$19 ACM membership

From Profs. Canning and Levkowitz

ACM has a special offer for your Chapter-only members to join ACM,
which includes a first-year dues discount and a complimentary gift.
$19 for a year-long student membership: http://www.acm.org/joinacm10

Announcing the 2009 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing!

The 2009 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing will be held in Tucson, Arizona September 30 – October 3, 2009, with the theme Using Technology for Social Good. It's not too early to start planning how you want to participate or to start looking for the right collaborators for your panel, workshop, bird of a feather session or poster submission.

Important Dates:
• Call for Participation - January 17, 2009
• Call for Participation Closes - March 16, 2009 (This date will not be extended)
• Scholarship Applications Open - March 19, 2009
• Registration Opens - May 19, 2009

The Grace Hopper 2009 group will be available shortly on Facebook. Here's what you can do now:
• Download the flyer from http://gracehopper.org/2009/assets/ghcad09.pdf to print and share!
• Sign up for the Anita Borg Institute e-newsletter (http://anitaborg.org/get-involved/subscribe/) to be kept informed of upcoming deadlines.
• If you use Twitter, follow @ghc for conference updates.
• For more information go to http://gracehopper.org/


Message from Betty:

Two Ph.D students from our department, Kate Tsui and Mary Beth Smrtic shared their experience from the 2008 Grace Hopper in our WiCS meeting. This is a great opportunity for both undergrad and graduate female students.

Last meeting of the semester; TODAY @ 11:30am

WiCS will have its last meeting of Fall 2008 TODAY (M 12/8) at
11:30am. Location OS 219a (CS Library).

Agenda: Planning for Spring 2009!

Hope to see you there!
Kate
WiCS President
http://www.cs.uml.edu/wics

2009 Google Workshop for Women Engineers; due 12/5

The 2009 Google Workshop for Women Engineers

Join us for the 2009 Google Workshop for Women Engineers!

As part of Google's ongoing commitment to encouraging women to excel
in computing and technology, we are pleased to host the 2009 Google
Workshop for Women Engineers to recognize and reward deserving female
graduate students in computer science, and inspire them to become
active participants and leaders in creating technology.

Up to 75 female computer scientists will be selected to attend a 3 day
all-expenses paid workshop at Google's headquarters in Mountain View,
California January 22 – 25, 2009. This special workshop will include
technical talks and career workshops, and a unique occasion to build
and strengthen networks of women in technology. Students will also
enjoy tours of the Googleplex, have the opportunity to meet with
Google engineers in their fields, and have fun exploring the San
Francisco Bay Area.

Eligibility Requirements

Applicants must:
* be a female computer science students currently enrolled in a
Masters or PhD program at a university in the United States or Canada.
Graduate students in any year of study are encouraged to apply.
* demonstrate academic excellence and leadership in the computing field
* maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.3 on a 4.0 scale or 4.3
on a 5.0 scale or equivalent in their current program

Students pursuing degrees in related technical fields are also
encouraged to apply.

How to Apply

Complete the online application and submit all required documents
online. First-time users will be required to register and create an
account.

Please complete the following steps to apply for the all-expenses paid
2009 Google Workshop for Women Engineers:

Step One: Read the Workshop for Women Engineers Program Frequently
Asked Questions.
Step Two: Visit http://google.eresources.com to fill out your
application and submit relevant documents by the application deadline.

Application Deadline: Friday, December 5, 2008

Please note that recommendation letters are not required for this
application process. All recipients selected to attend the retreat
will be asked to submit unofficial or official transcripts prior to
attending the event to verify reported GPA.
Selection Process

Google engineers will select up to 75 recipients based on each
candidate's academic and technical achievements, and demonstrated
leadership on campus or elsewhere. Evidence of academic achievement
and leadership experience should be evident from the resume.

Applications and interviews for internships or full time employment
opportunities are separate from the workshop application process. For
more information, please visit www.google.com/students.

Recipients will be notified by Monday, December 15 via e-mail and
asked to confirm attendance.
Questions?

Check out the FAQ Page
or
Email us at: gwwe@google.com

WiCS@UMass Lowell is now an ACM-W chapter!!

Hello All,

This is so exciting! I received an email from Lauren Ryan, ACM Local Activities today. Our WiCS was officially chartered by ACM's Chief Operating Officer and ACM-W's project leader for chapters, Paula Gabbert, on November 19th. ACM-W will be creating our chapter's record in the next few days, and a welcome letter will be mailed to us.

Thank you all!!

Betty

2009 Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship

We have just recently launched the online application for the 2009
Google Anita Borg Scholarship, an award for female computer science
students. We would like to encourage eligible students to apply for
this scholarship opportunity. Could you help us spread the word?

Dr. Anita Borg (1949-2003) devoted her life to revolutionizing the
way we think about technology and dismantling the barriers that keep
women and minorities from entering the computing and technology
fields. In honor of Anita's vision, Google is proud to announce the
2009 Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship, awarding a group of
female students each a $10,000 scholarship for the 2009-2010 academic
year. All finalists and scholarship recipients will also be invited to
attend a 3-day Scholars' Retreat at the Googleplex in Mountain View,
CA in June 2009.

