Blog

May 20, 2019

Written by volunteer writer Amy Freeman Optum has once again shown its dedication to encouraging girls in tech by hosting another TechGirlz TechShop. Following the success of its Make a Website Using CSS/HTML and Introduction to JavaScript workshops, Optum hosted A Day in the Life of a Web Designer at end of March. The workshop was led by Kristen Slappey (who also taught the Intro to JavaScript TechShop) and Caitlin Doyle (who was a TA during the Intro to JavaScript workshop). The pair led a group of more than 23 girls in an interactive discussion that focused on the differences…

May 7, 2019

Rich Freeman, ChannelPro's Executive Editor, writes about how 2018 nominations for the CompTIA/ChannelPro Cecilia Galvin Scholarship Award are still open and checks in with Sarah Johnson, last year’s first-ever winner and how she is “putting both the funding and the vote of confidence she received to good use in college.” We are proud to see another one of our TechGirlz alums and volunteers on a successful path in tech. The full article was originally published April 30, 2019 on the ChannelPro Network. The CompTIA/ChannelPro Cecilia Galvin Scholarship Award is accepting applications until June 1, 2019. Named in memory of former…

May 3, 2019

Written by volunteer writer Alison Perch Tech role models can be entrepreneurs, designers, philanthropists … even superheroes! TechGirlz volunteer Eric Vo says Marvel’s Iron Man helped inspire his career path in technology. “Take away [Iron Man’s] superhero badge, and he becomes a technical teacher, IT project manager, innovator, developer, and tech enthusiast. He created internship opportunities for talents around the world as a way of giving back and innovation,” Eric explains. Eric is a tech superhero himself. After graduating from Temple University in 2017, he accepted a two-year Associate rotational program with TD Bank, which involves coding, agile, and API…

April 25, 2019

Written by volunteer writer Amy Freeman Every time a patient visits a doctor when they're not feeling well, it's up to the doctor to ask the patient about their symptoms, then use the information provided, plus what they know about human health, to come up with a diagnosis. In a lot of ways, figuring out what illness or medical issue a person has is a lot like solving a mystery. Although in the past, doctors had to rely on their own knowledge and whatever info they could find in books or journals, today, databases and other technological advances have streamlined…

April 18, 2019

Written by volunteer writer Amy Freeman Sometimes, technology can be straight-up fun! That's what the girls who attended the "Make an Animated Bracelet with Micro:bit" TechShop in North Carolina learned. Emily Hardin, a product manager with a startup SaaS company, was a TA during the TechShop. The focus of the workshop was on micro:bits, tiny computers that are powered by an ARM microcontroller. The computers have LED outputs on a printed circuit board. The TechShop introduced the girls to the micro:bit and showed them how to program the computer. It was Emily's first time assisting for the TechShop topic and…