Award programs

NCWIT Selects 2026 AiC Collegiate Award Finalists

NCWIT Selects 2025 AiC Collegiate Award Finalists

NCWIT Selects 2025 AiC Collegiate Award Recipients

NCWIT Selects 2025 AiC Educator Award Recipients

NCWIT Announces 2025 National AiC High School Award Recipients

NCWIT Selects 2024 AiC Impact Award Recipients

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<p>The National Center for Women &amp; Information Technology (NCWIT) Aspirations in Computing Program (AiC) is pleased to share that 43 of our <a target="_blank" href="https://www.aspirations.org/get-involved/join-the-aic-community">AiC Community</a> members were recently announced as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazonfutureengineer.com/scholarships?utm_term=2024&amp;utm_medium=Email&amp;utm_source=US&amp;utm_content=scholarships&amp;utm_campaign=Rossman">2024 Amazon Future Engineer (AFE) Scholarship</a> recipients. Each recipient of this scholarship will receive up to $40,000 in paid tuition to attend their choice of college and study engineering or computer science. Additionally, each scholarship recipient is offered a paid internship with Amazon after their freshman year of college. Amazon awarded a total of 400 students with the AFE scholarship this year. View the complete list of 400 scholarship recipients <a target="_blank" href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/d3zun4lghuucd9zomjryu/2024-Winner-List-for-Publication.pdf?rlkey=ipu957igy1norimzmj4gr1yp8&amp;e=1&amp;st=u4mnj1fa&amp;dl=0">here.</a>&nbsp;</p><p>Please join us in celebrating the following AiC Community members and their aspirations in computing!&nbsp;</p><div class="se-component se-image-container __se__float-right"><figure style=""><img src="https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ncwit-file-uploads/editor/COM_CTR_COLOR_BLU.png" alt="Full color version of the ncwit.org | Aspirations in Computing Community logo in blue, greens, and gray." data-rotate="0" data-proportion="true" data-size="393px,295px" data-align="right" data-file-name="COM_CTR_COLOR_BLU.png" data-file-size="undefined" data-origin="300px,auto" style="width: 393px; height: 295px;"></figure></div><p><br></p><h2>AiC Community Member Recipients of the 2024 AFE Scholarship</h2><h3>​Arkansas</h3><ul><li>​Clair Merry - Southside High School, Fort Smith</li></ul><h3>California</h3><ul><li>Ami Chung - California Connections Academy, San Juan Capistrano</li><li>Isabel Ku - Glen A Wilson High School, Hacienda Heights</li><li>Angela Magtoto - Bonita Vista High School, Chula Vista</li><li>Brianna Magtoto - Bonita Vista High School, Chula Vista</li><li>Chisom Onuigbo - Troy High School, Fullerton</li><li>Nashla Turcios - New West Charter School, Los Angeles<br></li><li>Rebecca Wang - Henry T Gunderson High School, San Jose<br></li></ul><h3>Colorado</h3><ul><li>​Sityena Muzeyen - Overland High School, Denver</li></ul><h3>Delaware</h3><ul><li>Elena Tamba - MOT Charter High School, Middletown</li><li>Sabrina Zheng - MOT Charter High School, Middletown<br></li></ul><h3>Illinois</h3><ul><li>​Jensen Coonradt - Oswego East High School, Oswego<br></li><li>​Chiwendu Elue - Niles North High School, Skokie​<br></li><li>Bobo Lin - Jones College Prep, Chicago<br></li></ul><h3>Maryland</h3><ul><li>Christiana Alapa - Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Greenbelt<br></li><li>Eniola Aloba - Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Greenbelt<br></li><li>Mao Yu Cheng - Northern High School, Owing<br></li><li>Melat Ghebreselassie - Springbrook High School, Silver Spring<br></li><li>Jehan Idsassi - Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Greenbelt<br></li><li>Kemi Imode - Havre de Grace High, Havre de Grace<br></li></ul><h3>Michigan</h3><ul><li>​Faylinn Wong - Farmington High School, Farmington<br></li></ul><h3>New Jersey</h3><ul><li>Tatiana Bunay - McNair Academic High School, Jersey City<br></li><li>Saleema Diallo - McNair Academic High School, Jersey City<br></li><li>Kristy Garcia - Sayreville War Memorial High School, Parlin<br></li><li>Leilany Rojas - Sayreville War Memorial High School, Parlin<br></li></ul><h3>New York</h3><ul><li>Ivelyn Camano - KIPP NYC College Prep, Bronx<br></li><li>Tiffany Yung - The Wheatley School, Old Westbury<br></li></ul><h3>North Carolina</h3><ul><li>​Ashika Kamjula - North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, Durham<br></li><li>Merry Wang - North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, Durham<br></li></ul><h3>Ohio</h3><ul><li>Fatima Abdulkadir - Metro Early College High School, Columbus<br></li></ul><h3>Pennsylvania</h3><ul><li>​Esther Newton - West Allegheny Senior High School, Imperial<br></li></ul><h3>Puerto Rico</h3><ul><li>​Marysol Alape Toro - Escuela Superior Petra Mercado Bougart, Humacao<br></li><li>Milka Carbonell - Escuela Especializada en Matematicas Ciencias y Technologia, San Juan<br></li></ul><h3>South Carolina</h3><ul><li>Camila Rivera de Jesús - Lexington High School, Lexington<br></li></ul><h3>Texas</h3><ul><li>​Olutobi Adeyeri - Carnegie Vanguard High School, Houston<br></li><li>​Kamilah Clark - Townview TAG, Dallas​<br></li><li>​Lena Conde Araujo - Porter High School, Porter​<br></li><li>​Maria Cruz - Lamar High School, Houston​<br></li><li>​Temitope Erinle - Elsik High School, Houston​<br></li><li>​Deyla Gutierrez Cavazos - North Shore Senior High School, Houston​<br></li><li>​Seyma Kilic - Roosevelt High School, San Antoni​<br></li><li>Gerkariah Shine - Young Women's Leadership Academy At Arnold, Grand Prairie<br></li></ul><h3>Virginia</h3><ul><li>Qiaojing Huang - Washington-Liberty High School, Arlington<br></li></ul><p><br></p>

