Role Models/Mentors

Cognitive Science and Computer Science, University of Pennsylvania, Class of 2016

When I first came to Penn, I had originally intended on majoring in architecture. I had thought that the field's mixture of art and science, of creativity and problem solving were perfect for me. I didn't even sign up for Penn's introductory computer science class until the 5th day of classes, after the encouragement of one of my hallmates. In the end, I realized I enjoyed my computer science assignments much more than my architecture assignments, and I knew I was sold.

As a rising sophomore, I now intend to double major in Cognitive Science and Computer Science. Over the summer, I intend to stay on campus and do research on computational linguistics ad natural language processing. I also love working with the computer science community here at Penn. I am on the board of the Women in Computer Science residential program, organizing social events like dinners and discussion with Professors. I am also in Penn’s computer science club, the Dining Philosophers, helping to organize tech workshops and educational outreach in Philadelphia.

Philosophy and Government, Colby College, Class of 2008

I'm a web developer for a small web and iOS consultancy called thoughtbot. I'm a Bay Area native, Dev Bootcamp graduate, Railsbridge alum, and TDD believer.

Before taking the plunge into web development, I was doing marketing for start-ups, both in house and as an independent contractor.

I double majored in Philosophy and Government at Colby College (no CS background) so I'm interested in mentoring people taking non-traditional paths in the tech industry or just awesome people!

Computer Science, University of Manitoba, Class of 2016

I was first introduced to computer science at the age of 15 when a good friend of mine convinced me to take an intro course with her. Within the first couple of classes, I knew I had found my academic niche.

Programming involves the aspects of mathematics I most enjoy with a unique way of thinking about problems. I often find myself subconciously mapping out code for various computer applications I come across in day-to-day life. One thing I love about computer science is that each and every problem can be broken down into smaller, simpler problems. A sense of accomplishment is reached throughout the entire developement process as each module is completed and perfected. I have yet to find this abundance of gratification in another field of studies.

I began my undergrad in the fall of 2011 at the University of Manitoba, located in central Canada. Although I have enjoyed my courses thus far, I am looking forward to starting co-op work terms in January 2014 to gain industry experience. An area I have become particularly intrigued with is the implementation of graph theory in code and am excited about a related summer research project through NSERC. I am also currently volunteering at a local high school to work with girls who are enrolled in their computer science courses. Computer Science has become such a passion of mine and I enjoy taking opportunities to encourage fellow females to discover computer science, and all its beauty, for themselves.

Computer Science, Stanford University, Class of 2014

When I first came to Stanford, I had zero programming experience. I was a Biology major until mid-way through my sophomore year when I took CS106A. After hearing so many good things about the class, I decided to take it for fun, never expecting to take another CS class in my life. After the first class, I fell in love with CS. The class broke all of my preconceptions about CS being a boring and uncreative field. I was excited to learn the tools of problem-solving that could allow me to create a range of projects to contribute to the world of technology. From that first course on, I switched to being a computer science major and never looked back. This, summer I will be interning at Amazon as a software developer and could not be more excited!

Computer Science, Stanford University, Class of 2015

Hi! I'm Catherine, currently a junior majoring in computer science (CS). I spent the first two years at Stanford intending to go to medical school. At the same time, I discovered CS freshman year and immediately liked it. After my internship at Google last summer, I gained the confidence and reassurance that CS was something I did want to pursue fully, and I abandoned my medical school pursuits thereafter. Now, after obtaining my Bachelor's degree, I'm taking an additional year to earn a Master's degree in CS. I definitely believe CS is a route worth considering for anyone who enjoys problem solving and using analytical skills.

Computer Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Class of 2014

Hello! My name is Lavanya Iyer. I am a Junior studying Computer Science (CS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).

My interests in CS developed from seeing my dad work as a Software Engineer during my childhood and taking CS classes in high school. I also participated in UIUC's Technical Ambassadors Competition (TAC) when I was a Senior in high school and I won second place. I'm glad that I made the right decision to major in CS. :)

My leadership positions are President of Women in Computer Science, Webmaster Assistant for Society of Women Engineers, Web Designer for Engineering Council, and the CS Ambassador for Engineering Student Alumni Ambassadors. I recently represented CS@Illinois at an ECE-CS UIUC alumni reception during Spring Break and gave a speech on my experiences at UIUC.

