Press Releases: Seventh Grace Hopper Conference Opens with Record-Setting Participation
Numenta CEO and Founder, Donna Dubinsky, addresses how we can build intelligent machines modeled after the neocortex.
Florida, October 17, 2007 — The 2007 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference (GHC), underway here today, has set new records for attendance, scholarship awards, sponsorship, and underwriting. More than 1400 technical women and men from 22 countries will participate in the event, which continues at the Hilton Hotel at Walt Disney World through Saturday, October 20, 2007
The annual Conference, the world’s largest technical gathering focused on women in the field of computer science, is a program of the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI) and is co-hosted by ABI and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). www.gracehopper.org.
GHC addresses important technical developments, examines the critical issues and impact — social, business and cultural — facing women and minorities in computing and technical fields and showcases the efforts and achievements of key leaders in these fields.
Kick-off keynote speaker, Donna Dubinsky, has been at the forefront of the personal computing revolution over the last twenty-five years. At Numenta, Dubinsky has turned her attention to creating the next generation of computing, intelligent computing – computers modeled after the neocortex. “I’ve had the great fortune to participate in the computing revolution, helping create enormous change in our society” said Dubinsky, former CEO of Palm and of Handspring. “I hope to inspire next generation computer scientists to work on making computers more intelligent. I believe that such efforts will have huge impact on our world over the coming decades.”
A second keynote on Friday morning will be given by Maria Klawe, President of Harvey Mudd College. Prior to joining HMC, Klawe served as dean of engineering and professor of computer science at Princeton University. During her time at Princeton, Maria led the School of Engineering and Applied Science through a strategic planning exercise that created an exciting and widely embraced vision for the school. At Harvey Mudd College, she is leading a similarly ambitious strategic planning initiative known as “HMC 2020: Envisioning the Future.”
Nearly 300 panelists, workshop leaders, and presenters — all of whom are leaders in the field of computing and technology, will engage with conference attendees to explore the state-of-the-art in computing technology, examine strategies for attracting and advancing women in science and technology professions, learn career-building skills, and celebrate the accomplishments of women in computing and technology.
“Growth in technology is outstripping the supply of qualified technologists, so it is particularly encouraging to see so many individuals and organizations coming together to support and nurture increased roles for women in technical professions,” said Telle Whitney , ABI president and CEO, and a co-founder of GHC. “This conference is but a glimpse of what is possible if the world of computing can become more inclusive of women. It is proof-positive that together, we can change the world for women and for technology.”
Grace Hopper Conference 2007 Sponsors:
Corporate and Government Sponsors
Platinum Corporate Sponsors: Cisco, Google, HP, IBM, Intel, Sun Microsystems, and Microsoft. Platinum Government Underwriter: National Science Foundation (NSF). Gold Corporate Sponsors: Amazon, CA, and Yahoo. Silver Corporate Sponsors: Argonne National laboratory, eBay, Goldman Sachs, Intuit, Juniper Networks, SAIC, Salesforce.com, Symantec, and Thoughtworks. Bronze Corporate Sponsors: Adobe, NetApp, Oracle, and AT&T Research Labs. Supporter Corporate Sponsors: Akamai Technologies, Chubb, Harris Corporation, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and State Farm Insurance. Start-Up/Non-Profit Sponsors: National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), Invent Your Future Enterprises. Founding Sponsors: Computer Research Association (CRA) and CRA-W.
Academic Underwriters:
Gold Academic Underwriters: Georgia Tech College of Computing, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Science, Princeton School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and University of Southampton. Silver Academic Underwriters: Carnegie Mellon The Information Networking Institute, New York University, Northwestern University, California Institute of Technology, and UC Berkeley. Bronze Academic Underwriters: Calit2 and Jacobs School of Engineering, Penn Engineering, Indiana University, Tufts, University of Iowa, University of Texas at Austin, UCSC Baskin Engineering, UCSD, and University of Waterloo. Affiliate Academic Underwriters: Arizona State University, Cornell University, Pace University, Purdue University, Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Arizona, University of Delaware, www.STARSAlliance.org, and The College of Computing and Informatics at UNC Charlotte.
About the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI):
In an increasingly competitive global marketplace, the Anita Borg Institute provides resources and programs for industry, academia, and government to help them recruit, retain, and develop women leaders in high tech fields resulting in higher levels of technology innovation. ABI programs serve high-tech women by creating a community and providing tools to develop their careers. ABI is a not-for-profit 501(c) 3 charitable organization. ABI Partners include: Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft Corporation, Sun Microsystems, Google, IBM, Intel, Cisco, Juniper Networks, Career Action Center, National Science Foundation, Symantec, NetApp, and Capgemini. www.anitaborg.org.
Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing is a program of the
Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI)
and is co-presented by the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology
and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).
www.gracehopper.org