Who Should Apply?

Applicants must satisfy the following eligibility criteria:

• Be a female student entering her senior year of undergraduate study or
enrolled in a graduate program in the 2009-2010 academic year at a university
in the United States
• Be enrolled in Computer Science or Computer Engineering program, or a closely
related technical field as a full-time student for the 2009-2010
academic year
• Maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale or 4.5 on
a 5.0 scale or
equivalent in your current program

For complete details, including the online application, please visit
us at www.google.com/anitaborg

Deadline to apply: Friday, February 6, 2009

Questions? Email us at anitaborgscholars@google.com

The Google Anita Borg Scholarship program is also available to
students studying computer science in Australia, Canada, Europe, the
Middle East and North Africa. Visit www.google.com/jobs/scholarships
for complete details.

Games 4 Girls Programming Competition

This looks like a fun activity! Any one interested? Thanks for the
heads up, Holly!

ChicTech, an outreach program of the University of Illinois' Department
of Computer Science, extends an open invitation for college women to
participate in the fifth annual Games for Girls Programming Competition
(G4G). Students can get real-world, collaborative experience by creating
new software for girl gamers. Teams from various Universities will
compete using the <http://www.yoyogames.com/gamemaker/> Gamemaker
platform. In April, High School girls will judge the games and determine
the winners. Create your team today!

Registration Deadline: December 19, 2008

Click Here to Register:
https://illinois.edu/formBuilder/Secure?id=7577909

Submissions and Evaluations: April 6, 2009

Winners Announced: April 19, 2009

Visit www.cs.uiuc.edu/g4g for more information.

G4G on Facebook: <http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=45107662416>
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=45107662416

ACM Student Volunteer Opportunities at Conferences

Many ACM SIG conferences provide volunteer opportunities for
students. Undergraduate and graduate students are often
needed to assist with the administration of the conferences
and, in many cases, will receive free conference
registration, housing for out-of-town volunteers, and other
benefits.

A few upcoming conferences with student volunteering
opportunities include:

SIGCSE 2009
The 40th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science
Education
Chattanooga, TN, 4-7 March 2009
http://www.cs.arizona.edu/groups/sigcse09/volunteers.html

CHI 2009
Computer-Human Interaction 2009
Boston, MA, 4-9 April 2009
http://www.chi2009.org/
(email: studentvolunteers@chi2009.org)

Visit the above links for additional volunteer information
and online application dates. For a list of the numerous
ACM SIG conferences, please visit the Conference Calendar at
http://campus.acm.org/calendar

ACM-W Student Scholarships for Attendance at Research Conferences

A program launched by ACM's Committee on Women in Computing
(ACM-W) provides support for undergraduate or graduate women
students in Computer Science programs who are interested in
attending research conferences. It is not required that the
student present a paper at the conference she attends. High
school students will also be considered for conference
support. Initially, up to 12 scholarships of up to $500
each will be awarded annually.

ACM-W also encourages the student's home department to
match the scholarship award and recognize the student's
achievement locally within her department. Applications
will be evaluated in four groups each year, in order to
distribute awards across a range of conferences, with two to
three awards given each quarter. For application and
notification dates and more information, please visit
http://women.acm.org/scholarships.html.

To apply, fill in the online application form at
http://acm-w.acm.org/scholara.cfm (you will need to login
with your ACM username and password), which consists of a
one-page essay and an optional letter from the student's
chair or dean supporting the application.

"Google Policy Fellowship" Program Open for Applications; due 12/12

Google is sponsoring students interested in technology
policy to spend the summer at think tanks and public
interest groups through a program called the Google Policy
Fellowship.

Now in its second year, the Google Policy Fellowship will be
funding students at fifteen organizations doing great work
on Internet policy in the U.S. and Canada. A full listing
of these organizations can be found at
http://www.google.com/policyfellowship/hosts.html

Hosts include:
* American Library Association
* Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic
* Cato Institute
* Center for Democracy and Technology
* The Citizen Lab
* Competitive Enterprise Institute
* Creative Commons
* Electronic Frontier Foundation
* Future of Music Coalition
* Internet Education Foundation
* Media Access Project
* New America Foundation
* Progress and Freedom Foundation
* Public Knowledge
* Technology Policy Institute

Applications are being accepted now through December 12. If
you think you might be a good fit for this program, please
visit http://www.google.com/policyfellowship for more
information.

If you have any specific questions about the program, you
can reach the Google Policy Fellowship program
administrators via email at policyfellowship@google.com

Next WiCS Meeting: Monday, November 17 @ 11:30am in OS 219a

Join WICS for a bagel lunch and we'll talk more about joint topics
from the CS Student Advisory Board (3rd floor remodel, parking in
Olsen lot during events, CS community calendar, etc.). Also, doctoral
students Mary Beth Smrtic and Kate Tsui will talk about their
experiences from the Grace Hopper 2008 Celebration.

