WECode 2024
February 17-18, 2024
Impact by Numbers
600+ attendees
180+ universities represented
15+ countries represented
Speaker Highlight
A few of the phenomenal speakers of WECode 2024
Sue Harnett
Founder and CEO, Rewriting the Code
Dr. Beth Mynatt
Dean of the Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University, Former Executive Director, Institute of People and Technology
Elaine Zhou
Managing Director at Softwired Planet
Ursula Spencer
CEO at Dope Nerds
Telle Whitney
Co-founder of Grace Hopper Celebration, Former CEO of Anita Borg Institute
Media
Ohio Wesleyan University
The American Dream with Elias Torres
Conference Schedule of Events
Saturday, February 17th
Breakfast & Registration
Opening Remarks & Welcome
Presented by WECode Board with Rewriting the Code
Keynote: Forging a Human-Centered Path for Computer Science
Presented by Dr. Beth Mynatt, Dean of the Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University, Former Executive Director, Institute of People and Technology
Dean Beth Mynatt will reflect on her path as a computer science researcher, educator, university administrator, and national leader, drawing lessons from her experiences in advocating for and designing technologies for populations historically marginalized in computer science innovation: older adults, women, rural patients, and people with disabilities. She will argue that we need to center computer science on human and societal needs, necessitating courageous inclusion, deliberative change, and full circle innovation. Forging this path together enables our community to provide a much-needed course correction for our field, and to deliver on the real potential of computer science to address the world’s most wicked challenges.
Just Machine Learning
Presented by Tina Eliassi-Rad, President Joseph E. Aoun Professor at Northeastern University
Much has been said and written about biases in the machine learning (ML) lifecycle -- from task definition, to dataset creation and model definition, to the training, testing and deployment processes -- and how to "fix" these biases. It is unwise to focus only on the biases in the machine learning lifecycle and not on the complex processes that generate the data and the broader complex systems in which ML systems operate. In this talk, Tina Elliassi-Rad will briefly discuss complex systems and how studying these systems and their processes gives us insights into the potential risks and harms of using ML systems. If time permits, Tina will give examples of the impact of misin.
Tech & Social Good Panel
Featuring Madeline O'Moore (Senior Software Engineer at Regrow Ag), Ursula Spencer (CEO of Dope Nerds), and Dr. Beth Mynatt (Dean of Northeastern Khoury College
This panel explores the dynamic intersection of technology and social good, highlighting innovative approaches and cutting-edge solutions that leverage technology to address some of the most pressing social challenges of our time. The discussion will delve into various domains including education, environmental sustainability, and social justice, demonstrating how technology can be a powerful catalyst for positive change.
Resume and Networking Workshop for College Students
Presented by Xue Hua, SWE at Tesla
If you’re looking to secure that internship or that full-time role, this interactive session will guide you through crafting a standout resume that showcases your best skills and experiences. Also, learn to stand out and build connections through networking strategies!
“We are Here." A Healing Space for BIPOC Identities in Tech
Presented by Dr. Kristin Austin, Vice President of I.D.E.As in RTC
WECode invites Black, Latina, and Native/Indigenous attendees to a sacred space of sharing, empowerment, and belonging. Facilitated by Dr. Kristin Austin, participants can leave their masks and codeswitching at the door. This space is for liberation.
Lunch
Mentorship Circles
Northeastern Open Lunch
Think Like a Palantir Engineer
At Palantir, we are empowered to help organizations around the world solve some of their hardest problems. Our engineers work with our customers with tackle complex problems, such as combatting terrorism, investigating financial fraud rings, drug discovery, and building supply chain resilience. Part of our interview process is to see how you would approach one of these open-ended problems. Through this workshop, we'll work through a real-world example and give you the skills needed to think like a Palantir engineer!
Keynote: Optimism, Curiosity, and Balance: My Three Guiding Principles to Great Tech
Presented by Elaine Zhou, Managing Director at Softwired Planet,
This thought-provoking presentation is designed to guide aspiring STEM students navigate a successful career in Tech. This talk explores how combining the principles of balance, curiosity, and optimism can help you navigate a rewarding & challenging tech career in the AI era. Elaine offers insights on pursuing a grounded yet inspiring approach to your career, adapting in a rapidly evolving field, and staying resilient and motivated in the face of adversity.
