October 2022 Newletter

Event Highlights:

Academic Research Panel

Looking into grad school and getting involved with academic research? Attend Little WiCS’ Academic Research Panel to learn about the application process, the opportunities offered at the University of Waterloo, and figure out if research is right for you!

Event Date: Friday, October 21st (Time TBD)

Location: Zoom

Sign Up Information can be found on our Instagram (@uwaterloowics)!

IQC: Actions to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion in science

This presentation will focus on ideas to challenge the status quo – actions to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). The presenters, Candice Harris and Rowan Thomson, will discuss recent research to illustrate and raise awareness of the many EDI challenges in science, then explore various practical ways to take action to advance EDI. The presenters will touch on the importance of diversifying content and talk about how Indigenous content is being brought into post-secondary science courses. Finally, they will give an overview of other exciting science EDI initiatives across research and academic life.

Event Date: Monday, October 24th, 2:00 pm

Register Here: https://uwaterloo.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMvceirqT8sGtHDycocAzSw3DJ0WF89Loch

WiCS x Amazon Small Group Mentoring Event

Amazon is hosting a small group mentoring event that allows you to have a conversation with a woman Amazonian in a small group to ask all your questions about jobs in tech, how to improve your options and opportunities, how to think about your future career, what the culture is like, and so much more. Talk with Amazon mentors about software development engineering, software development management, data science, or non-technical roles (or business analyst, marketing)

Event Date: Thursday, October 27th, 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm

Registration Here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/441590317527

Robotics Hackathon

Women in AI & Robotics, a non-profit organization based in Germany and Canada, is hosting a Robotics Hackathon in the first weekend of November (Nov. 5-7)! The purpose of this hackathon is to encourage young women to enter STEM, particularly robotics. This is a hybrid event that is happening at the same time in Germany, Montreal, and Waterloo!

Women in AI & Robotics is looking for both participants and mentors for this event. Participants should be women and/or self-identify as women, but organizers and volunteers are not gender-restricted.

Check out their website for more information: https://www.womeninairobotics.de/robohackathon

Reflections on the 2022 Grace Hopper Celebration

Now that the WiCS-sponsored attendees of GHC 2022 have arrived safely at home, they are sharing reflections of their time at the conference. We have uploaded their reflections on our website, so if you are interested in learning more about the experience of attending GHC in-person, feel free to check out our website! More reflections will be posted in the coming days and weeks, so keep your eyes peeled for those.

Link to Reflections page: https://uwaterloo.ca/women-in-computer-science/reflections-2022-grace-hopper-celebration

WiCS Innovation Fund

The WiCS Innovation Fund supports student-initiated activities such as hackathons, workshops, conferences, and much more, that support women and non-binary students in computing. WiCS will give out two awards worth $500 this fall, and another two in the winter!

If you’re interested, send an email to wics@uwaterloo.ca with an explanation of the use (e.g., organizing an event, attending a conference or hackathon) and what you will get out of attending. The Fund will sponsor future events only (not past events).

Waterloo Women’s Impact Network: Submit Your Innovation Project

Each year, the Waterloo Women’s Impact Network (WWIN) supports innovative projects and ideas submitted by our students, partner groups, faculty, and staff, with the goal of building community for women and underrepresented genders, as well as other diversity groups in the Faculty of Mathematics.

This year, WWIN has $3,000 to grant and will be accepting applications until November 25th, 2022. They are looking for projects that cost between $500 and $3,000. Projects must take place before April 2023. Project ideas could include one-day conferences, bringing in a special speaker, programs to connect with high-school youth and students, etc.

Application Due Date: Friday, November 25th

Interested in applying? Take a look at WWIN’s website here: https://uwaterloo.ca/math/submit-your-innovation-project