Media Alert: Grace Hopper Celebration Asks Women in STEM Fields "Are We There Yet?"

PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwire - Oct 1, 2012) -

WHO:

The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI) has brought together over 3,600 attendees from more than 100 leading companies, academic institutions and government agencies including Google, HP, Microsoft, Amazon, Cisco, Bloomberg, American Express, Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Symantec to inspire and connect women in computer science and engineering.

WHAT:

ABI's Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing conference takes place October 3-6 in Baltimore. The annual event, which is the largest technical conference for women in computing, this year addresses the theme, "Are We There Yet?"

Event Facts:

• Presenters include senior representatives from industry, academia and government
• 3,600 have registered to attend the sold-out event
• 300+ college undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral students to attend this year's conference

Conference Events:

• Keynote and Plenary Presenters Include:
  • Nora Denzel, Technical Executive and Corporate Board Member
  • Anita K. Jones, University Professor Emerita, University of Virginia
  • Francine Berman, Professor of Computer Science, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
  • Farnam Jahanian, Directorate for CISE, National Science Foundation
  • Andrea Norris, CIO, National Institutes of Health
  • Debora A. Plunkett, Information Assurance Director, National Security Agency
  • Dr. Laura Stubbs, Director for Science and Technology Initiatives, Department of Defense

• Scholarships: ABI, corporate sponsors and the National Science Foundation have provided scholarships for 17 local female college students to attend the event. In addition, 7 local colleges and universities have signed on as sponsors of the event (UMBC, Virginia Tech, Anne Arundel Community College Cyber Center, JHU-WSE Department of Computer Science, Loyola University Maryland, The George Washington University and University of Maryland College Park)
  
  
• Job Fair: More than 110 companies will be on hand to promote open technical jobs positions at all levels. This is a multi-day event.
  
  
• Code-a-Thon for Humanity: Area non-profits will benefit from this year's open source coding event on Saturday, October 6th. The group will be coding to benefit local organizations like Goodspeaks and Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance along with national groups like GNOME Alley, Kids on Computers, and others.
  
  

WHERE:

• Baltimore Convention Center
  Baltimore, MD

• Event hashtag: #GHC12

WHEN:
October 3-6, 2012

October 3 Special Events

• Career Fair - 4:30 - 10:00 pm
• Student research poster competition - 7:15 - 10:00 pm

October 4 Special Events

• Keynote Address from Nora Denzel, Technical Executive and Corporate Board Member - 8:30 - 9:45 am
• Career Fair - 10:00 am - 7:30 pm
• Industry panel on Big Data, Analytics, and Human-Centric Computing
• Technical Speakers include: Lori Clark, Chair of the department of Computer Science at the University of Massachusetts, and Judith Olson, Bren Professor of Information and Computer Sciences in the Informatics Department at UC Irvine.
• Tech Entrepreneurs Lab - 12:30 - 3:15 pm
• Awards Presentation - 7:30 - 8:30 pm

October 5 Special Events

• Keynote Address from Anita Jones, University Professor Emerita, University of Virginia - 8:30 - 9:45 am
• Career Fair - 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
• Industry panel on Lean and Agile approaches to development
• Technical Speakers include: Caroline Watteeuw, Global Chief Technology Officer and SVP, Business Information Solution Services at Pepsico, and Hilary Mason, Chief Scientist at Bit.ly
• Plenary Session - Technology in Government - 2:00 - 3:15 pm

October 6 Special Events

• Grace Hopper Open Source Day/Code-a-Thon for Humanity - 8:15 am - 3:00 pm

WHY:
Co-founded in 1994, the Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC) Of Women in Computing Conference is designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. With today's considerable interest in STEM education for young women and the gender inequity in technical fields, GHC serves as the leading forum for collaborative proposals, networking and mentoring for junior women and increased visibility for the contributions of women in computing. Conference presenters are leaders in their respective fields, representing industry, academia and government. Top researchers present their work while special sessions focus on the role of women in today's technology fields.