Startups Panel
Featuring Tyra Oldham (Humasyst Global), Brittani Mack (Sr Customer Success Manager, LinkedIn), and Kim Roxie (Founder & CEO of LAMIK Beauty)
Panelists will discuss how they decided to venture into the startup space and their personal journeys in startup, from initial challenges to scaling their businesses in competitive and rapidly evolving industries.
AI Ethics Panel
Featuring Daniella DiPaola (PhD student at MIT Media Lab), Olivia Zhu (Senior Policy Advisor at the White House), and Alisha Valente (CIO/CTO and Enterprise Architecture Technology Advisory at Avanade)
Panelists will discuss the policymaking side of AI, how we can incorporate ethical thinking into the education process, government regulations, and responsible AI ethics.
Fireside Chat with Telle Whitney
Co-founder of Grace Hopper Celebration, Former CEO of Anita Borg Institute
Telle Whitney will share her experiences in her technical career, where she participated in a technology revolution and her pivot to advocating for women in tech through the work of the Anita Borg Institute, Grace Hopper Celebrations, and NCWIT. The chat will focus on the importance of inclusive representation in tech, the challenges women and other underrepresented groups face in this domain, and strategies for ensuring women have a voice in decision-making processes.
What Makes a Female Engineer?
Presented by Karen Roth, President-Elect for Society of Women Engineers
This talk will cover life, the universe and everything for this engineer (That happens to be female) to include: What is the Society of Women Engineers, how did I stay in engineering and beat the odds, what the major drivers of women leaving engineering look like, and what does building a community of support look like for women in engineering.
VR with DopeNerds
Presented by Ursula Spencer, CEO at Dope Nerds
VR can be used for many different purposes, and DopeNerds finds ways to use VR in education. This will be a hands-on VR headset experience that will highlight the ways VR can be used in education, innovation, and careers.
Generative AI - Leveraging Creative Algorithms
Presented by Sreyoshi Bhaduri (Senior Research Scientist, Amazon) & Jen Looper (Head of Academic Advocacy at AWS)
Foundation Models, AWS Bedrock, Code Whisperer, ChatGPT - these are no longer terms that are new as we enter 2024. The past years have presented an exciting opportunity for everyone to interact with emerging technologies, ever since Gen AI LLM applications took the world by storm, and set a record for the fastest user growth when ChatGPT reached 100 million active users only two months after launch. As more of us begin to adopt these new tools, we must learn how they came into being, question their limitations, and learn ways to responsibly use AI to augment our tasks. In this talk join Drs. Sreyoshi Bhaduri and Jen Looper from Amazon to learn about the exciting advances in Gen AI. Over the course of 55 minutes we will explore three questions and a fun demo. We will answer - What does generative AI really do? How were these technologies invented?, and How did women contribute and continue to advance the AI we see around us today?
Navigating the Future: A Deep Dive into Generative AI
Presented by Shivani Poddar, Engineering Lead at Google
Dive into the future of technology with Shivani Poddar, who leads the research and innovation of Responsible AI products at Google. This session will offer a snapshot of a journey from her initial forays into technology to now as a technologist and innovation leader in the space of Generative AI. Discover the impact of AI applications, learn about the balance of benefits and ethical considerations in product development, and see how Google is paving the way for a responsible AI-driven future.
AI/ML Panel
Featuring Shelby Tallent (Head of AI Product & Research at Reorg out of NYC), LaTosha Ward (Chief Stragety Officer at Bid), and Jeneba Wint (Principal Service Designer, Charter Communications)
Panelists will be discussing the various applications of AI/ML in the real world.
Tech and National Security Panel
Featuring Christine Edwards (National Security Agency Liason for DARPA), Perri Adams (Program Manager at DARPA's Information Innovation Office), Danielle Regis (AI Policy Specialist at the CIA)
Panelists will discuss their work in the cyber/national security space. The panel will center around a discussion on the current landscape of the field and how AI can both serve as an aid and present new challenges to people working in the field.
Solo Talk with Dr. Justyna Zwolak
Professor of Quantum Computing at University of Maryland
Dr. Justyna Zwolak, a professor at the University of Maryland and researcher at the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), will be discussing her research in quantum machine learning—navigating artificial intelligence in quantum computing settings. She will also discuss the challenges that she has faced as a woman in the intersection of two highly male-dominated STEM fields (computer science and physics), and how she is working to overcome those challenges.
