This will be a 3-person panel as they tackle all sides of the Tech Spectrum: Development, Governance and Technical Support. The speakers have a wide range of experiences, from beginner to senior level, please join us on June 21, 2016 for this discussion.  Please RSVP here.

Our Speakers and their short bios (please click on RSVP link for longer bio):

Lisa Massender, Associate VP of Customer Support

Lisa Massender is an accomplished executive, athlete, and powerful example of resilience in action.

Lisa began her career in the network security space and found passion improving customer facing teams to expose untapped potential.  In her current role as Associate Vice President of Customer Support at Sandvine, she leads an international team of technical professionals spanning more than 12 countries.  Responsible for post-sales support for over 300 customers, her job is demanding and complex and often requires extensive travel across the world meeting with customers. A quick thinker, Lisa has an uncanny ability to win over customers with her authentic approach and follow through, in even the most challenging of situations.

Rita Szukits, IT Projects and Governance Coordinator

Rita has been in love with technology ever since the internet was first shown to her in elementary school. In high school, she was the geeky girl who would rather stay inside during lunch hour to build websites for small local companies and practice her HTML coding.

In 2008, she graduated from Conestoga College with a diploma in Information Technology and joined Sandvine. Over the last 8 years that she has been with Sandvine, she has been a key contributor to the development and continuous improvement of Sandvineâ€s IT systems, infrastructure, and processes. During those years, she has continuously advanced her role within Sandvine, and is now the IT Projects and Governance Coordinator.

Linda Kerley, User Experience Consultant

Bio: TBD.

RSVP here. 

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About the Speaker: Jennifer Nguyen is a data scientist working at the Globe and Mail. She works with data on a daily basis to help the organization understand its audience and improve the reader experience. Before joining the Globe, she earned a Bachelor’s degree in math from the University of Waterloo majoring in statistics. Not having had enough fun with numbers, she went on to complete a Master’s degree in Computational Statistics and Machine Learning at University College London.

C-Suite: Operation STEAM

Join us on Tuesday, April 26th from 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm to hear top C-Suite Leaders share their stories and experiences in a ted-style talk. This will be followed by an open panel discussion. After the event, we will get a lovely tour of the new, beautiful NetSuite office. We are aiming to have a leader represent each of the STEAM branches: Science, Tech, Engineering, Math and also ‘A’ for Arts!

We have the following confirmed speakers:

Kris Bailey, Executive MBA, BA, MLT

She is the CEO of In-Commons Laboratory. Kris Bailey, a professional with an eye for the “bigger context”, has had a distinguished career in healthcare sector that spans a period of 25 years. From small to medium to large organizations, Kris Bailey led, inspired, made an impact and achieved results. Kris Baileyâ€s career portfolio includes leading roles with private laboratories, acute care hospitals, Ontario homecare and government health agencies and commercial organizations in Canada, United States and abroad. Throughout her extensive career, Kris managed people and budgets and engaged with regional leaders and stakeholders while helping organizations improve their operations and get “Value for Money”.

Bernadette Conant, MSc in Hydrogeology, BSc Earth Sciences

She is the CEO of Canadian Water Network (CWN), where she has been working with an exceptional team of individuals to improve the connection of research to application in the water sector since 2003. CWN plays a vital role in ensuring that Canada benefits from its investments in research to manage its water resources more effectively and becomes a world leader in water management. Bernadette has a BSc in Earth Sciences and an MSc in Hydrogeology from the University of Waterloo and holds the Faculty of Science Alumni of Honor Award from that institution.

Lisa O’Connell, Artistic Director and Entrepreneur 

Lisa Oâ€Connell is the founding Artistic Director of Pat the Dog Theatre Creation, the only playwright centre in Ontario open to theatre creators at all stages of their career. She instigated the Equity In Theatre Initiative to address the lack of woman created work on national stages which resulted in an International Symposium held April 2015 in Toronto. She is the recipient of a Special Jury Award (2015) and the Gowlings Literary Award (2010) from Arts Awards Waterloo and delivered the closing Keynote address at the Canadian Association of Theatre Researchers Conference in 2013.