My plans for the future are to start off as a Developer in a software company and grow to be a Project Manager. I may also obtain a PMP certificate or an MBA along the way. Lastly, I want to continue outreaching to middle and high school students about CS.

In addition to majoring in CS, I have been learning Indian classical music for over 16 years and Indian classical dance for over 13 years. These two art forms are very close to me; and have immersed me more into my Indian culture. In my spare time, I like to sing, dance, play the flute, listen to music, watch movies, and code computer games for my younger brother!

I would be a strong role model because I am really passionate about Computer Science and have experience working on multiple projects. I am also a well-rounded person and I have multiple interests outside of CS.

I feel that CS is helping to shape our world into a better place to live in. Literally any profession in the world today needs some aspect of CS in any shape or form. It is up to our generation to continue and increase this influence; and solve many of the problems that plague our world today. I hope to be a significant contributor in the future towards this goal.

North Carolina State University, Masters in Computer Science and Analytics

Hello! My name is Andrea, and I am from Peru. I got my BS in Computer Science from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru in Computer Science in 2008. I have two Masters Degrees from North Carolina State University (NCSU), one in Analytics, the other in Computer Science (2012). At NCSU, I was president of the Women in Computer Science student organization; I won a scholarship from Google to attend Grace Hopper in 2010, and attended Grace Hopper in 2011 and 2012. I've done internships for companies like Walmart and Inmar. I am currently an ambassador for the Anita Borg Institute and an active member of Latinas in Computing group in the US. I will be joining the Institute of Advanced Analytics at NCSU as a Research Associate late this year. As part of my transition from school to the workforce, I am one of founding members of the group, Women in Technology, in Peru.

North Carolina State University, Class of 2013

My family got its first computer when I was in 8th grade and I was fascinated by the amount of information I had at my fingertips. In my free time I was able to teach myself HTML & CSS. I became hooked to the satisfaction I got from seeing the fruits of my labor as I tinkered with syntax. I later volunteered to redesign and maintain my high school's website to continue learning and refining my skills. At the time, I had no idea what the world of computer science held, but my guidance counselor thought I was the perfect fit for the career. In retrospect, I'm thankful I took her advice because of the opportunities I've experienced, people I’ve met, and skills I’ve learned.

My current plans are to graduate with a Masters in Computer Science and begin the next chapter in my life as an application developer at ThoughtWorks. I'll be spending an exciting first six weeks at ThoughtWorks University in Bangalore, India, where I'll have the opportunity to embrace a new culture and become familiar with Agile software methodologies and technologies. After ThoughtWorks University concludes, I'll move to the San Francisco office to begin my career.

The opportunities I’ve experienced during my undergraduate and graduate years have fed my passion for computing. The challenges I overcame by working on different projects during internships at Cisco Systems, Lexmark International, and Goldman-Sachs have shaped my skills and continue my drive for web application development. I truly believe that the insights gained from having the pleasure to work along with seasoned developers and forming bonding relationships with mentors would have been hard to come by in a classroom setting.

I’ve held several positions in student organizations at NC State as motivation to offer my advice and insight to others with my past experiences. I represented the College of Engineering as an Engineering Ambassador during between my sophomore and senior year to motivate prospective and current students to lead a career in an engineering field. As a graduate student member and webmaster for the Society of Hispanic Engineers, I’ve mentored undergraduate members in career and academic decisions. As former webmaster, vice president, and current president of Women in Computer Science, I’ve had the opportunity to help with the growth of the community and support for the advancement of women in computing at NC State. Recently, I’ve volunteered with helping with the start of a local chapter of Girl Develop It by serving as a teaching assistant for an introduction to HTML & CSS course designed for women in other fields that are interested in learning more about programming.

Last but not least, networking with other women at conferences, workshops, and meetups such as the Grace Hopper Celebration and CRA-W Grad Cohort have been additional sources of motivation to never stop learning.

I come from a Mexican family that did not have access to education past middle school and as a first generation college student, I am extremely appreciative of the education I’ve had access to in this country. I’m highly motivated to pay it forward by inspiring students, especially girls, to pursue a rich education in a field that evolves every day and is filled with challenging problems and opportunities.

