More than 170 attendees conclude XI Meeting of Women in Computing ChileWiC 2023 - Millennium Institute Foundational Research on Data

With more than 170 enthusiastic participants, who filled the main auditorium of the Teaching Innovation Rooms Building of the University of Santiago de Chile (USACH), the XI Meeting of Women in Computing ChileWiC2023 was held in December, 2023. XI Meeting of Women in Computing ChileWiC2023which is supported by the Millennium Institute Foundational Research on Data.

The meeting was attended by the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Science, Knowledge, Technology and Innovation, Carolina Gainza, as one of the keynote speakers.as one of the main speakers. "Our gender radiography results of which I showed in this event shows us that we need more women in STEM areas. we need more women in STEM areasareas, in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. That the academics and researchers who are in ChileWiC transmit this is very important so that we can continue to advance," said the undersecretary.

The event was also attended by Jocelyn Dunstan Escudero as the first keynote. The academic from the Department of Computer Science and the Institute of Mathematical and Computational Engineering of the Catholic University of Chile, shared her trajectory, which led her from her studies in Physics to lead current research in science and technology.shared her trajectory, which led her from her studies in Physics to currently lead research in data science applied to the field of health. "Having a space like ChileWiC to share our experiences as women in a highly masculinized area is extremely necessary. Talking about our challenges, sharing our work and especially how we approach the different situations that unite us, is very useful and rewarding: it helps us to realize that we have many things in common and that we can indeed do things to change what we want to change", says the academic, who is also a researcher at the Center for Mathematical Modeling (CMM) and the Millennium Institute Foundational Research on Data (IMFD).

Student competition

One of the most important segments of ChileWiC is the student competition. Each participant makes a short presentation about his or her initiative, which is then reinforced in scientific poster sessions. "The student competition is one of the highlights of the day. We are delighted to have participants from different universities and from different regions, and reviewing the topics they research we see that, effectively, the inclusion of women also means including topics that broaden the diversity of what is being addressed," says Claudia Lópezan academic at the U. Técnica Federico Santa María (UTFSM), researcher at the Centro de Inteligencia de la Ciencia (Center for Intelligence).researcher at the Artificial Intelligence Center(Cenia) and the FAIR Millennium Nucleus, and co-chair of ChileWiC.

The winner of the individual competition is Isabel Alvarado, PhD student at the Universidad Benito Juárez (Mexico), and professor of Computer Science at the Universidad Mayor. "My project is called AgustiSpeaks is just starting and was born from my son who has grade 2-3 autism. My idea is to contribute with new ideas to therapies that address the communication needs of children with autism," says Isabel.

Meanwhile, the winners of the team competition are Michelle Naour and Sofía Medina, from Universidad de la Frontera, who are studying how to create an early warning system for landslides.

The public award went to the project of Antonia Bravo, from the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Catalina Lenck, from the Universidad de Santiago de Chile, and Constanza Contreras, a doctoral student at the Universidad de Chile, which seeks to investigate techniques that enable the localization of illicit businesses.

For Violeta Chang, head of the career of Computer and Informatics Engineering at USACH, and host of the ChileWiC 2023 site.and host of the ChileWiC 2023 headquarters, "these initiatives are essential not only to motivate more girls and women to study STEM careers, but also to keep them in them, because although they enter, many do not continue. We believe that the lack of role models plays a role in this, and ChileWiC's academics and professionals seek to show them that they can study computing and be successful, and that there is a community of women willing to give them energy and support to keep them going".

ChileWiC 2023 was organized by Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Universidad de los Andes, Universidad de Chile, Universidad de La Frontera, Universidad Mayor and Universidad de Santiago de Chile.

The meeting was sponsored by the Instituto de Sistemas Complejos de Ingeniería (ISCI) and by NIC Chile. It also counted with the collaboration of the National Center for Artificial Intelligence Research(Cenia) and the Millennium Institute Foundational Research on Data(IMFD).

Source: ChileWiC.cl