Time and place as usual (11:30am-12:20pm, and OS 219 aka CS library).

For upcoming events, stay tuned to our new blog; http://uml-wics.blogspot.com/

Thanks!
Kate
WiCS, President
http://www.cs.uml.edu/wics
http://uml-wics.blogspot.com

Anita Borg Institute: 2009 Women of Vision Call for Nominations

2009 Women of Vision Call for Nominations
Submission Site Now Open; http://tinyurl.com/abi-nomination

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2009 Women of Vision
Awards. These annual awards honor women making significant
contributions in the areas of Innovation, Social Impact and
Leadership.

The winners will be honored at the Women of Vision Awards Dinner on
April 30th 2009 at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, California.

Nominations
Nominations will be accepted until December 12th, 2008. Award winners
will be notified in February.

Categories

Innovation recognizes a woman who has contributed significantly to
technology innovation. The innovation might be creating unusual and
important technology or approaching developing technology in a
significantly new and innovative way, such as by bringing diverse
people and experiences together in the technology creation process.

Social Impact recognizes a woman who developed or applied technology
with a significant impact on society and/or the community. These
people are creating or employing technologies that are changing our
world in positive ways.

Leadership recognizes a woman who has led an important technology
development or innovation, made a significant contribution to the
technology industry, and someone who inspires others.

The Women of Microsoft Panel, T 10/28, 8-9:30 PM

From Damon Berry; thanks, Damon!

Tuesday 10/28: *The Women of Microsoft Panel*

4-163, 8:00 to 9:30pm

"Hear from the women of Microsoft, including MIT alumnae, about being
a women in a male dominated field, and what they wish they had known
before they started their careers."

There will be refreshments and prizes

A part of Women's Week 2008, presented by MIT Panhellenic Association

RAD Classes offered by UMass Lowell Police

I'm attending the Saturday series, if anyone would like to join me.
Kate

Additional RAD Classes Added Saturdays and Mondays Starting 10/27

Date = 10/27, 11/3, 11/10 and 11/17

Time = 3:30 p.m.- 6:30 p.m.

Description = RAPE AGGRESSION DEFENSE SYSTEMS (RAD)

The UMass Lowell Police Department is pleased to offer a self-defense
class for the female members of the University community. The RAD
program is now in its 16th year and has provided many women the skills
and confidence to avoid, and if necessary, confront those individuals
who would attempt to harm them. RAD was conceptualized as a result of
UMASS Lowell's desire to offer more than workshops on safety and
avoidance techniques. As a result, RAD is part of the many services
offered by the University Police Department to the community.

Classes are for four weeks and meet once a week for three hours in
duration. The start date for the fall semester is Oct. 22, 2008.
Classes will meet Wednesdays, Oct. 22, 29 and Nov. 5 and 12 from 5 to
8 p.m.

Due to the overwhelming response, the UMass Lowell Police Department
has added two more sections. One section will meet on Saturdays, Nov.
1 and 8 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Another section will meet on Mondays,
Oct. 27, Nov. 3, 10 and 17 from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.

The instructors are certified self-defense staff members who are also
on staff with the University Police Department at Lowell.
Participants can secure a space in class with a $25 deposit which will
be refunded at the final session. Participants are limited to the
first 20 members submit your application and deposit today. For more
information, please visit our website at:
http://www.uml.edu/police/Crime_Prevention/Crime_Prevention.html

You can also e-mail Melissa_Mullen at uml.edu or call 978-934-2398.

Volunteer for Commonwealth Corps Project IMPACT

Be a Commonwealth Corps Volunteer!!
And
Make an IMPACT!

http://www.uml.edu/gse/Impact.html

UML is recruiting Commonwealth Corps volunteers to tutor in Math in
the Freshman Academy (9th grade) at Lowell High School. You don't need
to be a math major – but you do need to LIKE working with adolescents.
Tutors will work in classrooms helping students with Algebra One. UML
students need a minimum of 2 hour blocks, 2 to 5 days a week. Hours
may be available for before and after school, and Saturdays. Training
and support by staff/faculty at LHS and UML. A stipend and a bonus is
available upon completion. E-mail Nancy_Pitkin at uml.edu for an
application and more information.

Open House on Sunday 10/26

UML's Fall Open House is the main fall recruiting event at 9am - 12noon; http://www.uml.edu/Admissions/openhouse/default.html. Things kick off at the Tsongas arena at 9am. Department tours start at 10:30am.

Betty has arranged for WiCS to have a table at Tsongas! This will give us great visibility. But, Betty need helpers! If you can't be there the whole time, come for part of it. Please email Betty (byang1 at
cs.uml.edu) directly with the times you can work the booth.

Thanks!
Kate

Graduate Student Opportunity to Attend the CWW 10th Anniversary 10/23

The Graduate Student Association is hosting two tables at the Center
for Women and Work 10th Anniversary celebration on Thursday, Oct. 23,
2008 from 8 - 10 a.m.

Free admission for the breakfast and event featuring special guest
U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas is available to the first 20 graduate students
who email Deborah_White at uml.edu before 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 17.
Students who will receive complimentary admission will receive a
confirmation email on Monday, Oct. 20.

