Blog

Bucky Award for WACM Mentorship

Department Service Award 2017 to WACM

Department Service Award 2016 to WACM

Dinner at Professor Andrea's

No. of participants: 42
Funded by: Professor Andrea
Date: Apr 6, 6:30-8:30 PM
Professor Andrea Arpaci-Dusseau, WACM’s faculty advisor, hosted its members for a dinner at her residence.

Applied CS Android Workshop with WACM

No. of participants: 12
Funded by : Google
Date: March 2nd, 6-8 PM
Applied CS with Android Workshop was a session focussing on applying concepts such as data structures, event handling, asynchronous programming and dynamic programming by building projects in Android. Along with this, coding for Android provides a larger range of practical learning such as using build tools, setting up development environments, integrating SDKs & libraries. Students who had never built mobile apps got a chance to kickstart a portfolio of cool projects while understanding how to apply all that they had learnt in classes.

WACM Explains: Intermediate Linux Sessions

No. of participants: 10
Date: February 16th
The content was about using Linux on CS lab machines and in general for 500 level courses. The workshop was open to all.

WACM Explains: Basic Linux Sessions

Fall session:
No of participants: 30
Date: Sept 27, 6:00 PM
Every student of the CS department is expected to work in a Linux environment. Linux and the command line can be a little intimidating if one has never used Linux. WACM organized a Basic Linux’ workshop open to all students of the CS department to build practical familiarity with the Linux environment, and using the university machines to create and test assignments. Experienced members of WACM volunteered to answer questions, provide assistance to those learning and keep the session as an experiential lesson rather than a lecture.

Hidden Figures: Free Film Screening and Panel Discussion

No. of participants: 17
Funded by: CS Department and other partnering orgs
Date: Feb 13, 5:30 - 8:30 PM
WACM partnered with Women in Science and Engineering (WISE), Society of Women Engineers (SWE), Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC), University Housing, Elizabeth Waters Hall, National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Wisconsin Black Engineering, and Student Society (WBESS) to organize this event! We held a free screening of the movie Hidden Figures followed by a panel discussion at the Marquee Theater in Union South on February 13 from 5:30 - 8:30pm.

Spring Mentoring Dinner

No. of participants: 26
Funded by: gAlpha
Date: Feb 6, 5:30-6:30 PM
WACM continued our mentorship program for the spring semester and this was the kick-off dinner. New mentees were assigned mentors, and the pods got together to discuss questions they had. We also had three guest speakers from gAlpha, a Madison-based accelerator and development-sprint program and some of their participants, speak to us about their experiences with the program.

WACM Explains: Basic Linux Session

Spring session:
No of participants: 20
Date: Feb 1, 6:00 PM
Every student of the CS department is expected to work in a Linux environment. Linux and the command line can be a little intimidating if one has never used Linux. WACM organized a Basic Linux’ workshop open to all students of the CS department to build practical familiarity with the Linux environment, and using the university machines to create and test assignments. Experienced members of WACM volunteered to answer questions, provide assistance to those learning and keep the session as an experiential lesson rather than a lecture.

Intel Meet & Greet

No. of participants: 30
Funded by: Intel
Date: Sept 13, 11:30 AM
Intel organized a meet and greet with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and WACM. Representatives from Intel offered insights into the work culture at Intel, and reviewed and offered suggestions about resumes.

WACM Bi-weekly Social Lunch

This is the perfect gathering for all WACM members and Women in Tech to stay in touch, exchange updates about the advances in relevant field and most of all meet people with similar goals and aspirations. In each cycle we choose a different theme or a topic for the day and use the luncheons as a way to let off some steam and go back to our schedules reenergized, fresh and inspired. These lunches give students the opportunity to regularly interact with female Professors in an informal setting. This is a "bring your own food" event and a sum of up to $7 is reimbursed upon receipt display. We generally have 25 participants in each of these sessions.
Fall 2017 Calendar:
October 17 : Kick off
October 31 : All about Grace Hopper Conference.
November 14 : Internship-Hunt !! What is the right gear for your adventure!?
November 28 :What WACM? Why WACM? Who WACM?
December 12: We love Exams
Spring 2018 Calendar:
January 30: How to get involved in WACM
February 13: Network the right way
February 27: Improving Self confidence
March 13: Learn about Coding for Good ,Transcend​, Hackathons

WACM Brunch

No. of participants: 25
Funded by: Microsoft
Date: Nov 19, 8AM
Every fall WACM brings women in the CS department together through a breakfast event. This was an opportunity to meet new women who just started their journey in CS at our school. Microsoft Jim Gray Systems Lab generously sponsored this breakfast at La Brioche.

Donut Social

No. of participants: 7
Funded by: CS department
Date: Nov 16 , 5:00 - 6:00 PM
A meet and chat session over donuts.

WACM @ Wisconsin Science Festival

No of participants: 80 kids + 20 volunteers
Funded by: CS department
Date: Nov 2-4
WACM hosted a station at the Wisconsin Science Festival with a Binary Birthday Bead Bracelets Activity, which allowed participants make a bracelet with two different colored beads that represented their birthday and initials in binary.

