What’s the Grace Hopper Celebration?
Named after American mathematician and rear admiral in the U.S. Navy, a pioneer in developing computer technology, the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing is a series of conferences designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. It is the world’s largest gathering of women in computing. This year, the conference took place in Orlando, Florida.
Adeline Wang (UW EE ‘2020), Talia McCormick (UW CS ‘2020), and Swetha Prabakaran (Berkeley CS ‘2021) were asked this year to provide their thoughts on the event.
How did you like Grace Hopper this year?
Adeline – I had a great time. I bumped into so many familiar faces and met so many amazing individuals. I also learnt about all types of tech. Oculus had a booth, Lyft had their autonomous vehicle demo.
Swetha – You would have to try to not have a good time on a trip to Orlando! I definitely enjoyed the conference; it was my first time attending and I felt like I had a pretty good experience. It was really cool to see so many talented women engineers and leaders in one room, and I had a great time meeting so many people who have so many diverse interests within STEM.
Why should people go to Grace Hopper?
Adeline – You’ll find a great community of people at GHC, from your peers to mentors to sponsors.
Swetha – Grace Hopper is a great opportunity to learn more about the breadth of experiences available within all different areas of tech and technical opportunities and applications in other industries. It’s also an excellent way to meet a lot of amazing people and build your network!
What kind of things did you do and what was your favorite?
Adeline – My favorite were the parties at night, hosted by companies. It was a great way to unwind from the long days, and to catch up with friends.
Swetha – I mainly attended talks, met folks in the expo hall, and attended some unofficial meetups and events hosted by companies in the evenings. I tried to make sure I balanced all the different types of activities and do a little bit of everything. My favorite part of the conference would probably have been a talk I attended by Yamilee Toussaint Beach, the founder of STEM from Dance.
What advice can you give for those who want to attend Grace Hopper next year -how can someone get involved?
Talia – Start planning early! It’s a good idea to go through the list of talks & events in advance to identify your must-sees and the nice-to-haves – and pay attention to location. It’s a lot easier to go to two consecutive talks in the same building than it is to spend 15 minutes walking across the conference centre. It also makes it easier to pick a talk to skip if you know you’ll need a break to study (or take a nap). If you’re searching for coop or new grad positions, I strongly encourage you to submit your resume to GHC’s database and to attend the career fair early on the first day: many companies will give interviews throughout the conference or follow up after. Make sure to leave extra room in your suitcase because many of GHC’s sponsors will give out plenty of swag. I also recommend taking a break for a couple hours to relax and de-stress partway through the conference. It’s an incredibly busy three days & it’s important to make sure you don’t burn out before Friday’s closing keynote and evening celebration. Finally, of course – don’t forget to have fun!
What are some of your major takeaways from the conference?
Adeline – I went into GHC feeling unsure of my abilities, and of my interests, even in tech. I left feeling empowered, motivated, and ready to pursue my dreams.
Swetha – One of my main takeaways is that even though we have come a long way with diversity in tech, we still have a really long way to go. It was definitely very inspiring to be around so many people working to tackle these deep-seated problems in the tech industry and a very motivating experience to continue my own work towards those goals.
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