For more information regarding the event, please visit
http://www.uml.edu/womenwork.

Call for Abstracts for Women in Machine Learning (Co-located with NIPS)

This is a reminder that the abstract submission deadline for WiML'08
is October 10th.
Thank you,
WiML'08 Organizers

CALL FOR STUDENT ABSTRACTS

Workshop for Women in Machine Learning
Co-located with NIPS, Vancouver, BC
December 8, 2008
http://www.wimlworkshop.org

Deadline for student abstract submissions: October 10, 2008

INTRODUCTION
Machine learning is one of the fastest growing areas of computer
science research. Search engines, face recognition, DNA sequence
analysis, speech and handwriting recognition, credit card fraud
detection, premature baby monitoring and autonomous locomotion are
just some of the applications in which machine learning is routinely
used.

In spite of the wide reach of machine learning and the variety of
theory and applications it covers, the percentage of female
researchers is lower than in many other areas of computer science.
Most women working in machine learning rarely get the chance to
interact with other female researchers, making it easy to feel
isolated and hard to find role models.

This day-long workshop gives female faculty, research scientists, and
graduate students in the machine learning community an opportunity to
meet, exchange ideas and learn from each other. Underrepresented
minorities and undergraduates interested in pursuing machine learning
research are encouraged to participate.

A limited number of scholarships will be available for students to
offset travel costs. Workshop registration is free.

WORKSHOP FORMAT
The one-day workshop will consist of talks by established researchers,
a poster session for graduate students to showcase their research, and
panel discussions to address current research trends and career
choices in machine learning.

STUDENT ABSTRACT SUBMISSION
We strongly encourage female students in all areas of machine learning
to submit an abstract (500 words or less) describing either new or
previously published research. Authors of accepted abstracts will be
asked to present their work in a poster session.

Abstracts should be submitted via the workshop website:
http://www.wimlworkshop.org

IMPORTANT DATES
Abstract submission deadline: October 10, 2008
Notification of acceptance: October 24, 2008
Registration deadline: November 15, 2008
Pre-workshop dinner: December 7, 2008
Workshop: December 8, 2008

ORGANIZERS
Luiza Antonie, University of Alberta
Anna Koop, University of Alberta
Jo-Anne Ting, University of Southern California
Joelle Pineau, McGill University (faculty advisor)

Next Meeting: Monday, October 20 @ 11:30am

Bring your own lunch and come hear doctoral student Kate Tsui talk
about her experiences from the Grace Hopper 2008 Celebration. We'll
also talk more about joint topics from the Student Advisory Board (3rd
floor remodel, parking in Oslen lot during events, CS community
calendar, etc.).

Time and place as usual (11:30am-12:20pm, and OS 219 aka CS library).
See you there!

Call for Help of the Open House Day on Oct. 26, 2008

Hey all,

Our WiCS will have a stand on the Undergraduate and Graduate
Admissions Open House Day on Sunday, October 26, 2008. I'm looking for
some helpers to staff the exhibition. The exhibition information is
attached. We also need some materials and hands-on demonstration on
that day. I'm thinking to set up a poster of the introduction of our
department with different programs(labs) available. I can bring some
Lego pieces to attract more students. Any more idea is welcomed. My
email: byang1 at cs.uml.edu.

Thanks!

Betty
WiCS Vice President

Welcome!

Welcome to the UMass Lowell Women in Computer Science (WiCS) events and opportunities blog. We will post upcoming meetings and events here; these events are also listed on our public Google Calendar. We will also post relevant scholarship, job, workshop, etc. opportunities here. For details about our group, please visit our web page (http://www.cs.uml.edu/wics). We also have a Google group; to join, please email wics at cs.uml.edu.

Our Fall 2008 meeting schedule is the following Mondays, 11:30am-12:20pm, unless otherwise noted:

September 22 @ 3:30pm
October 20
November 17
December 8

The location will be CS Library (Olsen 219A - across from the second floor elevators) unless otherwise noted.

Grace Hopper Celebration Updates

If anyone is interested, you can follow the Grace Hopper Celebration on Twitter (search for #ghc08); you'll see some updates from me too. I'm also blogging about my experiences on my blog
(Day 1, Day 2, Day 3). The first day is posted. I'm working on a recap of today.

Thanks!
Kate

Impromptu Meeting!

Reminder! Meeting today at 11:30am in OS 219a. A little impromptu, but we have some issues that we need to talk about before the next scheduled meeting.

1.) SAB and WiCS joint meeting about department items.
2.) ACM-W chapter.
3.) New fund raising alternatives.
4.) October Wii tournament event?

Sorry for the very short notice!

"Welcome!" ice cream social with Kristen Stubbs

WiCS's first meeting (TODAY 9/22 @ 3:30 p.m.) will be a "Welcome!" ice
cream social. Come find out more about WiCS!