Gendered Innovations in ML/AI and Social Robotics
Presented by Londa Schiebinger, John L. Hinds Professor in the History of Science in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford
How can we harness the creative power of sex, gender, and intersectional analysis for discovery and innovation? This talk will explore what gendered innovations is, how it works, its methods and case studies. We will take case studies ML/AI and social robotics with a quick discussion of the computer science curriculum. To match the global reach of science and technology, Gendered Innovations was developed through a collaboration of over 220 experts from across the United States, Europe, Canada, and Asia. Participants may wish to read: Sex, Gender Analysis Improves Science and Engineering Nature (2019); Design AI so that it’s Fair (2018); Ensuring that Biomedical AI Benefits Diverse Populations eBioMedicine (2021), and A Framework for Sex, Gender, and Diversity Analysis in Research Science (2022). For late-breaking news on research in this area, join the Gendered Innovations listserv.
Biotech Panel
Featuring Nyasha Chambwe (Assistant Professor, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research) and Aurora Cremer (Senior Software Engineer at The Broad Institute)
Panelists will talk about the biotech space and their career journeys in the field. A focal point of the talk will be a discussion of how to improve outcomes in research by improving diversity in genomic databases. They will also discuss how the field is rapidly changing and how students can best prepare to enter this field in the future.
Save the World with Nuclear Power
Presented by Leslie Dewan, Nuclear Engineer, "Innovator Under 35," World Economic Forum Young Global Leader
The world needs a cheap, carbon-free alternative to fossil fuels to feed its growing electricity demand. Nuclear power can be a good solution to the problem, but it is hindered by issues of safety, waste, proliferation, and cost. But what if we could go back in time and try a new approach to nuclear power -- one that solves these problems? Worldwide, there is a renaissance of nuclear technology development -- a new generation of young engineers are racing to develop more advanced nuclear reactors for a better form of power generation. In some cases, they are adapting and improving reactor designs from the earliest days of the industry, and using them to solve modern problems."
How to Negotiate
Presented by Olivia Wu, James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University
Olivia Wu will be holding a workshop on how to approach negotiations in both personal and professional settings. The workshop will outline the theory and steps of negotiation, and will also include several interactive components that will allow students to pair up and apply what they've learned. Attendees will have access to worksheets that will help them prepare for future negotiation scenarios and demonstrate their skills at the end with a case.
Citadel | Citadel Securities Resume Workshop
Closing Remarks
Presented by WECode Board
Socials & Company Events
SIG Wizard Tournament
Citadel | Citadel Securities Networking and Poster Session
Palantir 101: People, Products & Purpose
Mentorship Circles
Sunday, February 18th
Breakfast
Keynote with Jae Eun Oh
Economics Quantitative Development Team Lead, Citadel
SWE Panel
Featuring Jing Yu (Tech Lead Manager/Senior Software Engineer at Google), Sydnee Sampson-Blackwell (Custom SWE, Accenture), and Kamala Manju (Director of Software Engineering at Visa)
Panelists will share their personal journeys in SWE, challenges they've faced, and the work that they're currently doing.
Entrepreneurship: Fireside Chat with Sue Harnett
Founder and CEO, Rewriting the Code
Sue Harnett, Founder of Rewriting the Code, will share her journey of entrepreneurship: carving a career path against expectations, starting two companies, for-profit and non-profit, and pioneering a fearless space for inclusivity in tech.
Interdisciplinary Tech Careers
Presented by Shifali Singh, Director of Digital Cognitive Research at HMS, Founder of Cambridge Neuropsychology
Dr. Singh has spearheaded careers across disciplines and industries: VC, neuropsychology, biotech, and more. She'll be discussing their personal experience, as well as addressing these questions: How do we define new career avenues between traditional roles, against expectations? How can we apply that vantage point towards the world?
Applying Legal Frameworks to Art and New Tech
Presented by Sarah Conley Odenkirk (Partner at Cowan DeBaets Abrahams & Sheppard LLP) & Yayoi Shionoiri (Executive Director and Lawyer for the Chris Burden Estate and the Nancy Rubins Studio)
With the development of AI and blockchain technologies, there has been a greater concern about how new forms of technology will impact artists and their individuality. Panelists will discuss how they see tech transforming the world of art, including both the use of tech to aid artists and the challenges that new tech poses to existing artists.
