OU to host career fair and conference for women in the IT field

By Eric Reikowski, media relations assistant

Oakland University is set to host the 2011 Michigan Celebration of Women in Computing MICWC conference. Set for Friday, April 1, and Saturday, April 2, the event will feature presentations, panel discussions, a poster session and a career fair.

Anyone interested in learning about careers in computing fields or in advancing technology through the broader representation of women is encouraged to attend. Academic and industry leaders will be on hand to meet and mingle with conference participants.

"This event is especially targeted to high school seniors, undergraduate and graduate female students interested in technology careers," said Theresa Rowe, OU's chief information officer. "I'm going to be on a panel of women talking about work-life balance in the IT profession."

The conference will be highlighted by keynote speakers Jennifer Marsman, Dr. Betty H.C. Cheng and Dr. Leisa D. Thompson.

Marsman is a developer evangelist in Microsoft’s Developer and Platform Evangelism group and educates developers on Microsoft’s new technologies. In 2009, she was chosen as "Techie whose innovation will have the biggest impact" by X-OLOGY magazine.

Dr. Cheng is a professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Michigan State University. Her research and teaching interests include automated software engineering, requirements engineering, embedded systems development, assurance patterns, adaptive systems, model-driven engineering, systems biology and applications of evolutionary computing.

Dr. Thompson is an educational researcher who serves as the director of Research and Consulting for the National Center for Women & Information Technology-Extension Services (ES) for Undergraduate Programs. She conducts research on systemic reform for gender balance in computing and analysis on enrollment data provided by ES computing clients.

Conference sponsors include Google, Medtronic, New World Systems, Microsoft, the Association for Computing Machinery-Women, TechSmith, Oakland University, Michigan State University Libraries, Computing, and Technology, Michigan State University, Eastern Michigan University, University of Michigan, Michigan, Technological University, Lawrence Technological University, Walsh College and Central Michigan University.

Registration is open until Wednesday, March 31 or until full. For more information or to register, view the conference website.