Computer science camp opening doors
Educators hope to attract more females to new computer science camp
By mimicking what’s really being done with coding and programming in a variety of disciplines, area educators are hoping more young women will be intrigued enough to pursue the real thing.
The trick is getting them in the door in the first place and that’s what next week’s inaugural Code A Dream camp at the University of Windsor is intended to do.
“The aim is to get girls to learn programming and see that it’s not just for an IT environment,” said Susan Friedl, co-ordinator for experiential learning and apprenticeship programs for the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board.
“It crosses so many fields — medical, engineering, physics, environmental. Having that skill set brings career variety.
“It’s how we solve problems today.”
Friedl secured a Ministry of Education grant ($4,500) as seed money for the program with the board contributing $1,000 and the university’s computer science faculty adding another $2,000.
“The computer science school has really stepped up to help us create something new,” Friedl said.
“(Dean) Ziad Kobti was able to secure us some real top researchers. There’s a need for programmers and coders and this camp helps introduce girls to that potential career opportunity.”
Also involved in the camp will the EPICentre, Hackforge, WEtech and Workforce WindsorEssex.
The free camp is for high school girls from those entering Grade 9 this fall to Grade 12.
It runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 24 to 28 at the university’s Lambton Hall (Room 3105) and includes lunch daily.
Those interested in registering should visit bit.ly/CodeADream.
Vittoria Fortier, an electrical engineer now teaching computer science and math in Assumption’s International Baccalaureate program, worked with the three researchers to design the format of lectures and hands-on experiences.
“Within a week, they’ll be coding some really neat stuff ,” Fortier said.
“They’ll be actually using actual date and mimicking what researchers really do.”
As an electrical engineer, Fortier knows how the profession remains heavily male dominated. She understands that can be intimidating and hopes the camp can help breakdown the stereotypes.
“Females do well in that field,” Fortier said.
“There’s nothing hold them back. Just because there are not a lot of females, doesn’t mean engineer isn’t a career for females.”
Friedl said currently 15 of the 20 available spaces are taken.
After an introduction to basic coding on the first day, students will have a guest lecturer in the morning for the next three days. In the afternoon they will be given a task to solve related to that morning’s lecture.
The university researchers participating are Lisa Porter (Computational Cancer Biology), Chitra Rangan (Medical Physics) and Alice Grgicak Mannion (Environmental Geo-Informatics).
The final day of the camp will feature a panel of industry representatives to discuss their journey, possible careers and answer questions.
“I think this is a great project,” Porter said.
“On the day I’m going to be talking with them, they’re going to get a chance to design a code on how to organize tumour information — how to use it, diagnosis and how to treat a patient. It’ll be actual patient data. It’s really hands on.”
Porter said camps such as this have much more importance than just trying to pique the interest of a few more female students.
The lack of women in the sciences is eliminating a huge pool of talent.
“We want to get them excited about how diversified science is and how multi-disciplined groups work together to move things forward on solving problems,” Porter said.
“The country is losing out on some super-bright minds if we can’t get more females interested in the sciences.”
The country is losing out on some superbright minds if we can’t get more females interested in the sciences.