Event Highlights:
From Engineering Co-op to Vice-President at Microsoft: Women in Leadership Talk with Erin Chapple, BASc’98, Corporate Vice-President at Microsoft
What’s the path to leadership? Is leadership like climbing a ladder or is it like climbing a tree where there are many branches that can support your goals? What kind of co-op roles build leadership capacity? Who should be your mentors and how do you find them? How do you know when it’s time to transition to roles? How do you build a supportive network for yourself as you reach for your next goal?
Join us on Nov. 9th for an in-person chat with Erin Chapple, Corporate Vice-President at Microsoft and a proud engineering alumna, where she will share insights from her remarkable journey from engineering co-op to Vice-President of Microsoft. This honest talk will help you design your own path to leadership and leave you excited about your next steps!
Free snacks and refreshments provided at the event!
Event Date: Wednesday, November 9th, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Location: Engineering IDEAS Clinic, E7 1st Floor
Register Here: https://uwaterloo.ca/engineering/women-leadership-talk
Registration Open for WiCS Con 2023
WiCS Con 2023 is open for registration! WiCS Con is a 1.5 day conference for CS students who identify as women, trans, non-binary, or gender nonconforming. In 2023, we will be offering WiCS Con to high school students as well! The conference program includes sessions on hot topics in computing, the hiring process, careers in computing, panels and mentoring circles, and more. Sessions are led by engineers and mentors from high-tech companies, WiCS, and students.
WiCS Con 2023 will be held on January 20th and 21st, 2023 in a hybrid format. Holding WiCS Con 2023 in a hybrid format means that both online and in-person sessions will be offered. There will be plenty of networking opportunities available regardless of how you choose to attend the conference. Bookmark this link to stay tuned for more details about WiCS Con 2023.
We hope to see you there!
Register Here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/464596991107
Volunteers Wanted: WiCS Con 2023
WiCS Con 2023 is being held on January 20th and 21st, 2023. We are looking for volunteers who want to help us execute this event. Roles available to volunteers include running a 1.5 hour workshop for high school students, being an ambassador for a sponsor, volunteering on the ground, and providing tech support for Hopin (per online session). If you are interested in volunteering, please fill out the form below.
Event Dates: January 20th and 21st, 2023
Volunteer Form Link: https://forms.gle/vgpgRJMLM22iftYN8
Volunteers Wanted: Technovation Girls Waterloo 2023
Technovation Girls is a free, 12-week program that equips youth (girls, non-binary, and trans) ages 10-18 with the skills to become tech entrepreneurs and leaders. With the support of volunteer mentors, students work in teams to code mobile apps or AI solutions that address real-world problems they’ve identified.
Technovation Girls needs many volunteers to make things happen. People like you! We are looking for students who are interested in volunteering as team mentors, as ad-hoc mentors at in-person workshops (especially if you have knowledge of MIT App Inventor or Thunkable), or on the ground at one of our planned in-person working sessions.
Visit https://technovationchallenge.org/ and https://uwaterloo.ca/women-in-computer-science/outreach/technovation-girls-waterloo to learn more, and click the link below to indicate interest in volunteering.
Volunteer Sign-Up Form: https://forms.gle/875iYmXnRgnutkiy8
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 as well.
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 away 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/stay-connected-alumni-and-friends/submit-your-innovation-project
WiCS Study Room
The WiCS Study Room opened in August 2022. The purpose of the room is to be a meeting place where WiCS students know they can meet and study with other WiCS students, making it easier for WiCS students to find like-minded peers and role models. As a secondary benefit, the room also serves as a space where WiCS students can take a short break from being in the minority.
To get the code to access the study room, attend Little WiCS’ office hours! You can view the schedule for their office hours on their website (https://wics.uwaterloo.ca/).
Learn more about the WiCS Study Room on our website (https://uwaterloo.ca/women-in-computer-science/wics-study-room)!