PhD in Computer Science, North Carolina State University

I always say, "nothing looks sexier than a girl with long well kept manicured nails feverishly typing code"!

Yes I am a computer geek with well kept manicured nails... I love long hours spent with the computer and long facials at a local spa... I have a passion for writing beautiful code (yup I used the word beautiful) and for taking unique photos (yup I am a novice photographer)... I am so fortunate that I belong to CS field in this age and date, such very very interesting times, when technology is changing the core essence of our way of living! And guess what... I am a small part in deciding and making that change happen.

If you are considering a future in CS/IT, you my friend are doing yourself a favor. Doubts? Questions? Concerns? Looking forward to talking with you! :)

Computer Science, Cornell University, Class of 2015

Jisha is studying Computer Science in the College of Engineering at Cornell University. When she first came to Cornell, she had had no experience in programming, but fortunately for her, she came across mentors and excellent resources which made her take her first computer science class in her first semester, and she loved it so much that there was no looking back.

She has really enjoyed some of her classes like Machine Learning, Data Structures, Algorithms, Computer System Organization and Functional Programming. Her primary area of research is Machine Learning and she is in love with Python. She co-founded and worked on a startup, Yorango, the summer of her freshman year as well as attended the Google Android Camp where she learnt android programming. She is interning at Google this summer and is eagerly looking forward to enhancing her experience. She believes that is important to get a variety of experiences working on different projects and ideas to truly explore computer science. At college, she is constantly on the go and gets involved a lot to get the most out of her college learning experience. She is the Founder and President of the ACSU-W (Women in Computing), which is Cornell’s chapter of the ACM-W and strongly believes in the support for women in CS. She supports She++ in the combined endeavor to have more women role models in Computer Science.

PhD candidate, University of California, Santa Barbara, Class of 2014

I came to study Computer Science for my bachelor's degree for two reasons. First its lack of female students and second because I saw the future in learning technology. I'm currently pursing my Ph.D in Computer Science too :). My plans would be to teach CS at a foreign undergraduate level university. I learned from being a T.A for multiple undergraduate courses which gave me feedback of how freshmen students think about their future. I can be influential because I'm starting my own business in web development and know many successful stories including my brother who before graduation and no business feedback was able to dive into game programming and earn decent money. I feel that successful stories telling will be the theme of my mentoring. With that, I can give hope, expand domains and encourage females to join the study of CS.

University of Pennsylvania, Class of 2016

When I saw she++ being promoted by Upenn's Women in Science and Technology listserv I couldn't resist signing up. I took a coding class and am pretty comfortable with Java code and other smaller code branches such as Toy, etc. I am very involved in PennApps - a hackathon that allows you to promote your cool web/mobile app or startup ideas to win cool prizes and gain recognition. This cause is near and dear to my heart because I was hesitant at first to learn and embrace coding and now my job is to get girls excited about it and admit that it is a really empowering talent to be able to program!

University of Pennsylvania, Class of 2013

Hey girls! Currently, I am a 2nd year Masters student at University of Pennsylvania. I was born and brought up in India. I studied there till my undergrad. I came to States for Masters.

So, how did I get interested in this field?
My school and my cousins helped me getting exposed to the world of Computer Science. I used to stay updated with the new technologies and this fascinated me more to dig into this field.

My future plans?
I am going to take up a job at a firm in New York, the Financial Hub, after my graduation. I would be working on the firm getting more connected and benefited by the computer science knowledge(most importantly, coding knowledge) I have.

My work experience?
Techy Stuff --> I have done 2 internships. One in India during my undergrad and other at Bank of America during Masters. I was a board member of CSI(Computer Society of India) at my undergrad school.

Non-Techy Stuff --> I am the Co-founder and ex-President of SWE (Society of Women Engineers) Graduate Section at University of Pennsylvania. I have done a lot of volunteering for NGOs back in India.

Bottom Line: I am entrepreneurial, creative and techy at the same time. Always motivated to make technology help the society in a cool way!"

