OCTC Hosting Statewide Computing Conference
Not just for women!
Owensboro, KY (02/07/2019) — The Kentucky Community College (KYCC) Women In Computing (WiC) Conference will be held at OCTC March 22- 23, 2019. The conference serves as an extension of the Association for Computing Machinery's (ACM) Celebrations of Women in Computing. ACM-W's international annual conference is the Grace Hopper Celebration. The KYCC WiC conference is the first celebration event designed explicitly for community colleges, and this year will be the fourth biennial event.
OCTC's Computer & Information Technologies Program Coordinator, Theresa Schmitt chairs the planning committee added, "We are very excited to host this conference in Owensboro and want our visitors to experience what Owensboro is known for and that includes BBQ, bluegrass and great hospitality!"
The conference will have presentations and panel discussions covering a wide range of computing topics of interests to faculty, students and industry partners. The conference is designed for men and women, and will be a place where our community can collaborate, network and celebrate the contributions of women in computing. The theme of this year's conference is "Busting Barriers in the Bluegrass!".
The first keynote speaker is the, award-winning novelist of African-based science fiction and fantasy, Nnedi Okorafor. She is the co-author of the Black Panther comics from Marvel Comics. Born in the United States to Nigerian immigrant parents, Nnedi is known for weaving African culture and folklore into creative, evocative settings with memorable characters. She is an inspirational speaker; encouraging women to pursue their career goals.
Smita Bakshi, CEO of Zyante, is the second keynote speaker. Smita is a high-tech professional with over fifteen years of experience spanning product management, business development, engineering and education across several software industries. Her specialties include Education Technology and Enterprise Software. One of her passions is encouraging young women to seek careers in STEM fields.
One of the unique features of all regional ACM-W Grace Hopper Conferences is the low cost of attending. See the website for registration and detailed information. www.kycc-wic-octc.org
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Owensboro Community & Technical College is one of the sixteen community and technical colleges that make up the Kentucky Community & Technical College System. OCTC serves the KY counties of Daviess, Hancock, Ohio and McLean. OCTC has three campuses in Daviess County and a Center and Annex in Hancock County. OCTC strives to serve the communities in the service area by providing associate degree education for transfer, state of the art technical education for students focusing on entering the workforce, customized business and industry solutions through the Workforce Solutions division, and adult education and business and industry testing through the SkillTrain unit.
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The Kentucky Community and Technical College System is the Commonwealth's largest postsecondary institution with 16 colleges and more than 70 campuses. We also are Kentucky's largest provider of workforce training and online education. Through partnerships with business and industry, we align our programs to meet the needs of local employers. We help students fulfill their dreams of creating a better life through programs that lead directly to jobs or help them transfer to one of our four-year partners.
Connect with OCTC: Owensboro.kctcs | Facebook.com/owensboroctc | Twitter@OCTC_Tweets | Instagram OwensboroCTC