We'll also feature a guest speaker, Kristen Stubbs. Kristen is a
human-robot interaction researcher who recently completed her PhD in
Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University. Kristen will discuss her work
on two projects involving robotic exploration: the Life in the Atacama
project, in which a team of scientists explored the Atacama Desert of
Chile with a semi-autonomous rover; and the Personal Exploration Rover
exhibit, in which museum visitors and employees controlled a miniature
Mars rover to learn about robotic autonomy and exploration. Kristen's
thesis work focused on how to build common ground between people and
robots collaborating on remote exploration tasks. Two cool events in
one!

See you in the CS library (OS 219a) today at 3:30pm.

Thanks!
Kate
WiCS President
http://www.cs.uml.edu/wics

Resuming WiCS Lunch Meetings

Welcome back to term everyone!

I'd like to schedule our lunch meetings for the term. After talking to
a few people, it seems that Monday works best. Please let me know if
Monday at 11:30am-12:30pm doesn't work for your schedules.

Like last spring, the meetings will take place once every few weeks.
The proposed schedule is:

September 22
October 20
November 17
December 8

I hope you will be able to join us this term!

Thanks!
Kate

Last WiCS Meeting of Our First Year

Agenda:
* Next meeting 5/14
* Formalizing as a graduate student group
* Affiliation with ACM-W
* Frequency of Fall semester's meeting and potential guest speakers
* Coupling guests with Colloquium
* Mentoring incoming CS students
* Workshop series
* WiCS Facebook group

Hi All!

Next Wednesday (5/14) will be our last meeting of our first year.
We'll resume again in September.

I'd like to take care of some admin stuff at our next meeting. We'll
be formalizing as a graduate group. This will allow us to have a
university club account, which we'll see with our profits from the
Botball'08 snack stand profits.

To formalize as a group, we'll need a constitution (statement of
purpose) and a board (president, vice president, secretary, treasurer,
senator, and alternative senator). Grad WiCS, please volunteer
yourselves for these positions; email directly to wics at cs.uml.edu. If
there are multiple nominations for a position, I'll make ballots for
5/14's meeting. I will continue as coordinator next year while we
settle into an officially formed group. Also, I believe we need at
least 10 graduate student members. Lastly, we need a faculty advisor.
Faculty WiCS, please volunteer yourselves to keep up going!

After we've become official, we'll become an ACM-W affiliated group.

For next September, I'd like to get some ideas as to how frequently we
should meet. I've created an anonymous survey at Survey Monkey. Based
on your responses, I'll be able to determine how frequently we should
meet and who to invite as guest speakers.

Fred Martin will be the new colloquium chair. I will be working with
him to invite guest speakers. I'd like to keep the WiCS meetings on
Wednesdays 1:30-2:20pm. This will allow us to first speak informally
with colloquium guests interested in speaking with us, and also allow
WiCS guests to give a technical presentation following our meetings.

Jesse and I will also be launching a mentoring program of upperclass
students to new students. The relationships will be largely informal.
For example, having lunch with a mentee to answer any questions he/she
may have. We'd like to have this effort be WiCS powered.

Also, I'd like to create workshop sessions throughout the year next
year. At the beginning of September, I'll be hosting a "TA Bootcamp."
We'd briefly talked about hosting "How to Network" and "Confidence
Crisis" workshops as well.

Lastly, Betty has created a Facebook group for us, in addition to our
webpage. See below.

Please come to 5/14's meeting to help us set the pace for next fall.
We have A LOT to talk about. RSVP directly with wics at cs.uml.edu and a
bagel lunch will be provided.

Thanks,
Kate


Beibei invited you to join the Facebook group "UML WiCS (Women In
Computer Science)".

Beibei says, "Hello girls, I've created a facebook group for our WiCS.
Please feel free to invite other people to join us. :)".

To see more details and confirm this group invitation, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?group.php&gid=26462948960

Volunteers Needed for WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) Day

I'd mentioned this earlier in the semester. Holly is part of the
Steering Committee. This is a really good outreach opportunity.


The Women in Science and Engineering program (WISE) will bring 400
seventh and eighth grade girls to UMass Lowell on Friday, May 23,
2008. The girls will attend workshops presented by professional women
working in science, mathematics, health professions and engineering.

The Steering Committee is seeking female student volunteers to assist
the presenters, direct girls to their workshops, etc. Volunteers are
needed from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on that day. Lunch and a great t-shirt
are provided.

If you are interested, please check out the website
http://www.uml.edu/wise/ and sign up using the online form
http://www.uml.edu/wise/WISE%20eform.pdf

Lunch with Sowmini Varadhan, Sun Microsystems

WiCS is hosting Sowmini Varadhan of Sun Microsystems this Wednesday (4/30). Sowmini requested to meet with faculty to discuss collaborations in the networking field. WiCS will be hosting lunch at 12noon and dessert at our usual 1:30pm slot.

If you would like to attend lunch and/or dessert, please RSVP with wics at cs.uml.edu stating "lunch only," "lunch and dessert," or "dessert only." Please do not reply directly to this post.