Ph.D Computer Science, North Carolina State University, Class of 2016

Hi girls, I am a 2nd year PhD student pursuing Computer Science at NC State University. I was born and brought up in India and earned my undergrad degree in "Computer Science and Engineering" from there. After working as a 'Research Fellow' for a year at one of the prestigious institutions in India namely Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, I landed here in US (in the year 2011) to pursue my PhD in Computer Science.

Being an international student, I had to learn many challenging things at the beginning. But eventually, I started to feel more comfortable both with the educational structure and the lifestyle. I have always been very excited about all the cool stuff that you can learn in this area. You just have to sit somewhere with your laptop, code few lines and voila!! you just created your own world. You absolutely don't need some heavy machinery or a well-equipped lab to sit for hours in order to do an experiment. Isn't that cool? :)

At present, I serve as an officer in different student clubs at my university viz. 'Women in Computer Science', 'ACM/AITP NCSU student chapter' and 'Computer Science Graduate Student Association'. I also have a huge experience of working as a Teaching Assistant for several core courses in the department. I do love to teach as well!! One of my near future goals in the area is mentoring. I sincerely want more and more female students to come up and do the coolest things in the world together!! When I learnt about She++, I could not think of a better place to start with.

I am looking forward to talk to you and would absolutely love to share my side of the story. Let me wrap up with a very favorite quote of mine which says, "The purpose of computing is insight, not numbers." (By Richard Hamming).

Computer Science, North Carolina State University, Class of 2015

My interests began with my father who since I was five years old worked at Microsoft, but I always wondered if I could really see myself in such a male dominated place. College is where I began meeting strong women in computer science that inspired me to stay in computer science. Because of their help and my initiative I am currently a leader in our campus' National Society of Black Engineers, a teaching assistant for Java I and preparing for an internship at Intel this summer all as a first year student.

B.S. Symbolic Systems 2013, M.S. Computer Science 2014, Stanford University

When I first arrived at Stanford, I thought I was going to be a doctor. I took the traditional pre-med courses and even spent my first summer running experiments on lab mice. However, given Stanford's renowned school of engineering, I figured I might as well try my hand at CS.

With no previous experience, I enrolled in CS106A with Mehran Sahami. For the first time, I felt completely out of my element - the class forced me to think and problem-solve in a whole new way, and I loved it. I eventually realized that my passion was not in the lab, but in CS. That first class led to another, and before I knew it, I was an engineer.

Three years later, I am now pursuing my masters degree in CS with a focus in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). Because I have more of an artistic background, I was naturally drawn to HCI, which allowed me to weave design classes into my schedule as well. I fell in love with the process of taking something from just an idea to a finished product. I had the opportunity to do just that as a product management intern this past summer, and hope to keep doing so in the future!

B.S. Computer Science, Stanford Class of 2014

I am interning at the Accenture Technology Labs in San José this summer. I've been doing some coding for the digital health group which is coding up a rails application to help professionals keep track of their patients' information (vitals, appointments, etc..) with charts, reminders, and notifications in case of abnormalities. I've also been doing research for the yearly Technology Vision that Accenture writes, which is essentially a report in which they try to inform CIOs and CEOs of big companies (their clients, notably) about what is going to be big in the tech world in the year to come (trends and impact on business and IT).

I'm looking forward to taking some more CS classes in the fall, and for the moment, have planned to take CS147 and CS221, to explore the different paths.

I got interested in Tech when I moved from France to Silicon Valley. At first, I chose Political Science/ International relations classes, but from the second quarter on, I realized I wanted to be involved in and gain more knowledge in what was, at least in my eyes, the most dynamic field and department at Stanford. I loved how passionate and cutting-edge the faculty (and students!) were, and decided that was something I wanted to be a part of.

I took Winter quarter of my freshman year off for medical reasons, and that is when I got into Computer Science. At first, I was taken aback by how much free time I had and didn't really know what to do with it. But then I started watching videos from CS classes at Stanford and got completely engrossed. I did most of the work for CS106A during my time off, and gave myself assignments and readings which kept me busy and more stimulated and challenged than I had been in a long time. I liked that, on top of being interested and challenged, I also laughed uncontrollably when watching some of the class videos and knew from that moment that it was a good fit. It was not the dry kind of challenge, but something fun that I could see myself playing with in my spare time, for the sheer thrill of it.

