Girl Power! Encouraging News on Girls in Tech

I’ve written a lot on the alarming lack of interest of girls (and boys) in technology careers. This week I read some encouraging news I wanted to share.

Google’s inaugural science fair was held on Monday and the three winners were all girls! Google reviewed more than 7,500 entries to bring the 15 top applicants to Google headquarters for final judging. These 15 were interviewed by luminaries in technology, including a Nobel Laureate, National Geographic Explorers, and some of Google’s best and brightest.

As we know, there is no shortage of younger girls interested in math and science, but for some reason that drops off in middle school, yet these girls were all teenagers. Let’s hope their interest continues. We need smart people like this in technology!

Driving Students to Tech Careers

I recently read an interesting interview with three senior executives at Google. The article was about women in technology, but one of their points intrigued me. They hypothesized that the prevalence of technology in our lives (smart phones, Facebook, etc.) will drive more young people to technology careers. They will use it and some will be curious about how you create a smart phone or an application like Facebook.

This sounds likely to me. Recently, I was speaking to a group of girls and shared that I had no idea what Engineering was when I went into college. All I knew was that it used math and science and I could get a good job when I was done. That was enough for me at the time. Fortunately, I enjoyed the intellectual challenge of solving problems and the satisfaction of creating something from scratch.

Now a days, when I describe what Advanced Decisions does, I have plenty of commonly known examples to point to. My typical “definition” of embedded systems programming is “writing software for an electronic device like your phone or your car, or your microwave, or medical equipment.” People usually understand that.

Do you think the prevalence of technology in our lives will generate interest in careers in tech? If not that, then what might? One of the points the women made in this article was that it’s not really about just women in tech. We have a shortage of programmers and engineers and need more regardless of gender.

Girls in Technology

A few weeks ago I spoke at Housatonic Community College’s Girls in Tech program. See this article in the CT Post for more.

Kudos to HCC for putting this on. It’s such an important issue. These were 7th and 8th grade girls, mostly from Bridgeport that had the opportunity to attend the expo and learn more about what kinds of careers are possible with a good solid STEM education. The possibilities excited them, and fortunately, this is the time to do something about it.

At this stage in their schooling they still have the opportunity to take advanced math and science classes and get the grades required to get into top schools and get scholarship money. This is the age where girls lose interest in math and science, but seeing what they can do with a strong STEM education, many of the girls were inspired.

Choices like nanotechnology and crime scene investigation are not obvious, but really inspired the girls. Many of them said they would devote themselves to their studies, with the goal of entering one of the intellectually stimulating and high paying careers presented at the Expo. I’d call that a success!

Getting kids interested in Software Development

One of the things I worry about is the lack of talented young people going into software development. I know when I’ve been looking for junior engineers, it’s been almost impossible to find them, so I’m always on the lookout for ways I can help promote Software Development, Engineering or other STEM careers among young people. I think it’s critically important to the future success of our country.

That’s why I was so intrigued when I read about Kodu Game Lab, then I remembered something about this in Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture (if you’re one of the very few people that have not seen this – it is a MUST SEE. Yes, it’s long, but years later, just thinking about it still brings tears to my eyes) - a tool, or game, or learning environment invented at Carnegie Mellon called Alice. Two seconds on Google, revealed that there were quite a few of these tools, (or games, or environments, or whatever you call them)

I think these tools (or games, or environments, or whatever you call them) are brilliant ideas, but I don’t hear about them being used too much. Has anyone out there had any experience or first hand knowledge with any of these?

The Next Generation of Techies Part 2

When can a fourth grader kick the butt of a seventh grader? At the New Haven Science Fair!

As I mentioned last week, I had the privilege of judging the first round of the New Haven Science fair on Tuesday. Many of the entries were great but there was one in particular that just blew me away. A fourth grade team did their project on which crop would produce the best bio-fuel. An admirable project to be sure, and one that was of particular interest to me since I’ve been following the Alternative Energy market. But what really impressed me was the way that they went about it.

For any of you that have not been involved in a science fair – it’s really not about making the correct hypothesis, it’s about the process, and the process that these kids came up with was quite impressive. They only had a short time to work these projects so what they did was break it into two phases. First they grew three different “crops”, soybeans, sunflowers, and radishes. They measured the output – quantity of bio-matter – grown in a specific length of time. Then, because they did not have the ability to convert it into bio-fuel, they took already prepared oils, sunflower and soybean, and measured the heat output. Now I realize that there could be a lot of factors in the conversion process, but remember – these are fourth graders.

Not only was the way they designed the experiment impressive, but their analysis was thorough and their explanation clear and complete. If this is our future, I’m a little less worried!

The Next Generation of Techies

One of the issues near and dear to me is the lack of engineering talent, especially at the entry levels. Without these young people going into engineering, sciences and other technical fields I just don’t see how we can compete in the world economy. So when I have the opportunity to do something to support this goal, I jump on it. Next week I’ll be judging my first Science Fair for the City of New Haven. I’m really looking forward to it.

I’ve judged events like this before – most recently the Invention Convention up at UCONN last year, and boy was it fun! I can’t wait to see what these bright young people have come up with.

For more information, or to become a judge yourself, here’s the link:
http://www.nhsciencefair.org/

Getting a Job as an Engineer or Programmer

I know a lot of people that have been out of work for a long time.  Most of them are continuing the battle.  So what can they do to increase their chances?  Besides the obvious (networking, personal introductions, etc) there are ways candidates can stand out from the crowd even when they don’t have a personal connection in the hiring company.

First some basics, I am amazed at how many candidates don’t return phone calls, or when they do they’re rude, disinterested or worse.  I’ve had phone conversations with your typically “crusty” engineer, and I even had a candidate recently swear at me.  Actually, not just once, but a long angry “F-bomb” laced tirade.  I understand he was frustrated, but calling me names did not make me inclined to help him out.

Ok, so assuming you have some basic common sense and social skills what can you do to stand out?  Do a little research – check out my company.  At least know what we do, better yet, have some relevant questions.  Next, have some ideas how you can add value to my company.  Interviewers need to figure this out – make it easy on us.  If you have prior experience in my industry, highlight it.  Don’t just assume that because it’s on your resume it will be obvious.  Finally, tell me something about yourself that differentiates you.  Please, please, don’t tell me you have good people skills or are a self starter. It may well be true, and it may be very important for the job, but it’s so cliché, it’s meaningless.

And for extra credit?  Go above and beyond and do some more research.  Find someone in the company or a former employee (LinkedIn is a great resource for this) and get more info about the culture, and what the job entails, and then tell me how you specifically, with your unique background and skill set can help make my company more successful.  The more specific the better, and if you can tell me how you’ve done this in the past, even better!

Good luck, and keep the faith!