Outreach

 Women@SCS is committed to encouraging, supporting and mentoring others while increasing the visibility and impact of women and minorities in the Computer Sciences. This organization is one of several that lead many outreach activities at the local and national levels.

Outreach Materials

Roadshow Presentation

The goal of the Women@SCS Roadshow is to introduce children to the many areas within computer science. Women studying computer science at Carnegie Mellon University visit elementary, middle, and high schools to share how they first got interested in computer science, what computer science means to them now, and what they hope to do in the future. The presentation includes a slide show, question-and-answer style interaction, and an interactive demo.

"The Exciting World of Computer Science" Poster

Women@SCS created a poster that exposes students to the many different fields within computer science. Feel free to download and display these posters at your school.
High resolution (9.6 MB)
Low resolution (6.9 MB)

Workshops

TechNights (Creative Technology Nights for Girls)

Creative Technology Nights for Girls is a program focused on exposing middle and high school girls to creative technologies. Using computer animation, web design, programming, robotics, and interactive medias, we hope to engage a future generation of women in technology.

Take Your Child to Work Day

Every year on the fourth Thursday of April, Women@SCS runs programs that celebrate "Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day". At this event, children of Carnegie Mellon's staff and faculty take part in the Roadshow or a hands on robot building session.

Google/Women@SCS Girl Scouts Day

In 2008, Women@SCS will take part in a technology day for Girl Scouts that is cohosted by Google. Women@SCS will run a Human Computation Session and take the girl scouts on a tour of the Robotics Institute.

Expanding Your Horizons

Women@SCS run workshops entitled "Is There a Robot in your Future?" at the Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) conference in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2007. This is a nationally held event aimed at increasing the participation of girls and women in mathematics and science. Our robotics workshops have proved to be a very successful part of EYH in Pittsburgh gaining high acclaim from participants.

Girls, Technology and Education

In 2001 Women@SCS presented a Forum on girls and technology in education and entertainment. The event successfully brought together more than 160 teachers, academics, students, and members of the business community for a full afternoon of talks and brainstorming. Together, the group that was present discussed topics ranging from girl-friendly classroom strategies, to software game development and beyond. One of our featured speakers, Megan Gaiser, is President and Executive Producer of Her Interactive, home of Nancy Drew interactive games. The company designs, develops, and markets award-winning interactive games for girls ages 10 and up. It leads the industry in creating computer games that expand a girl's choices, computer skills, and mind.

Mentoring Programs

Big/Little Sisters Program

The purpose of the Big/Little Sisters Program is to strengthen the bonds between women in SCS and encourage a forum for discussion and support. We pair freshmen Little Sisters with upperclassmen Big Sisters. The Big Sister/Little Sister relationship serves as an excellent way for first year girls to get to know someone in the department whom they can look up to and ask for guidance. Furthermore, the program encourages Big Sisters to share their experiences and perceptions of computer science.

Grad/Undergrad Sisters Program

The Grad/Undergrad Sisters Program matches junior and senior undergrad women in computer science and female grad students in SCS. The matches are intended to be a low-key and fun way to get to know another member of the CS community. Undergrads don't need to be considering grad school to sign up; the job of a grad sister isn't to convince undergrads to go to grad school, but to get to know them and develop a good relationship.

Conferences

OurCS: Opportunities for Undergraduate Research in Computer Science

Carnegie Mellon's OurCS Conference is research focused and provides opportunities for undergraduate women to work on exploratory problems in teams led by researchers from industry and academia.

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Women@SCS presents the Women@SCS Roadshow in the family science days. Family science days provide kid-friendly learning opportunities in science and technology. We have posted some great pictures of the presentation in our AAAS Photo Section.

Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing

Women@SCS presented at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006. This is a series of conferences designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. Presenters are leaders in their respective fields, representing industrial, academic and government communities. Leading researchers present their current work, while special sessions focus on the role of women in today's technology fields.

Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing

The Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing, held in honor of Dr. Richard A. Tapia, highlights creative, innovative, and original research and applications of computing for under-represented groups. Women@SCS members attended the conference in 2003 and 2005.