I have been really attached to this discipline ever since, because I remember how - empowered- for lack of a better word, I felt after merely a couple video tutorials. Even sitting at my desk back home in France, I felt like I had as much to contribute as I did when I was at Stanford. I came back Spring quarter with completely different ambitions, and a new taste for a field which had never appealed to me before.

B.S. Computer Science, Stanford Class of 2012

M.S. Computer Science, Stanford Class of 2013

There was a computer fluency class at my high school that met once per week for one trimester freshman year. Topics included powerpoint, iMovie, and a single day of programming in Java. We had to fix a broken ticket machine by adding an a simple tweak. I thought it was so fun! I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I enjoyed it so I signed up for more computer classes through Columbia University's education program for high school students to figure out what that programming thing was all about.

It wasn't until a few years later when I learned about how scientists used computers to model effects of global warming that I began to understand the wide-ranging impact my newfound interest could have. I started to to take it seriously as a possible career. That was just the beginning. As I explored Computer Science through my four years at Stanford, I kept learning about incredible new ways that innovations in the field can change our world.

BS Computer Science (Theory), MS Computer Science (Software Theory), Stanford Class of 2010

I came to software engineering by way of a love for theoretical math. As a high school student, I attended a math camp in my home state of Texas. There, I got my first tastes of rigorous logical thinking through a Number Theory course, which was supplemented with a computer lab in which we wrote a bit of code in Mathematica, an interpreted functional programming language. It opened the door for me to study both higher level math and computer science when I got to Stanford. I found that I preferred the rush of coding something up and seeing it in action over writing math proofs (though I do still enjoy that), so I got my degrees in computer science and became a software engineer.

I've also been active in helping introduce new students to computer science by being a section leader and teaching assistant for introductory cs classes, which was gratifying in itself and also helped solidify those topics in my own mind.

As an undergrad, I interned at Facebook for a summer. Since graduation, I spent two years working at Google, and am now at Udacity creating tools for math courses.

B.S. Computer Science (Human Computer Interaction), Stanford Class of 2013

I first got interested in engineering my junior year of high school when I joined my schools FIRST robotics team. I got my first exposure to many parts of the engineering process and learned to love the design process of analyzing the problem presented to us and figuring out how to solve it. I have taken that love of design and applied it to computer interfaces and systems, designing products as a pm at Microsoft and Google during my past few summers. I am really excited to continue finding big problems like organizing data or parsing information and using my design and technical skills to solve them. I want to make a difference, and I think technology will help me make a positive impact on the world.

Software Engineer, Google

I started college with this vague idea that I was going to be a doctor and started taking a lot of chemistry/pre-med courses, but I wasn't super passionate about this. During my sophomore year, my best friend convinced me to take an introductory computer science class and I instantly fell in love. There was just so much more freedom to solving the problems! Most of my chemistry problem sets were based on memorization, but this wasn't how things were in CS; instead of being told how to solve the problem, I was just told here is the problem, now go solve it however you see fit. So I immediately changed my major; I appreciate both the challenge and opportunity to bring my own creativity to solving diverse problems.

Fundamentally, a software engineer uses a computer to solve problems. We write code (these are instructions telling the computer what to do) to create a solution to a problem someone has asked us to solve, create, or enhance. Put another way, software engineering is providing the "brain" behind much of the items we use daily to make them operate correctly -- from computers, to cell phones, to word processing applications, to websites – and of course – Google! Most of software engineering is designing the best solution with your team – here is where diversity of views and approaches becomes most helpful because the more ideas you can bring to the table, the greater the opportunity to develop something together no one person would likely develop alone. In addition to problem solving and teamwork, you also need to be able to clearly explain your ideas and be willing to incorporate someone else's idea into a final solution.

B.S. Electrical Engineering (Circuits & Devices), Stanford Class of 2013

M.S. Electrical Engineering (Computer Hardware), Stanford Class of 2014

I just finished a quarter abroad in Berlin and a summer internship at Bosch Energy and Building Solutions in Stuttgart, Germany. My new main priority is preparing for the coterm program in Electrical Engineering, but as a member of the Senior Class Cabinet and the Tau Beta Pi leadership, I'm also working with my teammates to plan exciting events for the upcoming school year.