RSVP now – limited spaces available!

Anyone else confused about what to use for social media these days? Whether it be for business or for personal? What’s ‘in’?  Also, learn how to use social media for career advancement! 

Igloo Software is lending us their expert on Social Media on Wednesday March 2, 2016 along with event space at their beautiful new office. Nerf gun battles and cake room?! We have so much to look forward to :).

About the Speaker: Marine came to Canada in 2012 after graduating from one of the top French business schools with a masters in Marketing – ooh la la! She’s been working with tech startups in the KW area ever since. At Igloo, Marine runs digital marketing campaigns, tinkers with the corporate website, wrestles with Excel on the daily, and has been known to tweet from time to time.

RSVP now – limited spaces available!

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February Recap

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-in-

Robotics

This week we visit the realm of robotics to take a closer look at a woman who is bridging the gap between humans and artificial intelligence to aid those in society that need it most.  Intelligent, compassionate and brilliant, letâ€s check out this weekâ€s Fantastic Female.

“Robotic Companions”

Dr. Maja Matarić

Dr. Matarić was born in Belgrade while still a part of Yugoslavia (now the capital of Serbia) in 1965 before immigrating to the United States in 1981.  She graduated from the University of Kansas in 1987 with a Computer Science degree, moving on to MIT where she received her Masterâ€s in 1990, followed by a PhD in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence 4 years later.

Maja is prolific in her field; in addition to publishing her own book, she has written over 50 journal articles since 1992, co-authored multiple book chapters and served as academic editor several times.  She is currently the co-editor and assistant editor of 4 different major journals.  She has even starred in 4 separate video documentaries.

If that werenâ€t enough, Dr. Matarić has an intimidatingly impressive CV.  Her current outstanding positions and accomplishments include being the Chan Soon-Shiong Chair Professor of not only Computer Science, but also Pediatrics and Neuroscience at USC.  Her research in robotics is done in the Robotics and Autonomous Systems Center she is the founding director of, as well as the USC Robotics Research Lab she co-directs.  Really though, itâ€s just the tip of the iceberg of the enormous list of awards she has received before the age of 50, including a  Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring in 2011.  It is consistently noted that Maja has accomplished much at a young age, and doesnâ€t appear to be slowing down any time soon.

What has driven Dr. Matarić?

            Human-Centred Robotics.

Whatâ€s that?  Connecting robots and people in social and therapeutic ways; pioneering the field of socially assistive robots.  Beginning with stroke patients, Dr. Matarić programmed her robots to recognize introverted and extroverted personalities to help with physical therapy; eventually programming them as well to modify their exercises as time went on with the patient.  Her goal is to create empathetic and caring robots able to provide traditional therapeutic caregivers†tasks.  She has broadened the horizon though from stroke survivors to Alzheimerâ€s patients and the elderly, as well as the young and autistic children, among others with special needs.  As such the research her lab does is extensive and her robots are programmed and tested to help with an individualâ€s learning, recovery, rehabilitation and training, but most of all, companionship.  While not meant to replace humans, the robots do act autonomously to provide the best support possible to the patient with the idea of providing a customized therapy session to supplement what is already provided in human interaction and/or enhance it.  You can watch a TED Talk about this here.

Accessibility is Key.

Dr. Matarić goes beyond research and labs and puts great effort into outreach.  Her published book is The Robotics Primer and companion workbook, aimed at being an accessible work to introduce the reader to robotics.  She develops school curriculum for students from K-12 in introducing and teaching robotics while working towards creating readily accessible information in the STEM fields and robotics in school systems.  She recruits women and other students to the field who might otherwise not have the chance.  Dr. Matarić wants to teach, mentor and prepare todayâ€s generation who will be the next leaders of the field, ensuring women can be an equal proportion of those leaders.  Outside of research, development and teaching, Dr. Matarić wants her programs and this technology to be accessible to as many as need it however that may be, but mostly through affordability; therapy is costly but robots donâ€t have to be.

