barriers for women in information technology careers. It includes statistics, such as the fact that only 24% of professional IT-related occupations are held by women – down from 36% in 1991.

To find out more, we hope you will all read this visually-appealing report for yourself at:
www.ncwit.org/thefacts.
Pass it on!

In a recent study by Q Interactive, it was found that women are both loyal to those social media apps and games they play (think: Farmville or (Lil) GreenPatches & other Causes) and competitive, as their interest in gaining virtual currency shows.  According to Q Interactive, “The study of U.S. women, of whom 50 percent play online games according to Pew Internet, sought to offer a clearer picture into this growing group and where brands do and can fit in.”

Here are some statistics:

For more statistics and to see the way Q Interactive studied how brands and women intersect during social media gaming and app’ing,  finding brands to be an important partner- please see their article at:

http://www.qinteractive.com/pressSingle.asp?rId=263&CS=&ID=1

Happy gaming & app’ing!

(image courtesy of Retrevo)

A new Gadgetology study by Retrevo has shown that women, in general, prefer iPhones and men prefer BlackBerries. Surprising? It may be, as it seems that the iPhone is quickly surpassing the BlackBerry by almost everyone, everywhere you go. With its various apps and functionality, one would think they were preferred by both.  However, in their recent study it was found that:

• Women prefer iPhones: at a rate of 53%, compared to 47% of men.
• Men prefer BlackBerries more.  59% of the respondents who use BlackBerries as opposed to 41% of women.
• iPhone users think they do more in life.
• iPhone users, in general, rated themselves more highly as intellectuals, extraverts, media buffs, and jocks.

Now, we know that these are all generalizations, but this study’s statistics (claiming the iPhone is used in many more ways for sport, music, and other entertainment) may show that owning an iPhone is more “fun” and a BlackBerry, more “corporate.”  You can draw your own conclusions by reading the study at the link below.  What are your thoughts?

(Using a sample size of 445 iPhone and BlackBerry owners distributed across gender, age, income & location in the United States, Retrevo completed this study on users other than their own customers.  To read more, go directly to their study at the following link:  http://www.retrevo.com/content/blog/2009/10/iPhone-vs-BlackBerry-owners)

Kiva is celebrating, not only turning 4, but also nearing its milestone of $100 million in microloans to small business entrepreneurs around the world! They are celebrating this event on November 3rd by co-hosting a party at the BrowerCenter in Berkeley, with The Hub Bay Area and GOOD Magazine. So, come help toast their 4 years of wonderful work with Kiva and these two great organizations.

There will be two floors of music and beats from around the globe, including Baba Ken and the Afrobeat Connexion, Shovelman, Gaucho Gypsey Jazz Band, and Erin Brazil. Food from the Slanted Door, Café Gratitude, Neighborhood Fruit, FeelGood Grilled Cheese, and others. Drinks generously provided by Drake’s Brewing Company, Barefoot Winery, and SKYY Vodka. 

Together, we will share the underlying story of Kiva’s milestone and the global inspiration it has created through pioneering community building for social change.  I hope you can make it on November 3rd!

For tickets & to RSVP, see their link at:
http://kivaatthehub.eventbrite.com/%20%0A.
Details:
Date: Tues, November 3, 2009
Time: 6:30 – 9:30 PM
Place: HUB Berkeley at The David Brower Center
2150 Allston Way
Suite 400
Berkeley, CA

“The Future Beckons” is the theme of the upcoming TED conference, which this year is making its maiden stop in India. Historically held in California, the big-ideas conference — Technology, Entertainment, and Design — is being held in Mysore, India – the brainchild of 49-year-old Lakshmi Pratury. She approached founder, Chris Anderson,  about it in 2008 and he was all in agreement.  The four-day conference being held on the campus of Infosys will include topics such as local innovations with global impact, environmentally-conscious economic advancement, and promising young thinkers.

There will be 40 speakers, each with 18 minutes to share an idea, and inspire all in attendance. Guests come from such varied backgrounds, including speakers such as Anand Mahindra who studied architecture and film, now being the managing director of manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra; or Harsha Bhogle, who, after studying chemical engineering earned an M.B.A at a leading business school, and pursuing his love of cricket, became a professional commentator.

Says Pratury, “TEDIndia is an opportunity for the developing nation to participate in a community that cuts across all disciplines, that celebrates not following the norm.”  The organization’s (TED) charter is to support and be devoted to ideas worth spreading. It looks like it is poised to do just that.

For more information, see the following link:
http://conferences.ted.com/TEDIndia/.

*photo courtesy of TED India website

In her new book, ‘Girl on Top: Your Guide to Turning Dating Rules into Career Success,’ Nicole Williams - career coach extraordinaire & best-selling author – shows how some top dating rules can be converted into ways to attain office success & end up on top! A writer for such publications as The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Cosmopolitan,  and The Financial Times Williams takes those rules which women may use to “land a relationship” into ways to excel in one’s career.

The book includes twenty tried & true rules of dating and translates them into positive career tools. Rules such as:  “Have Others Sing Your Praises,” “Keep it Brief,” “Don’t Bash your Ex,” and “Be Willing to Walk Away” take on a new, positive-impacting meaning for your work world. One reader has said Williams’ experienced insight and candid demeanor throughout this guide will leave women empowered to turn that advice into their ideal career.

To read more & see what others are saying about it, go to the book’s website at: www.GirlOnTopBook.com.

Career expert and best selling author Nicole Williams is re-defining the world of work—making it glamorous, entertaining and relevant to modern women. Nicole founded WORKS by Nicole Williams in 2006 with the vision of building the first media and content company focused on career development specifically for the highly dynamic and powerful market of young professional women.

Nicole is the author of two bestselling books; Wildly Sophisticated: A Bold New Attitude for Career Success (2004) and Earn What You’re Worth (2005), published by Penguin Group Inc. Her latest book Girl on Top, was recently purchased by Hachette Book Group and will be published October 12, 2009.

For more about Nicole Williams, find her at: www.NicoleWilliams.com.