My family was really great at introducing me to engineering at a young age. Both my parents are engineers, so I was raised on Legos and Tinker Toys and encouraged to challenge myself by taking hard classes and participating in engineering-related competitions like Science Olympiad and FIRST Robotics. Engineering really clicked for me as a career choice thanks to a series of great teachers in math, programming, and science at my high school, and my experiences as an engineer at Stanford have confirmed that I made the right choice.

Choosing engineering has given me the opportunity to work on really cool projects that I otherwise might not have gotten to. My freshman year I tried out research and got to work in the Stanford Nanofabrication Lab, donning a bunny suit and etching my own wafers. As a member of the Stanford Solar Car Project, I've gotten to learn how to weld, machine, and lathe things, but more importantly, work with others on an awesome, multi-year project. My favorite experience in engineering so far was my summer internship at aerospace firm Blue Origin. It was amazing to work with such a dedicated team of rocket scientists! Engineering opens the door to a wide variety of fields, so it's perfect if you like trying new things and learning a lot.

B.S. Computer Science, University of Pennsylvania, Class of 2015

Hi! I'm Clara, a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania. I didn't learn how to code until I came to Penn - but fell in love with it shortly after. I've since joined the Women in Computer Science board to help establish a strong community of women in CS within the CS community at Penn, and joined PennApps Labs - a group that works on building different tools for improving the school. Unrelated to tech, I tutor middle school students in West Philadelphia and it has been a transformative experience for me. I also have a number of different side projects I like to hack on, just for fun and to keep my skills sharp. As a freshman, I interned at a startup called Solve Media, and this summer I will be interning at Tumblr, and am a HackNY Fellow. As much as this sounds like a complete cliche - I believe in tech being the future - the key to making this world an easier place to be in. I really hope to one day start my own company - doing something I feel adds real value to society, hopefully in the ed-tech space. I feel strongly that this kind of initiative starts today.

Software Engineer, Palantir Technologies

B.S. Computer Science, Stanford University

I first discovered programming when my Dad gave me a book on Python for beginners. I had a lot of fun working my way through the book, but it didn't occur to me until I reached Stanford that programming was actually a valid career path. Despite the fact that I loved the CS classes I was taking, I spent my first year at Stanford wondering if I could really make it as CS major. Eventually, I decided that there probably wasn't another major that would make me happier, so I took the plunge and haven't looked back.

I love a lot of things about CS, but there are two that really stand out. First of all, I love making things. I get a rush out of building something from the ground up and then watching it work. Having taught the introductory CS class at Stanford for many quarters, I've seen dozens of students experience the same thing when they first play their own Breakout game. That feeling is what I live for, and it's why I'm a software engineer.

Second, I've always been fascinated by patterns and puzzles, which led inevitably into the study of math. Pure math was always a little too esoteric for my taste, but I loved the theory of computing. The math we did was grounded in practicality but abstracted away from the details of implementation. Every problem set was like solving a series of puzzles: finding patterns and connections and then using the rules of logic to prove their existence. My current job is heavier on the engineering than on the math, but I'm always happy to discuss the finer points of graph theory or the running time of an algorithm over dinner.

These days, I'm mostly hanging out at Palantir, writing some code and finishing up the last couple classes in my masters. School was great, but I'm excited to finally be out in the world building some awesome software!

Venture Capital Associate, Mohr Davidow Ventures

M.S. Computer Science, Stanford Class of 2012

I've been programming since I was 10. I liked Computer Science more than any other subject even then. From Basic to ActionScript, C++ and Java in high school to pretty much every other popular language framework heard of today, I love the breadth and complexity this field has to offer while still making me feel like I can tame the chaos because at the end of the day all I have to do is step through the logic.

