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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Women Who Paved the Way for the Internet of Things: A Teacher Finds Her Voice

If my story connects with a single person, I will have succeeded.

I am Kayalvizhi Jayavel, an assistant professor in information technology at Sri Ramaswamy Memorial  (SRM) University in India. I love my job, but 20 years ago I never imagined teaching as my calling.

This is my story.
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