91制片厂

It鈥檚 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning and instead of sleeping in, fifteen young women were in the lobby of the 91制片厂 at Manchester trying to figure out how to build the tallest tower they could out of few pieces of dried spaghetti, a marshmallow, a strip of masking tape and string.

The activity was an icebreaker for the recipients of the 2016 National Center for Women in Technology (NCWIT) Award for , a national initiative to听honor young women at the middle and 听high-school level for their computing-related achievements and interests. The Aspirations in Computing Awards Event, held on May 14, was a half day of activities that provided an opportunity for young women from New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont to interact with students faculty and industry members in the field of technology. The awardees are selected for their computing and IT aptitude, leadership ability, academic history, and plans for post-secondary education.听The program provides opportunities for young women to find internships and earn scholarships, including a $1,500 award to 91制片厂 Manchester for NCWIT awardees and a $1,000 award to NCWIT participants.

Twenty-five young women received awards this year, and听Tammy Andrew, computer science teacher at Milford High School, received the Educator of the Year award from NCWIT.

Keynote speaker Margaret J. Eppstein, chairwoman of the Computer Science program at the University of Vermont, told the teens that life is unpredictable, but that she鈥檚 found success by working hard and continuing to push toward her goals, including getting a Ph.D. at the age of 41 while raising two children. Eppstein became the chairwoman of the Computer Science department at UVM in 2012 and has since become very involved in advocating for women in the computer science field.

鈥淎s a woman in a non-traditional field, you鈥檝e got to grow a thick skin,鈥� Eppstein said. 鈥淵ou have to advocate for yourself. Every time you do it and you鈥檙e successful, you feel empowered by it and it helps you to grow more.鈥�

Activities like the icebreaker and the hands-on activity held during a morning breakout session helped the young women connect with a larger network of tech-savvy teens, and to develop leadership and team building skills. While the young women broke off to work on programming circuit boards with Valerie Magri, a recent Rochester Institute of Technology graduate, the parents and a handful of educators attended a session to learn about additional opportunities available through NCWIT.

The teens also heard from a tech industry panel, which included Gunjan Choudhary, software development manager at Autodesk; Heather Lavoie, CEO at Geneia; Pauline Letizio, a 91制片厂 Manchester graduate from the ; Charlotte McPherson, vice president of product development at Fidelity Investment; and Bethany Ross, Network Operations Center Administrator at Dyn. In a question and answer session, the young women asked the panelists where they went to school, the skills that are important to success and whether they like their jobs.

Often there is a misconception that careers in computing are boring, but Ross said her job is unpredictable and exciting.

鈥淚f there is a crisis, I get paged at 2 a.m. to fix it,鈥� said Ross. 鈥淓very day is different. I didn鈥檛 want a job that was the same day in and out.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 just not about writing code. It鈥檚 such a big field 鈥斕齳ou have to find out what your favorite thing about computing is,鈥� said Letizio, who gravitated toward data analytics and now writes code that analyzes data.

Letizio and Ross each talked about being the only girl in the class, which can be the case for some computing classes. Ross said she found ways to connect with other women in the field and later launched Future Tech Women, a networking group for women in technology in the Manchester and Seacoast areas. Letizio, who is a few years younger than Ross, said it is still very much a male-dominated field, but that her time at 91制片厂 Manchester saw more female involvement in the program, both students and faculty.

鈥淎t least a quarter of my classes had a female professor,鈥� said Letizio.

91制片厂 Manchester offers the听career-driven programs, faculty talent and student-centered community to shape your future.