Workshop: How to Linkedin like a Girlboss
Presented by Skyler Basco (LinkedIn Top PM Voice), Morgan Young (LinkedIn Top Voice, WayUp's Top Intern 2023)
You'll make an iconic LinkedIn post, learn their VIRAL LinkedIn secrets that helped us hit thousands of followers, and understand how to leverage LinkedIn to land offers. They are also running an amazing giveaway to surprise challenge winners at the end!
Lunch
Mentorship Circles
Navigating your Career in the High Tech Industry
Presented by Karen Dintino, Senior Director in the Graphics Software at AMD
Ms. Karen Dintino will be sharing her experiences as a Senior Director in the Graphics Software at AMD, including how she manages large teams of people that consist of people from countries all around the world. She will also be talking about some ML and Graphics Software related projects at AMD.
Inclusive Tech Panel
Featuring Regina Miolan (Senior Scrum Master/Agile Coach- Kroger) & Marlin Williams (Founder of Sisters Code)
Panelists, who are activists for inclusivity in STEM, will share their experiences in working with diversity and inclusivity in the tech world. They will speak about their careers in tech and about how they have worked to create more inclusive spaces in the tech world.
Project/Program Management Panel
Featuring Tia Fowlkes (Program Manager, Google), Alana Hinkston (Program Manager, Target, HBS MBA Candidate), and Huma Hamid
Panelists will share their experiences in PM – Product, Project, and Program. They will speak about their journey to PM, career challenges, and current work.
Duo Talk with Dr. Amrita Kumar and Danielle Stephens
Featuring Dr. Amrita Kumar (Executive VP of Acellent Technologies) & Danielle Stephens (Program Manager of Structures and Materials, Head of Structural Health Monitoring and Research)
Amrita Kumar and Danielle Stephens will be sharing their experiences on the intersections between CS and hardware, specifically in the field of Structural Health Monitoring.
Palantir Intro to AIP
Come join us to learn more about Palantir’s newest product, AIP! In this presentation you will get an overview of AIP, its potential benefits, and how it can be leveraged across various industries to drive innovation and growth!
Solo Talk: Fintech with Alexandra Raymond
Finance Product Manager for Amazon Studios and Founder of Alexandra Raymond Consulting Inc
Alexandra Raymond will introduce the world of FinTech and its transformative role in shaping the future of financial services. She will discuss her career path from a finance background to driving innovation at Amazon Studios, sharing insights on the key skills needed to thrive in FinTech product management.
On Imposter Syndrome with Saqi Mehta and Georgena Frazier
Presented by Saqi Mehta (Lead Diversity and Inclusion at GoodRx) & Georgena Frazier (Lead Diversity and Inclusion at GoodRx)
In a world where imposter syndrome lurks around every corner, we need to recognize that it is a social construct that can be overcome. Let’s address and conquer the challenges holding you back. Join us on a journey as we provide you with the data, tools, strategies, and support needed to vanquish imposter syndrome and thrive as women in tech. Through dynamic storytelling, interactive exercises, and empowering insights, this session will equip you with the confidence and resilience needed to soar to new heights in your tech career. It's time to embrace your strengths, overcome your doubts, and emerge as the fearless heroines of the tech world you were always meant to be!
From Healthcare to FinTech: My Journey to Product VP
Presented by Yashi Milani, VP of Product, Chase Credit Card Benefits
Join us for a captivating talk with Yasi Milani as she shares her remarkable transition from Healthcare to becoming a VP in the dynamic world of FinTech. Discover how an Iranian immigrant with a science degree and a master's in healthcare administration from Columbia University leveraged her unique background to grow quickly as a leader. Be inspired by Yasi's journey of resilience, innovation, and leadership, and gain invaluable insights into navigating your own path in the tech industry.
Closing Remarks
Presented by the WECode Board
Career Fair
Featuring our Sponsors
Sponsors
A huge thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making WECode 2024 possible and accessible. A special thank you to Rewriting The Code for their support!
WECode 2024 Board
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Director: Hanna Wosenu
Director: Sandhya Kumar
Kitty Wang
Zoe Price
Sunny Liu
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Director: Sein Yun
Director: Kyra Mo
Hannah Guan
Christine Tian
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Director: Brianna Chan
Director: Dhamar Carrillo
Joyce Lu
Emily Kim
May Ng
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Director: Nithya Gottipati
Director: Anouska
Grace Liu
Isabel
Kennedy
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Director: Anaïs Killian