I section led CS 106A my freshman year, took the rite of passage Operating Systems and graduate AI classes my sophomore year, implemented the Old U Room Reservation System as Co-Chair of the ASSU Exec Cabinet my Junior year, RCC'ed at Storey my senior year and TA'ed Compilers my coterm year among other activities. I've also been fortunate enough to have had awesome internships at Microsoft and Facebook along the way, and now I'm taking a deep dive into the startup world and the VC profession at MDV where I help source deals and assess potential investments. I've always tried to push myself out of my comfort zone and Marissa Mayer and Jocelyn Goldfein have been awesome role models for every time I got nervous or under-confident. I hope to start my own tech company someday and continue to play my part in solving huge, challenging problems. It's an exciting time to be a part of the tech world and to witness how it radically disrupts every other industry vertical.

Computer Science, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Class of 2015

Hello Ladies!

If you're reading this, then that means you might be interested in Computer Science or Engineering for the future! I'm happy whenever I hear that someone else is interested in CS especially if they're a girl! I became interested in CS when I was just entering middle school, and, because I lived in Redmond, WA I had the opportunity of attending a camp at Microsoft called DigiGrlz. There I learned about the different opportunities girls can find in the technology field, and I learned about the Microsoft Internship offered to Juniors and Seniors in High school. I made it my goal to get into those programs then, and by pursuing every opportunity I had to learn about CS throughout Middle school and high school, I earned the job! I can say for sure that the internship at Microsoft helped me when applying for colleges. I would love to advise any middle school or high school girls interested in finding opportunities for them to explore CS, or help with college applications.

Harvey Mudd alumna, University of Washington student

Lilian has a strong passion for working with science and technology, which is immediately apparent in the enthusiastic way she talks about them. More importantly, she also has a clear understanding of how much they can impact society, for better or for worse. Her desire to develop technology for the better is a major driving force behind how she chooses to take this passion. Now that she graduated from Harvey Mudd College with distinction, she is starting her graduate studies at University of Washington. There, she chose to join the Ubiquitous Computing Lab, which values social impact as one if its main philosophies.

Lilian demonstrated her mentoring abilities a number of ways over the last few years. In the academic realm of computer science, she worked as a grader and tutor for the last three years. Her hours were so well visited that she often had to keep a mental queue of who was next in line for help and offered to stay late a number of times. She also mentored people beyond academics. Over the last year, she was chosen for the voluntary position of "dorm mentor," in which she looked after and helped foster her dorm's community. Her outgoing and approachable personality made her quite popular among a number of the dorm's freshmen. She also has experience with specifically mentoring young women in technology, from as early has her high-school years when she was a co-captain of an all-girls robotics team. Just last fall, she was also selected to mentor a group of freshmen women for Harvey Mudd College's annual trip to the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing.

Computer Science, B.S and Technology Management at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management

As a young child, I remember following my father, a software engineer, to various electronic stores and gazing through the aisles filled with items from motherboards to mouse pads. By the time I was ten, I began coding websites, and realized that this was something that I was talented in, while also bringing me great joy. Soon after, I began to be known around school as someone who was very “tech-savvy” and was often asked by my teachers and peers to help with technical issues. In high school, I also became very involved with community service and as president of the Interact Club, a sector of Rotary International, I used my technical and graphics design skills to create informational videos, marketing campaigns, and websites to educate my school about certain causes that I believed in. In this process, I also led a team of student leaders by directing a show called “International Night”, an international talent showcase, where 100% of the profit from ticket sales and donations were sent directly to the cause of our choice each year. It was at this point that I realized that I wanted to pursue a career in technology while also learning to become a strong business-minded individual. In college, I decided to expand my education in technology by pursuing a degree in Computer Science. In addition to my passion for Computer Science, I also wanted to expand my knowledge in business, and as a result, I was selected to enroll in the Technology Management program at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, where I was able to learn about the world of Venture Capital, Marketing, and Finance specifically for the technology industry.

Shortly after my freshmen year, I was invited to participate in the Google FUSE program, where I had the unique opportunity to create a strong network of students like myself who were also working towards degrees in Computer Science. This experience allowed me to learn more about different fields of technology and I began to shape my interests and see what field I wanted to work in. Through my passion for technology, I earned my first internship at Oracle, and began my career within a major technology company. In addition to interning at Oracle, I also decided to explore the start-up world in the San Francisco area. This past summer, I completed an internship at a company called Chartboost, where I had the unique opportunity to build an entire mobile application for iOS from the ground up. At Chartboost, I interacted frequently with the engineering team, the business team, and the design team, to bring a unique user experience to the application. Through this experience, I have decided to pursue a career in either mobile application development or product management and I hope to be able to expand in those fields after graduation.

