The World’s Most Active ACM Student Chapters Video Series

Episode 2: Cornell University ACM-W Student Chapter, USA

The representation of women and other underrepresented groups in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Medicine) fields has been a much debated topic throughout the tech industry and academia in recent times. With so much attention and effort made to improve representation within industry, student-led bodies are doing their part, if not more. One of these student organizations is WICC (Women In Computing At Cornell), whose core mission is to empower women to carve their own paths in the field of computer science.

WICC is one of the most recognized ACM-W Chapters in North America, and it works tirelessly toward its mission. Alongside some great individuals from their team,  over the past few months XRDS worked with WICC to find the best way to showcase their hardwork. Just as we featured the UPES ACM Student Chapter in our first video, we bring to you our second episode in the series, featuring the ACM-W chapter from Cornell University: WICC.

We hope you’ll enjoy seeing the video as much as we enjoyed making it! And please do visit their social media channels to learn more about them.

The World’s Most Active ACM Chapters Series in Video, Episode 1: UPES ACM Student Chapter, Uttarakhand, India

Working as Departments Chief for ACM XRDS Magazine over the past few years has put me in contact with talented individuals and interest groups ranging from California’s exuberant Silicon Valley to Indonesia’s remote tapestry of mountainous islands. During this process of dialogue and discovery, I was often humbled by my ever-growing awareness of the cultural and geographical diversity of the world’s Computer Science community, and how little I actually knew about Tech in other parts of the world.

“How is campus life in the Computer Science departments in Santiago, Chile?”

“Is Systems Programming taught better in Eastern Europe than in the US Midwest?”

“How much emphasis on Mathematics is there at HCI departments in Japan?”

“How do students organize departmental LAN parties to play Counter Strike in South Africa?”

“Which university has the best community for drone programming in India?”

There are all questions that my younger self could have never dreamed to crack. My horizon and preconceptions were constrained not only by my limited access to information and travel destinations, but also by my social sphere and the rigid official advertising facade put up by institutions in foreign lands and cultures.

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My Diary on the “The Hour of Code”

So what is Hour of Code? The Hour of Code is a global movement with a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify code, showing that anybody can learn the basics! Anyone anywhere can organize an Hour of Code event. No age limitations. No experience needed. By now, almost 1203 Hour of Code events were conducted in India. It is held every year from 7th Dec to 13th Dec. Continue reading

Digital Fabrication

In the past decade, digital fabrication (digital manufacturing) has gained immense attention as a topic of interest and research. Before we get into the specifics, let us first understand what digital fabrication (digital fab) even means. A quick search on Google gives you this:

Digital fabrication is a type of manufacturing process where the machine used is controlled by a computer. The most common forms of digital fabrication are: CNC Machining: where, typically, shapes are cut out of wooden sheets.

This is somewhat true, however there are few things I would like to clarify —  Continue reading

Providing feedback in the classroom

In my previous post, I discussed some current and ongoing research on effective pedagogical approaches to STEM education. The problems in STEM education have gained much attention recently due to the growing gap between demand and skill in American STEM jobs, likely due at least in part to lack of interest or discouragement among American students. Continue reading