Thanks,
Kate

REMINDER: Upcoming Women in Computer Science Guest Speakers: Sukyoung Ryu and Sowmini Varadhan

Sukyoung Ryu of Sun Microsystems will be visiting the Women in
Computer Science this Wednesday at 1:30pm. All are welcome. To attend,
please RSVP with wics at cs.uml.edu

------

The Women in Computer Science group is very proud to host two members
of Sun Microsystems this month, Sukyoung Ryu and Sowmini Varadhan.
Sukyoung will visit us at our next meeting on Wednesday, April 16th at
1:30pm. Sowminin will visit us at our following meeting on Wednesday,
April 30th at 1:30pm. Please assume the location to be Olsen Hall
Computer Science Library (219A) -- unless we have a lot of people show
interest and I will select another venue in Olsen Hall.

Sukyoung is a member of the Programming Language Research Group at Sun
Labs. She received her Ph.D. in CS from KAIST, Korea and is the proud
mom of two daughters. She attended the Grace Hopper conference last
year and was deeply impressed by all the efforts for encouraging women
in computing. Sukyoung will share her experience with the Grace
Hopper conference with us.

Sowmini is a Staff Engineer at Sun, worked in (Sun and elswhere)
Kernel/Networking for the last 10 years. She received her Phd in CS
from the University of Tennessee in 1995.

Please RSVP with wics at cs.uml.edu for lunch.

Thanks,
Kate Tsui
WiCS Coordinator
http://www.cs.uml.edu/wics

IEEE Global Marathon For, By, and About Women in Science, Engineering and Technology

On 26-27 March, you can tie into 24 hours of continuous coverage that will align with the business day around the globe on the wide range of possibilities for women in science, technology, engineering and math careers. The 2008 Global Marathon For, By and About Women in Engineering is cosponsored by the IEEE-USA in conjunction with Engineers Week, celebrated globally and year-round. Last year's Marathon included live chats and online video conferences on such subjects as college and career strategies for students, Indian and Egyptian women in science and technology, how liberal arts majors can become technologists, and women in telecommunications,

An archive of last year's marathon can be viewed at http://bmsmail3.ieee.org:80/u/10888/75779. For more information on this year's event, go to http://bmsmail3.ieee.org:80/u/10889/75779.

Guest Speaker: Betty Yang

Our very own Betty Yang will be sharing the details of her recent CRA-W workshop trip with us on March 26.

STEM Scholar Intern Program

STEM Scholar Intern Program Application Guidelines

PURPOSE
The Scholar-Internship Match Fund was established to provide a match for industry scholarships and internships given to Massachusetts residents pursuing a post-secondary degree at Massachusetts public higher education institutions. Eligible students, beginning in their sophomore year, shall pursue career paths in specific science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines that link directly related work experience with their academic program. These STEM disciplines directly support the economic development of the Commonwealth by fulfilling the employment needs of business and industry in high-demand fields.

The Massachusetts Scholar-Internship Program creates a framework whereby internship and scholarship funds from business, industry and others sources may be leveraged as matching resources to enhance student progress toward degrees in fields vital to the Commonwealth.

SCHOLAR INTERNSHIP AWARD VALUE
The BHE award amount is contingent upon the student receiving a corresponding industry scholarship or internship. The annual BHE Scholar Internship award to each recipient under this program shall not exceed $5,000 per student.

ELIGIBLE PROGRAM
An undergraduate degree program offered by an eligible institution in high-demand STEM areas, as designated in the Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (SMART) list, exclusive of foreign languages, as developed by the U.S. Department of Education and as amended by the Board of Higher Education. (see “BHE web site”)

ELIGIBLE STUDENT
A Massachusetts college student who meets the following criteria:

Is a permanent legal resident of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for at least one year prior to the start of the academic year.
Is a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen eligible under Federal Title IV Regulations.
Is accepted for admission to, or is currently enrolled, full-time in an eligible program, at an eligible public institution as defined above.
Submits an application for the Massachusetts Scholar-Internship Program, and for approval must:
Meet satisfactory academic progress standards as defined by the institution, and have maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.0 on all college work and meet other eligibility criteria established by the Board of Higher Education. (Note: if you have completed less than four (4) semesters of college please provide your high school transcripts)
Annually file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
Sign an agreement to comply with the internship requirements of the Scholar-Internship Program with a designated Massachusetts employer in a career-related field under the guidance of the Board of Higher Education.
Complete the minimum number of internships as required. (If course of study is two years or less only one internship is necessary)
Upon the completion of the undergraduate degree program, seek and attain employment in a career-related field in Massachusetts.

HOW TO APPLY
Applications for the STEM Scholar Intern Program are available on-line at: http://www.mass.edu/home.asp. Interested applicants must be admitted or currently pursuing a certificate or degree program in an eligible occupation as defined for this program.