Graduate Student, Computer Science, Berkeley

I am a graduate student in CS at Berkeley and I'm very passionate about my work. I love talking to people about science and technology and the opportunities that both provide. It's a very exciting area that the media doesn't present well.

I have done academic internships and I worked before returning to graduate school. As a result, I'm a huge advocate of exploring and developing one's own interests even if they don't seem to have immediate application. I haven't always been interested in science and sometimes it still feels like a new field to me.

Stanford (CS, BS 2012), Carnegie Mellon (Human-Computer Interaction, MS 2013)

I got interested in CS/HCI after taking a freshman seminar on CS and Business. After that, I ended up taking classes in Comm related to HCI while doing the 106 series. I realized I like the way CS makes me think: the logic of it, the excitement of fixing something after nights of segfaults, and building systems.

My desire to study HCI was cemented after a CURIS internship with Scott Klemmer and taking the HCI core classes (super fun!). I've held internships in industry software development and research and can advise on the grad school app process. Outside of school, I was General Manager of KZSU Stanford where I also developed web apps for fun. I'm interested in educational tech: I taught a Splash class on programming in Scratch. At CMU, I created a flash game to teach first-order logic.

Computer Science, University of Southern California, 2013

I came in undeclared as a freshman, thinking of possibly being a Math or Physics major. I knew I loved solving problems, but wasn't sure about what exactly I wanted to pursue. I took an introduction to Computer Engineering class during my first semester under the instruction of a great professor, where we programmed these cool robots to navigate through mazes and play robo-football. By the end of the class, I was completely sold, as I really enjoyed attending lecture and doing all the homework assignments. I loved coming up with alternative ways of solving a problem, and then reasoning out why solving it one way was better than another. I also enjoyed seeing immediate results of my hard work, as the robot would move, spin, turn its head or beep as I wished!

I think it is the best feeling ever when you spend a few hours programming and problem-solving at a computer, and you leave with a functional product, such as a website or even a robot-slave! Convinced I had found my calling, I went ahead and declared my major as Computer Science after completing this course, and have never looked back ever since. I also always had a side interest in genetics and evolution, which lead to declaring my minor as Computational Biology/Bioinformatics.

I've had two summer internships at Microsoft in Redmond, Washington. I was an explore intern after my sophomore year, where I got to do a month each of software engineering, software engineering in test, and program management. It was a really fun program, specially designed for underclassmen who are thinking of pursuing technical majors. I returned the following summer as a Program Manager intern, which is more customer and product-design focused, but I quickly realized that I really missed programming (geek-alert!). So now, I will be joining Intuit's leadership-focused Software Engineering RDP program in Silicon Valley after graduation!

I've also been doing research in Software Architecture, where I've had some exposure to the more academic side of Computer Science, which is very exciting as well. I've also had leadership experience by having been the Vice President of USC Association for Computing Machinery, and currently as the President of USC Women in Computing. Thus, pursuing Computer Science in college has given me a breadth of opportunities inside and outside of the classroom that I don't think I would have had otherwise, and is therefore easily the best decision I've made in college :)

BS CS '12, ME Engineering Management '13

Najla majored in CS at Cornell. Towards the end her her undergraduate years, she realized that she had a passion for HCI and user experience. She joined the OpenComm research team (http://opencomm.github.com/about.html). OpenComm works on multi-user communication, and implements front-end changes that correspond to new capabilities presented on the backend (for example, building better capabilities for Voice Over IP. For the team, she did Android development, led other programmers, and did design work; eventually she managed the whole team. She is currently continuing her education in engineering management so she will be able to facilitate software engineering projets better.

She has done internshsips with a number of companies (Cisco, Barclays Capital, Windows), and has been invovled with the Startup community. I should add that Najla was awarded the Marx Prize last year; this award is given to a graduating senior based on demonstrated leadership qualities, extra-curricular activities (both in and out of Computer Science), and for being generally friendly and helpful to classmates and others.