As we look towards the end of 2015 and into the next year, let’s look towards a future where the goals of those like Dr. Matarić can be realised; where the technology we create is used for the benefit of society; where the most vulnerable and in need are brought to the forefront.

-Deanna Miller

 

Presents:

February Dinner

Topic: Tech & Innovation: The Mostly Unchartered Path of Innovators and Why Everyone Needs a Compass

Event Date: Thursday February 18, 2016.
Free to attend, sponsored by Igloo Software!

Register through the Library website: KPL!

In the spirit of family day, join us for an evening of Technology and Innovation at the beautiful Central Library! Bring a young guest (ages 12-17) as we explore the new and exciting 21st Century Library. Did you know about the Digital Media Lab which includes a 3D printer, a Tech Bar, and the ability to borrow iPads and WiFi hubs? All free to use at the Kitchener Public Library.

About the Speaker:  Angelique is the Founder & CEO of GainX, an international software company helping global businesses gain new market share and a sustained competitive advantage with disruptive innovation management tools.

Most recently, Angelique sat on the Canadian Group of Leaders Committee led by Canadian federal parliament, focused upon driving economic growth through innovation. She is an award winner for work in STEM and was recently nominated as one of Canada’s most influential women. In the UK, she is a member of the Royal Bank of Scotland Innovation Gateway Board. She works with several Fortune100s and Global1000s, she has coached over 75 SMEs in the last two years, and she enjoys mentoring in some of the worldâ€s top Start-up accelerators.

She has spoken on innovation, economic development and scaling businesses for the Canadian Parliament, the UK House of Lords, Intel, IBM, Goldman Sachs, the Enterprise Research Center Birmingham, Aston Business School, University of Waterloo, Conradâ€s MBET, Google, D+H, RBS, PwC, Delta Hotels, Innovators Alliance, and many more.

In her volunteer time, Angelique advocates for women in tech globally, including over seven years in Board positions. She also commits both equity and time to helping the Upside Foundation where start-up founders can make a difference in Canada by donating equity to charities of their choice.

Register through the Library website: KPL!

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Will your organization help us?

Got a cool venue? Willing to sponsor? Got free swags/giveaways? Email us!

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The inscription above the entrance reads “To great men, the grateful homeland”. Interment is extremely restricted and decided by a parliamentary act for “National Heroes”.  In this imposing, architecturally-stunning, and ancient building are buried many famous men, among them Voltaire, Rousseau, Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo.  One of the men there (Marcellin Berthelot) was granted the right to have his wife, Mme Sophie Berthelot, laid to rest beside him.  But it was not until 1995 that a woman was interred there of her own accord.

It took over 200 years; it took a game changer.

Born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1867, Marie Sklodowska had an early interest in the sciences and fervently pursued her passion.  She was unable to enroll in regular educational institutions as a woman which led her to attend the clandestine Flying University, a Polish patriotic school that allowed female students.  At age 24, after completing her initial studies, Paris beckoned, so she moved there to study physics, chemistry and math at the University of Paris.  She was completely devoted to her work, and met her partner in crime, Pierre, in the laboratory.  The two were married and had two daughters.  Marie took on a French identity, adopting the surname, Curie, but she never lost touch with her Polish roots.  She made multiple visits to her country of birth and taught her children Polish.  In the meantime, she continued her work conducting pioneering research on radioactivity, developing techniques to isolate radioactive isotopes, and discovered two elements: Polonium (which she named after her homeland) and Radium.  By 1900, her incredible achievements had led her to become the first woman faculty member at the University of Paris.

Over a relatively short period of time, her achievements and accolades were staggering: she was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize; she was the first person and only woman to win twice; she was the only person to win twice in multiple sciences; she was part of the Curie family legacy of five Nobel Prizes; she developed the theory of radioactivity  (and coined that term); she developed techniques for isolating radioactive isotopes; she discovered two elements (polonium and radium); the world’s first studies were conducted into the treatment of neoplasms under her direction; she founded the Curie Institutes in Paris and Warsaw, which remain major centres of medical research today and during World War I, she established the first military field radiological centres.