Applicants must also provide:
a two page essay outlining their interest in the STEM fields,
two letters of recommendation,
and college transcripts

(Tip: we encourage you to have the transcripts sent to you so that you can ensure that they are included with your application)

Mail or e-mail completed applications and additional information to:
STEM Scholar Intern Program
c/o Nicole Sotir
Program Coordinator
Massachusetts Board of Higher Education
One Ashburton Place, Room 1401
Boston, MA 02108

E-mail: nsotir at bhe.mass.edu

WiCS Spring Semester Meetings: Wednesday 1:30-2:20pm

Hi All,

It looks like Wednesday 1:30-2:20pm seems good for most people. The first and third Wednesday idea seemed like it was going to work, but in practice not so much. Let's meet this semester on the following Wednesdays:

February 20
March 5
March 26
April 16
April 30
May 14

Location will be CS Library unless otherwise noted.

I've created a public calendar (http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=0vfoqk068ttqookbamg6v0nako%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/New_York) and will embed it in our website.

I am lining up some guest speakers for us this spring. I will let you know once I have details.

See you 2/20.
Kate

Grace Hopper Conference

Call for Participation: March 16 Deadline
http://gracehopper.org/2008/participate/call-for-participation/

Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing
October 1-4, 2008
Keystone Colorado

As the world's largest gathering of women in computing, the Grace Hopper Celebration is a series of conferences designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. Presenters are leaders in their respective fields, representing industrial, academic and government communities. Leading researchers present their current work, while special sessions focus on the role of women in today's technology fields, including computer science, information technology, research and engineering. The technical conference features well known keynote speakers and invited technical speakers, panels, workshops, new investigator technical papers, PhD forums, technical posters, birds of a feather sessions (BOFs), the ACM Student Research Competition and an Awards Celebration.

This year's theme "We Build a Better World" recognizes the significant role women play in creating and utilizing technology to improve our world.

Submissions on both technical and professional topics are encouraged. The Grace Hopper Conference committee is requesting submissions that reflect the conference theme "We Build a Better World" in the areas of innovation within a company, academia, or individual contribution through social and environmental entrepreneurship. The GHC Committee encourages technical submissions that cross disciplines and other boundaries.

* PhD Forum
* Panels, Workshops and Presentations
* Technical Posters
* ACM Student Research Competition (SRC)
* Birds of a Feather Sessions (BOFs)
* New Investigator Technical Papers

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:

* Mary Lou Jepsen, Founder and CTO, One Laptop Per Child
* Fran Allen, IBM Fellow Emerita and 2007 Turing Award Winner

CONFERENCE LEADERSHIP:

* General Chair - Anne Condon, University of British Columbia
* Program Chair - Heidi Kvinge, Intel

The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing is a program of the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology and is co-presented with the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
For more information and submission guidelines, please visit http://gracehopper.org/2008/participate/call-for-participation/

The Computing Research Association is a founding sponsor of the Conference.

AAUW and CWW Winter Conference

The American Association of University Women's Massachusetts Chapter winter conference, co-sponsored by the Center for Women and Work and the Lowell YMCA. The conference will take a close look at immigration, women and their families in the United States. A $20 registration fee will offset the cost of breakfast and other fees. UMass Lowell students, faculty and staff are admitted free, as are residents of Lowell.

Saturday, February 2

9 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Alumni Hall, UML North
Contact Information: HollieBagley at gmail.com

Boston Society of Women Engineers Dinner

UML is hosting professionals from the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) who requested to come to campus to hear about the great work we are doing in Assistive Technology! Our own Senait Haileselassie, Adaptive Technologist and ECE graduate, will keynote. Senait came to the USA in 1998 on a Diversity Visa from Ethiopia where she was born and grew up. She has a compelling story to tell about how first using her engineering skills to help a person with severe disabilities changed how she thought about her life. She will show slides of many examples of assistive technology that UML students have invented and implemented over the years. A tour of the Assistive Technology lab will follow for those who are interested.

Men and non-engineers do attend and are most welcome. Sponsorship by Putnam Investments has allowed us to provide great food. Come on over to take advantage of the networking and to learn more about another area of exciting, meaningful work happening at UML!

Advanced Registration is required. Hope to see you there!

Date: Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008

Time:
6-6:30 p.m. Registration & Networking
6:30-7 p.m. Dinner
7-8:30 p.m. Program

Location:
University of Massachusetts Lowell
Alumni Hall – North Campus
One University Ave
Lowell, MA

RSVP: by Jan. 31, 2008 at http://www.sweboston.org (At the SWE-Boston website you will be redirected to Acteva where you can RSVP). Any questions may be directed to swebos@sweboston.org or to Linda_Barrington@uml.edu.
Cost: $5 Students
$15 UMLowell alumni/alumnae
$15 SWE members
$10 Non-working SWE members
$25 Non-members

CRA-W and CDC Distributed Mentor Program

CRA-W DMP & CDC DMP SUMMER 2008 RESEARCH INTERNSHIPS

Application Deadline: February 15, 2008

The CRA-W Distributed Mentor Program (CRA-W DMP) and the CDC Distributed Mentor Program (CDC DMP) are highly selective programs that match promising undergraduates with a faculty mentor for a summer research experience at the faculty member's home institution. This experience is invaluable for students who are considering graduate school, providing them with a close-up view of what graduate school is really like and also increasing their competitiveness as an applicant for graduate admissions and fellowships. With the CDC DMP, an option exists for the research to take place remotely, using collaborative technologies such that the student can remain at his or her home institution with local and remote mentors.

