The aims of the event are:
- To provide a forum for undergraduate women and masters students to share their ideas and network
- To provide a stimulating series of talks from women in computing, both from academia and industry
- To provide both formal (talks) and informal (networking) advice to undergraduate women about careers in computing from a female perspective
There was a great turnout at the event this year with 180 attendees from 34 different universities. 92 students presented their work at the poster session.
2018 Sponsors:
Google (headline sponsor, first year prize), IBM (silver sponsor, final year prize), BCSWomen (general), ARM (lunch), Bloomberg (coffee & cakes), ScottLogic (social), SkyBet (social), JP Morgan (second year prize), Amazon (MSc prize), STFC (people’s choice prize), Women in Engineering (catering).
2018 Stallholders:
Deliveroo, Uber, P&G, and all of the above sponsors.
MSc student Hend Elghazaly was awarded second prize in the MSc Best Poster category. She is studying MSc Advanced Computer Science in the Department of Computer Science
"BCSWomen Lovelace Colloquium is such an amazing opportunity to meet women in Computer Science in the UK. It brings together students, academics, employees from different sectors and allows them to share their knowledge and experiences. It allows us to inspire and be inspired. So for me, it was a chance to share the work I did to a wider audience, meet my female colleagues and learn from their experiences.
"I absolutely enjoyed the whole day. All the talks and the people I met were very inspirational and empowering. Tanja’s talk, who was one of the keynote speakers, was influential and I will always follow the 1% progress principle she mentioned to motivate myself to keep going. Hearing other women’s experiences in tech in the careers panel session was very encouraging and their advice was very beneficial. I felt appreciated and supported throughout the event from Dr Hannah’s (chairwoman) welcome speech, keynote speakers’ talks, the careers panel session and people who passed by my poster. I maximized my experience by talking with representatives from companies who were also the sponsors of the event such as Google, Amazon and J.P Morgan. They informed me of job opportunities available and tips on applications, which was very useful. The best surprise was at the end when I won second place in the Best MSc Prize category. I was not expecting it and I am absolutely ecstatic to have won it. It gave me a sense of accomplishment and boosted my self-confidence.
"Overall, the day was exceptionally delightful and inspirational. It motivated me to keep going and do the best I can in this field. More importantly, it reminded me to believe in myself and never give up to the stresses or failures. It was an absolute pleasure to meet women in computer science and my fellow colleagues from different universities in the UK. I am very glad that such an event exists and feel honoured that I am part of a passionate and intelligent network. I eagerly encourage the female students from the University of Sheffield to participate in it. I will ensure that I stay connected with BCSWomen Lovelace and take part in it in the coming years. But since my journey as a student is coming to an end perhaps next time I hope to join the event as a graduate software engineer in the panel session!"