Orlando, FL - On October 1-3, 2019, LaSheena Ramone and Victoria Charlie, juniors from the Electrical Engineering department at Navajo Technical University attended the 2019 Grace Hopper Celebration held at the Orange County Convention in Orlando, FL. The event gathered over 26,000 women technologists from around the world to network, exchange industry ideas, and support workforce equality. The students represented NTU’s Electrical Engineering program to learn about current trends that can be applied in their education and professions.
“It was amazing meeting different people of different ages and ethnic backgrounds. I found the Robotics Surgery lecture to be most amazing,” said Victoria Charlie, a junior who was inspired to spread awareness to females who have in interest in STEM. “There were so many classes on Artificial Intelligence such as, self-driving vehicles, coding, virtual realities, and machine learning aviators. So much technology!”
The event offered a variety of lectures from various female keynote speakers from across different professions in STEM. The students each attended a presentation and were inspired to share their gained knowledge in their communities with those interested in pursuing an education in science and technology. Electrical Engineering Department Chair, Dr. Peter Romine selected the students to attend the event to broaden their perception about the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematic fields outside the classroom. The conference was a first experience for the students, who were impressed with the enormity of the event. “The Grace Hopper Celebration is the world's largest gathering of women technologists. It's held annually in honor of the late Admiral Grace Hopper, an early pioneer of computer programming,” explained Dr. Romine about the conference and his aim to get more of his female students to participate in the event. “Our goal is for NTU attendees to build connections with the women technology leaders in business, government and academia."
The students felt they could have better prepared for the event by bringing their resumes since the conference presented internship opportunities, graduate programs, and employment openings. Regardless, the students were able to network and expand on the field they are pursuing at NTU. Christine Reidhead, Assistant Professor & Business Department Chair at NTU, accompanied the students on the trip.
To learn more about NTU’s participation in the Grace Hopper Celebration or NTU’s ABET-accredited Electrical Engineering program, contact Dr. Peter Romine at promine@navajotech.edu.