Tea and Crumpets: A Summer in Science

Looking for a way to connect with other rad women in tech? Check out the Rewriting the Code Fellow program. It's a great way to meet other like-minded individuals and get access to great job opportunities. As a Fellow, you have the opportunity to attend webinars (like the one on Cybersecurity last week and the one on internship prep yesterday), tech talks, special interest groups, meetups, and more. I joined Rewriting the Code as a Fellow about a year and a half ago. As a Fellow, I have gained not only a community of women across the country but also within my school. I have other Fellows in my engineering classes, and it is great to know you have these women to go to for homework help, study sessions, and general support. In addition to meeting people, I have also learned a lot. The webinars and tech talks are chalk full of relevant tech topics. There are even special interest groups for those looking to delve a little deeper into specific subjects. Just a few months ag

Did you know that...? Have you heard that...? I recently read that...  Is that how most of your sentences start? Well then No Such Thing as a Fish might just be your next media binge. The London-based podcast spends 30 minutes each week discussing four interesting facts from the week before. Each of the four hosts brings their fact and lets the conversation loose, allowing the other hosts to add tangential information and related stories. They cover everything from current events, to weird science, to just plain useful information (and the British accents are pretty rad too).  Some great facts include learning about how IKEA furniture is named, why it takes 10 years to learn how to make plastic sushi in Japan, and where 1% of the world's wood goes. Notable episodes include: Episode 185: No Such Thing As A Scottish Snow Episode 189: No Such Thing As A Meringue-Utan Episode 183: No Such Thing As A Bouncy Theatre  Be sure to check out No Such Thing as

Code Girls  by Liza Mundy "The first American to learn that World War II had officially ended was a woman" reads the first line of the Smithsonian article lauding the release of Liza Mundy's book Code Girls about the amazing women who helped break codes for the United States during WWII. We all know the story of Alan Turing, the code-breaking computer scientist that created the machine to crack the German Enigma code during World War II. You've maybe seen the hit movie The Alan Turing Imitation Game , starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Kiera Knightly. The British code-breaking operation at Bletchley Park is well known, but few people know about the American counterpart, and fewer still know about the women that were integral to the success of its mission. The Code Girls  by Liza Mundy beautifully chronicles their story. From their origins in mathematics and physics classes at college during a time when women typically did not pursue higher education, or

Ever walk down the street and see a beautiful mural and wonder who created it? Or what it signifies? Enter Artistreet . This site, created by students in my Girls Who Code classroom, identifies street art in numerous cities across the United States. Global Warming  by Shepard Fairey located in Miami The girls created the site by scraping open-source elements from other sites and combining and expanding through their own original code. They worked mainly in HTML, incorporating CSS and JavaScript to make their site more interactive. They also incorporated Google Maps to show the locations of the different street art in real time. They did this all in under two weeks! They did multiple rounds of user testing and refined their design multiple times from the feedback of both other students and UI professionals. The Owl  by Brooks Golden located in Chicago The final product is a website that is coded well, educational, and aesthetically pleasing. As their teacher, I am

There is lots of wearable tech out there, with varying designs and capabilities. As wearables grow in popularity, some people dislike the obvious "tech" look of products like the Apple Watch or FitBit. Enter Blinq . The ring, currently on Kickstarter, is a panic button that looks more like gem than gadget. The ring is a panic device that can be activated when the wearer feels they are in danger by a customized series of taps, which trigger an emergency message to be sent to a set of emergency contacts. The ring can also be synched to your phone, delivering notifications through vibrations and lights, allowing you to set your phone aside. But functionality is not what set Blinq apart. It's the chic design that does not give away its high tech purpose. The stones are genuine gemstones, and are set in silver or 14k gold. There are 12 different design options with three available finishes (silver, gold, and rose gold). The designs are modern but classic, and there

Smart Woman Securities Logo Smart Woman Securities is an organization focused on promoting financial literacy among women. There are chapters at colleges across the country, and I am a member of the UPenn group. As a new member, you are required to attend a series of lectures on different aspects of personal finance as well as corporate finance and the markets. They are taught by senior members of the group and guests. These lectures are very informative and are simplified enough to reach beginners but also in depth enough to engage more experienced students. At the conclusion of the lecture series, students are broken into groups and prepare a pitch for senior members of the club. Successfully completing the lecture series and pitch formally completes the initiation process and students officially become members of SWS. As members, they become eligible to attend the annual SWS national conference, and other events. SWS Membership Progression After finishing the lecture ser