Marie Sklodowska-Curie died in 1934 at the age 66 due to aplastic anemia.  The likely cause was that she had carried test tubes in her dress pockets containing radium – not yet knowing the effects.

When I visited the Pantheon several years ago on a trip to Europe, I was overcome by its grandeur.  At that time, I had only a vague understanding of Curieâ€s contributions but when it comes to “Women In STEM”, I now know she was one of the key pioneers.

The lessons I learned were:

• If you love something, figure out how to do it
• Go clandestine if you have to
• Have pockets in all your dresses
• Donâ€t lose touch with your roots
• Always strive to be a game changer

You might not be awarded with a Nobel Prize, but you will definitely be rewarded with a life truer to you.

Want to be inspired?  Check us out on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter or visit our website www.girlgeekswr.com

Just over a month ago was the 200^th birthday of Ada Lovelace, who was born December 10^th, 1815 in London, England.  Hardly any list of important women in STEM is complete without Ada on it.  Ada is considered the first computer programmer, and accomplished much before he died at the young age of 36.

Ada came from famous parentage.  Her father, Lord Byron, and the inspiration behind the phrase “Byronic Hero” was a poet, womanizer, and just as infamous as he was famous.  Ada was his only child not to be born out of wedlock.  Ada obviously did not take after her father and it was instead her mother, Anne Isabella (Annabella) Milbanke who started the flame for Adaâ€s path into mathematics.  Her mother was well educated, worked towards educating young women and was never afraid of speaking her mind.  Annabella was gifted in logic and mathematics and had a strong intellect; to combat the negative influence of Adaâ€s father, she made it paramount she was educated in the same way.

Ada was mentored and tutored by Mary Somerville, a mathematician and astronomer we will discuss at a later point.  Through this connection, when she was 17, Ada met and got close to Charles Babbage; the mathematician who created early theoretical mechanical computers, notably the “Difference Engine” and the “Analytical Engine”.  They are theoretical because neither was actually built, much to the chagrin of the British Government, who began funding the machines in hopes of use for government purposes; funding stopped when Babbage abruptly interrupted perfecting the Difference Engine to begin working on the Analytical.

As a child, Ada had always been enamoured with machines and logically it was only a matter of time before Babbageâ€s work caught her eye as well.  Ada became fascinated by his Analytical Engine and began to work with Babbage, creating the first computer algorithm.  Babbage was so impressed with Ada he gave her the nickname “Enchantress of Numbers”.  Because the computers were not actually built, modern programmers cannot test her code on them, but she is still regarded as the first computer programmer.  Ada wasnâ€t simply asked to write a program though. An Italian mathematician named Luigi Menabrea had written a piece about the Analytical Engine, based on one of the many lectures Babbage gave while trying to promote and get funding for his inventions. Ada was requested to translate this piece. She went above and beyond though to the extent that her additions were longer than the original article itself!  Lovelace was no stranger to academic writing and was often hailed for it. In this particular instance, due to her intimate knowledge of Babbageâ€s machines and their intricacies and importance in the foundling “computing world”, her translated article contained detailed information about the differences between them and their functions.  She also included algorithms which would be able to run on the machine, would the machine be built. She wrote more than one but the most significant was one that ran Bernoulli numbers. Previously, mathematical engines required human input and were subject to human error when calculating numbers so this was significant as her algorithms required no constant human input; the machine ran the program on its own. The published Bernoulli algorithm is what is regarded as the first computer program.

Truly ahead of her time, Ada even proposed that the Analytical Engine could go on to perform tasks outside of mathematics—it could be programmed in various methods of artificial intelligence, such as creating music. Her idea was a machine with memory and ability to function on its own by recalling previous instructions; however she did not believe the computer could originate ideas on its own. Her ideas influenced, among others, Alan Turing and his papers on artificial intelligence; he speculated that their resources at the time would not encourage Lovelace to believe in the possibility of AI, rather than simply believing it impossible.

Adaâ€s influence has lasted much longer than her brief life. Unfortunately Adaâ€s life was not long, and she died of cancer at the age of 36.  Who knows what else she would have accomplished had she lived longer?

