Empowering Women with Tech & Science

Empowering Women with Tech & Science Event

Leeds Sky Dock, Thursday 3 May, part of Leeds Int Festival

The Empowering Women with Tech & Science is one of the best tech event I have been to in recent years and I go to quite a lot! The conference had an ambitious aim to inspire the current and next generation of females in STEM and for me it certainly lived up to this. It was a fantastic opportunity to catch up with some of my Higher Ed IT colleagues and listen to some brilliant speakers. 

There were eight talks in total and all were excellent but the stand out sessions for me were;

Sarah Payne, founded a company called Open Biotics that is creating the world’s first clinically tested, medically certified bionic arm using 3D print technology. Using fully recyclable material this company is bringing the cost of artificial limbs down from over ￡100k to under ￡10k. They have also focused heavily on the design aspect, creating limbs that people actually want to wear and have used links with companies such as Disney, George Lucas Films and Marvel. Clinical trials are currently underway and the aim is to eventually make these limbs available on the NHS. Incredibly this company is open source and the blueprints and the software is available to anyone that wants to download it. The work that this company is doing is jaw dropping and a reminder of just how powerful and transformational tech for good can be.

Linda Lukas is an author from Finland that has published a range of books called Hello Ruby that teach the basics of programming and coding to young children. She is also the founder of Rails Girls an initiative to get more young girls into tech. Linda is a central figure in the edutech movement and she believes that understanding the basics of coding will be a crucial skill for the next generation and wants children to be introduced to it as early as possible. Linda was one of the most engaging, and captivating speakers I have ever had the opportunity to listen to and her aim to diversity the software development industry spoke right to my heart. 

What I learnt;

·        I am much more interested in science and coding than I thought I was

·        Lots of small incremental changes can have a huge impact

·        If we really want to attract more diversity into tech we need a different approach to recruitment – in the words of Natasha Sayce-Zelem, we should stop recruiting against job descriptions, the job description is not going to do the work instead we should look at how we can create great jobs for talented people

·        Although tech is brilliant we don’t have to be online and connect all of the time and sometimes it is good to take a break

I came away from the event feeling empowered, inspired and ready to be the change I want to see in my sector!