The CRA-W DMP (operating since 1994) seeks to increase the number of women entering graduate studies in the fields of CS & CE while the CDC DMP (launched in 2007) seeks to increase the number of men and women from underrepresented groups entering graduate studies in the fields of CS & CE.

Funding for the student consists of $6000 for the summer (10 weeks), plus relocation travel assistance when appropriate. Additional funds may be available to support student conference travel, either during the summer or afterward, and for outreach activities promoting the DMP. A common On-line Application for the CRA-W DMP and CDC DMP (students and faculty mentors can apply to one or both programs), more information about the programs, and webpages authored by previous participants are available at:

http://parasol.tamu.edu/dmp/

Application Deadline February 15, 2008

Awards Announced: mid-March 2008

Note regarding cost sharing by faculty mentors:

The number of students interested in the DMP program has increased substantially over the last several years and many qualified students have not been selected due to lack of funding. To enable more students to participate, faculty are now encouraged to provide funds to support (partially or fully) students; the DMP will provide travel support for all students.

Note for faculty mentors regarding the CRA-W DMP Program:

Male faculty are encouraged to apply as mentors - men have been serving as CRA-W DMP mentors since summer 2004. Based on the number of mentor applications typically received from female faculty, and the documented benefits of female role models for female undergraduates, most DMP funds will be allocated to female mentors. Hence, it is anticipated that male mentors will provide full funding for their students' stipends (the program will provide travel support).

Note for faculty mentors regarding the CDC DMP Program:

All interested faculty are encouraged to apply as mentors. However, based on the documented benefits of role models from similar demographic groups, it is anticipated that most CDC DMP funds will be used to support students matched with mentors from underrepresented groups.

Hence, it is anticipated that other mentors will provide full funding for their students' stipends (the program will provide travel support).

For more information about the DMP consult the DMP webpages

http://parasol.tamu.edu/dmp/

or contact the DMP Co-Coordinators at dmp@cs.tamu.edu

Nancy Amato, Professor, Texas A&M University

Co-Coordinator, CRA-W Distributed Mentor Project

Tracy Camp, Professor, Colorado School of Mines

Co-Coordinator, CRA-W Distributed Mentor Project

Maria Gini, Professor, University of Minnesota

Co-Coordinator, CRA-W Distributed Mentor Project

Jessica Hodgins, Professor, Carnegie Mellon University

Co-Coordinator, CRA-W Distributed Mentor Project

Valerie Taylor, Department Head & Wisenbaker Professor, Texas A&M University

Co-Coordinator, CDC Distributed Mentor Project

Bryant York, Professor, Portland State University

Co-Coordinator, CDC Distributed Mentor Project

The Computing Research Association (CRA, http://cra.org) is an association of more than 180 North American academic departments of computer science and computer engineering; laboratories and centers in industry, government, and academia engaging in basic computing research; and affiliated professional societies.

The Coalition to Diversity Computing (CDC, http://www.cdc-computing.org/) is a joint organization of the ACM, CRA, and IEEE-CS. Please note that CDC is in the process of overhauling the website. The overhaul, with updates to projects, should be available sometime this Spring.

The CRA-W DMP is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation with additional support from AAAI, the Luce Foundation, and USENIX. The CDC DMP is supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

2008 Google Workshop for Women Engineers

Google invites you to apply for the 2008 Google Workshop for Women Engineers, held in Celebration of National Engineers' Week and Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day
February 21-23, 2008
The Googleplex | Mountain View, California

As part of Google's ongoing commitment to encouraging women to excel in computing and technology, we are pleased to introduce the 2008 Google Workshop for Women Engineers to recognize and reward deserving women students in computer science, and inspire them to become active participants and leaders in creating technology.

Eligibility Requirements

Applicants must:

* be female computer science students currently enrolled in a Bachelor's, Master's or PhD program at a university in the United States. Undergraduate and graduate students in any year of study are encouraged to apply
* demonstrate academic excellence and leadership in the computing field
* maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.3 on a 4.0 scale or 4.3 on a 5.0 scale or equivalent in their current program
* Students pursuing degrees in related technical fields are also encouraged to apply

Application Process : Email resume & essay as attachments by January 22, 2008 to workshopforwomen@google.com

Essay Question (Please answer in 2 pages or less)

Suppose you were given the technical and financial resources to complete a project that would use technology to impact the lives of women and girls. What would you do? What resources would you need and how would you implement your project? How would your project impact women globally and/or in the U.S.? Think big.

Selection Process

Google engineers will select up to 150 recipients based on each candidates' academic background and demonstrated leadership. Recipients will attend an all-expenses paid workshop at the Googleplex in Mountain View, California. Notifications will be sent via email no later than Monday, February 4, 2008.

Questions? Check out www.google.com/jobs/students/workshopforwomen for more info or email workshopforwomen-questions@google.com