CS Students Attend 2012 Grace Hopper Celebration

10-10-2012

Several Computer Science students recently attended the 2012 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC), sponsored by the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology and the Association for Computing Machinery. Those attending included undergraduates Ashley Braun, Sabrina Hofmann, Brittany Vacchiano, and Samantha Walker and graduate students Pelin Angin, Haining Chen, Mariheida Cordova-Sanchez, Ilke Demir, and Christine Task.

Student attendance at GHC 2012 was generouly sponsored by Allston Trading, Northrop Grumman, the Computer Science Undergraduate Student Board, and Janine Patterson.

The conference took place in Baltimore, Maryland from October 3 through October 6. According to organizers, "The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing 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 theme of this year's gathering was "Are We There Yet?"

Brittany Vacchiano, the Vice President of the Undergraduate Student Board, enjoyed being able to attend presentations geared toward women in computing, particularly "How to Get There: Secrets for Success, in the Style of Glee." "This presentation used music and dancing, like the show Glee, to tell a story and give tips for success to women in computing." After a whirlwind of memorable events, Vacchiano noted, "Grace Hopper gave me the confidence I need to conquer the 'imposter syndrome' and gain more knowledge (through school, research, and industry) about computing."

Two graduate students, Haining Chen and Pelin Angin, presented posters at the conference. Chen's poster was titled "On Practical Specification and Enforcement of Obligations" and represented work she co-authored with Professors Elisa Bertino and Ninghui Li. Of her time at GHC 2012, Chen observed, "I especially enjoyed the keynote given by Nora Denzel. She mentioned a quote in her talk: 'A ship in the harbor is safe, but that's not what ships are built for,' which inspired me a lot. Indeed, life would be easier if I conducted research on easy problems. However, I would like to work on something that is challenging and non-trivial and try my best to solve it."

Angin's poster was titled "Secure and Adaptable Mobile-Cloud Computing" and represented work she co-authored with Professor Bharat Bhargava. "Grace Hopper was more inspirational than ever this year, bringing together 3,600 technical women from all over the world with great achievements," Angin said. "The best part for me was meeting very smart women who had invaluable input for my research, and with whom I intend to keep in touch."

Graduate student Ilke Demir, who chronicled her experiences at GHC 2012 via Twitter, reflected, "I leveled up, both motivated and armored. I believe the networking and company talks I have done, and the informative talks I have attended at GHC all increased my skills toward pursuing my career - and I fully hope to attend GHC 2013 in Minneapolis next year."

The 2013 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing is scheduled to begin October 2, 2013 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

You can view more photos from GHC 2012 shared by these Purdue CS students here on Flickr.