WACM Visit to Google

No. of participants: 49
Funded by : Google
Date: Nov 2nd
WACM members visited the Google campus in Madison,WI. This was a great opportunity to learn about the work done in Google outside of the Valley, engage engineers in conversation, check out the office, and also get some food!

Fall WACM Mentoring Kick-Off Dinner

No. of participants: 32
Funded by: Google
Date: Oct 27, 5:30 - 7:00 PM
WACM held a kick-off for our mentoring program on Friday, October 27. We outlined the mentoring activities for the year, guidelines for the mentors, and gave a brief introduction of topics that mentees can talk to mentors about. We also had fun icebreakers! !

Breakfast with Qwiklabs Founder

No. of participants: 22
Funded by: CS Department
Date: Oct 20, 8:30 AM
This was a breakfast and informal networking session with Nidhi Aggarwal, entrepreneur and founder of Qwiklabs and notable UW-Madison alumnus. Qwiklabs was sold to Google in 2015. Currently, Nidhi is a venture capitalist in the Boston area. Nidhi was visiting the campus this fall to receive an Early-Career Achievement Award and for the Industry Advisory Board meeting.

WACM Explains: Basic Linux Session

Spring session Repeat:
No of participants: 10
Date: Feb 15, 6:00 PM
Every student of the CS department is expected to work in a Linux environment. Linux and the command line can be a little intimidating if one has never used Linux. WACM organized a Basic Linux’ workshop open to all students of the CS department to build practical familiarity with the Linux environment, and using the university machines to create and test assignments. Experienced members of WACM volunteered to answer questions, provide assistance to those learning and keep the session as an experiential lesson rather than a lecture.

Professional Development and Opportunities at Kohl's

No. of participants: 9
Funded by :Kohl’s
Date: Feb 22nd 5:30 PM
In partnership with Kohl’s, WACM provided an opportunity for attendees to learn about professional development. Participants engaged members of Kohl’s technology team in discussion about job search and interviewing, and self branding. This was also an opportunity to learn about the work that drives Kohl's large operations at scale and the internship opportunities they have there.

Kohl's Tech Talk

No. of participants: 18
Funded by: Kohl’s
Date: Sep 28, 5PM
Kohl's is America's largest department store chain by the number of stores. The technology team at Kohl’s works with the cutting edge of technology to solve problems in retail. Members of the tech team presented a talk about Innovation at Kohl's and Emerging Technologies in Retail. Interacting with the developers was a way for students to learn about combing CS disciplines and applying them to solve problems that impact end users.

WACM Fall 2017 Kickoff Dinner

No. of participants: 40
Date: Sept 21
WACM had the first meeting of the academic year to outline goals, talk about the events we organize, and provide attendees with information about the opportunities they had available to them through the organization, like the Grace Hopper Scholarship and Mentoring Program.

Career Panel: A day in the life of a female computer science professional

No of participants: 40
Funded by: CS Department
Date: Apr 13, 6:30 PM
This talk was designed to help undergraduate female computer science majors learn about careers in the Information Technology profession. They heard a panel of experts - Madison women working in the technical field - tell their personal stories. Participants engaged panelists about questions such as: Why they entered the IT field What they liked and disliked about it How they got to where they were at that point How their education prepared them for their career What they wish they had known when they were still in school Whether they had any mentors or others along the way that helped them at critical moments How they balance family life with their career

Target Tech Talk

No. of participants: 22
Funded by: Target
Date: Sep 20, 6PM
Annette Schultz and Bjarte Haram, two passionate Software Engineering leaders from Target joined WACM members for a casual dinner and networking event after a tech talk on Agile Development and Diversity and Inclusion @ Target. Students learned from and questioned the leaders about how a large organization like Target encourages diversity of all forms and inclusion in the workplace as a driver to innovation.

Lunch with ARM

No. of participants: 10
Funded by: ARM
Date: Sept 19,12 PM
WACM members were joined at lunch by ARM, the semiconductor company that architects the pervasive intelligence that is transforming our daily experience.ARM-based chips and device architectures orchestrate the performance of the technology that makes modern life possible. During the lunch, ARM representatives spoke about ARM, what they do there, how the company got where it is today, and what life is like after college, as well as answered any questions about their technology, working with semiconductors and hardware and working life in general.

Technical Interviews with Codecinella

No of participants: 45
Funded by: CS department
Date: Sept 14, 2017
WACM partnered with Codecinella to conduct a mock technical interview sprint. The interviewers were local professional female software developers. Attendees received practice with a technical interview and feedback on their interview and resume. Light snacks and tea was provided by the department.

WACM Semester End Dinner + Study Session

No. of participants: 13
Funded by: CS department
Date: Dec 14 , 5:30 - 6:30 PM
WACM held a dinner and study cram session on Thursday, where members could study with some fellow CS women and grab some food while they were at it.

Haylee Jane

I'm a senior here at UW doing an honors major in Computer Science with a certificate in Math.

Yugali Gullapalli

I am a potterhead with a Bachelors degree in Computer Science, now working towards Masters in CS.

Anne Ulrich

I am a junior, double majoring in Math and Computer Science, from Appleton, Wisconsin.