Program Schedule: Friday, October 19 - Session 4
Invited Change Agents Panel
Location: Salon VIII
Presenters: Wafa AlMansoori (Bahrain), Zeinab Safar (Egypt), and Irina Khomeriki (Georgia)
Inaugurated in 2006, the Anita Borg Change Agent Award, supported by Turning Award winner Fran Allen, celebrates women from developing regions who work at the intersection of technology and gender. True change agents, the three winners this year exemplify positive technical role models in their countries and support efforts to increase women’s participation in technical fields. From grassroots efforts to multilateral campaigns, the 2007 awardees have developed creative and successful strategies to combat gender prejudices and unequal access to technical resources, while demonstrating that IT is a rewarding industry with unique opportunities for women. Please join this panel to not only celebrate the accomplishments of these women, but to gain a perspective on the benefits and challenges that technical women experience around the world – some universal, some specific. At a time when the forces of globalization shape technical education, innovation and outreach, come challenge the conventional notions of the “lat world” against the spikes and valleys that truly exist, while exchanging effective practices and ideas with the award winners.
Technical to Management: Expect the Unexpected - A Synopsis of Two Women’s First Year Experiences
Location: South Ballroom
Presenters: Jessica R Eidem (IBM), Tara G Pelletier (IBM), Beverly Crair (Cisco), Susan Miller (Sun Microsystems)
Imagine, two new IBM managers from different divisions and locations collaborating to learn from one another. Each has a unique experience in moving from a technical role into management. The presentation will cover many topics that these colleagues have encountered during their first year of management. The purpose is to either strengthen women’s intent to move into management or help them decide to stay technical.
Split session: Scaling up
Location: Salon VI and VII
Finding Semantically Similar Objects
Presenter: Yu Deng (IBM T.J. Watson Research Center)
Similarity search has received significant attention from both industry and academia, due to its wide use in many applications. A range of approaches have been proposed in different context. This presentation will be focused on how to use ontology to find semantically similar objects considering complex situations in practical systems. Moreover, various related solutions, such as string matching and entity resolution, will be covered in the discussion.
Paradigm shifts, new technology requirements, and a solution path: the future of computing
Presenter: Ramune Nagisetty (Intel)
We are at an evolutionary crossroads in computing and will have to respond by negotiating multiple right hand turns. I will review market, usage, and technology trends. I will also review Intel’s approach to facing these challenges including ManyCore architecture, novel memory technologies, and tri-gate transistors. Finally, I will highlight that these challenges translate into opportunities for young women to be pioneers.
Unique Needs: Producing a long-lasting outreach program
Location: Salon III
Presenters: Sonya Harris (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Deborah Keyek-Franssen (The Colorado Coalition for Gender and IT), Mindy Hart (Purdue Univesity)
During this panel discussion, we will share our ideas and experiences in an effort to inspire other schools to join our passion. We anticipate a dynamic discussion on current programs and how-to topics such as: producing an outreach program that meets your unique needs, building a great presentation, targeting females by breaking stereotypes, maintaining an outreach program, how to train presenters, and ways to get funding.
The 2007 Anita Borg Award for Technical Leadership Winner
Location: Salon I and II
Presenter: To be announced at the Banquet Thursday evening
The winner of the 2007 Anita Borg Technical Leadership Award is recognized and celebrated as an outstanding women technical leader. The recipient receives a $10,000 cash award and honors at the Conference’s Awards banquet Thursday evening. This will be our first opportunity to talk with the winner about her work since she received this recognition.
The winner is chosen because she has inspired the women’s technology community through outstanding technological and social contributions. Through her leadership she has increased the impact of women on technology. She has demonstrated how her work has covered new ground and her technical leadership has increased women’s impact, representation, and effectiveness in the technology arena.