Adaâ€s accomplishments are incredible in the context of her era.  Women were not generally allowed university education and were discouraged from math and sciences.  Ada was fortunate to be surrounded by strong, smart women and men who encouraged her studies.  Babbage himself was supportive of women in math and science.  There were of course those then and those now that felt she either did not do the work that was published under her name, or doubted she truly had the intelligence that is claimed of her.  However these accusations are unproven and, given the time, it is doubtful she would have published ideas that were not hers, given how being exposed as a fraud would have been majorly detrimental to her cause.  Ada had said that she set out to be a better mathematician than her father was a poet; and it appears she did just that.

We have many things today that honour Ada.  There is the annual Ada Lovelace Day, which is an “international celebration of the achievements of women in science technology, engineering and maths” and aims to “create new roles for girls and women in these male-dominated fields by raising the profile of other women in STEM.”

There is also a computer programming language named Ada in her honour.

There have been and will be many and more other functions, events and organizations named or held in her honour as she continues to inspire and be a role model for women in STEM.  We are fortunate to have her as one of the famous women at the helm of STEM, and hers is an excellent example of pioneering in both a male dominated field as well as in emerging fields of technology.

– Deanna Miller

Are you feeling defeated from the holidays?  Are you overwhelmed, and nearly burnt-out already? Have you made your New Years Resolutions?

Don’t give up just yet!  

We’re here to help you set healthier and more realistic goals for 2016!

We’ll also host a de-stress yoga session with Angela Bryson from Angels-Landing Yoga and Wellness to re-align our spirituality and emotions as we give our body and mind the stretch it deserves.

About the speaker:

Angela began practicing yoga 20 years ago as a complement to her active lifestyle. She is continually inspired by yogaâ€s transformative power—both internally and externally. She now finds it to be a source of love and strength. She began to teach yoga three years ago, determined to bring a sense of fun, freedom and kindness to her students. Her classes can be either restorative or Vinyasa-based (linking breath with movement). There is strong emphasis on alignment leading to guided relaxation, leaving you feeling a little more peaceful, a little more centered, a little less stressed.

The layout of this event is going to be slightly different: we will have healthy snacks and drinks (as opposed to a heavy dinner), a goal-setting talk, followed by a yoga session.

**Please bring a Yoga mat and wear comfy clothes.**

Agenda Layout:

6:00pm – Doors open, mix and mingle, healthy snacks

6:20pm – Introductions, announcements and setting healthy goals

6:45pm – Mindfulness and yoga session

7:45pm – Q/A

8:15pm – Wrap-up

The event is on Friday January 29, 2016!

Address: 101 Randall Dr, Waterloo, ON N2V 1C5, Kitchener, ON (Old Crawford Building), venue space generously donated by WHITNEY & Company Realty Limited Space.

Looking forward to seeing you there, RSVP today!
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February Dinner: Technology and Innovation

Free to attend on Thursday February 18, 2016.

About the Speaker: Angelique Mohring, Founder & CEO of GainX Inc., will be our speaker and she will discuss Technology and Innovation. Full speaker bio to come.

In the spirit of family day, join us for an evening of Technology and Innovation at the beautiful Central Library! Bring a young guest (ages 12-17) as we explore the new and exciting 21st Century Library. Did you know about the Digital Media Lab which includes a 3D printer, a Tech Bar, and the ability to borrow iPads and WiFi hubs? All free to use at the Kitchener Public Library.

Register through the Library website: KPL!

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March Dinner: Social Media – Confused with what’s in and what’s not?

Anyone else confused about what to use for social media these days? Whether it be for business or for personal? What’s ‘in’?

Igloo Software is lending us their expert on Social Media on March 2, 2016 along with event space at their beautiful new office.

About the speaker: Marine came to Canada in 2012 after graduating from one of the top French business schools with a masters in Marketing – ooh la la! She’s been working with tech startups in the KW area ever since. At Igloo, Marine runs digital marketing campaigns, tinkers with the corporate website, wrestles with Excel on the daily, and has been known to tweet from time to time.

RSVP now – limited spaces available!