Forty Three AiC Community Members Receive Amazon Future Engineer Scholarships

NCWIT Selects 2024 AiC Collegiate Award Recipients

NCWIT Selects 2024 AiC Educator Award Recipients

NCWIT Selects 2024 AiC Collegiate Award Finalists

2024 National AiC High School Award Recipients Announced 

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<p>Do you want a mentor, or want to become one? The National Center for Women &amp; Information Technology (NCWIT) Aspirations in Computing (AiC) program is excited to invite members of the AiC Community to join our new paired mentorship program with the Institute for African-American Mentoring in Computer Science (iAAMCS). Community members are encouraged to sign up as a mentee, a mentor, or both by end of day on May 12, 2023.</p><p><span style="font-size: 24px;"><strong>To Start:&nbsp;</strong></span><a target="_blank" href="https://forms.office.com/r/5CcmNsWY35" alt="Take the Mentor Matching Survey" class="on"><span style="font-size: 24px;"><strong>Take the Mentor Matching Survey</strong></span></a>​<br></p><p>To learn more, review the information on the flyer below.&nbsp;</p><div class="se-component se-image-container __se__float-none" contenteditable="false">      <figure style="margin: 0px;">            <img src="https://wpassets.ncwit.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/04181747/ncwit_PairedMentorPrgram1.png" alt="Digital image of the front side of a flyer about the National Center for Women &amp; IT (NCWIT) Aspirations in Computing (AiC) partnership with the Institute for African-American Mentoring in Computing Sciences (iAAMCS). Text includes logos for ncwit.org | Aspirations in Computing and iAAMCS, and reads: &quot;Paired mentoring program; Do you need a mentor? Are you an undergraduate or graduate student in a computing program? Do you need encouragement to optimize opportunities inside and outside of school? Or perhaps you could use helpful tips on navigating academia, internships, and options after graduation. Please consider joining us for the Paired Mentoring Program and explore how to use your time in school wisely.   Do you want to be a mentor? Are you a graduate student who participates (or has participated) in iAAMCS activities and wants to mentor undergraduate and graduate students? Would you like to use your experience to help give back to the iAAMCS community? Are you a computing faculty member or a person in  the tech industry who can share your journey? Mentees need your insight, advice, guidance, and  support to diversify the computing pathway. Please consider becoming a mentor for the Paired Mentoring Program to help someone coming along behind you to find their way.&quot; The bottom, right-hand corner also features an arrow pointing to the edge of the document inside a circle above the text: &quot;See key facts.&quot;" data-rotate="" data-proportion="true" data-size="," data-align="none" data-percentage="auto,auto" data-file-name="ncwit_PairedMentorPrgram1.png" data-file-size="0" data-origin="," origin-size="1100,850" name="ncwit_PairedMentorPrgram1.png" style="" data-index="0" data-rotatex="" data-rotatey="">  </figure></div><p><em>Image description: Digital image of the front side of a flyer about the National Center for Women &amp; IT (NCWIT) Aspirations in Computing (AiC) partnership with the Institute for African-American Mentoring in Computing Sciences (iAAMCS). Text includes logos for ncwit.org | Aspirations in Computing and iAAMCS, and reads: "Paired mentoring program; Do you need a mentor? Are you an undergraduate or graduate student in a computing program? Do you need encouragement to optimize opportunities inside and outside of school? Or perhaps you could use helpful tips on navigating academia, internships, and options after graduation. Please consider joining us for the Paired Mentoring Program and explore how to use your time in school wisely. </em></p><p><em>Do you want to be a mentor? Are you a graduate student who participates (or has participated) in iAAMCS activities and wants to mentor undergraduate and graduate students? Would you like to use your experience to help give back to the iAAMCS community? Are you a computing faculty member or a person in the tech industry who can share your journey? Mentees need your insight, advice, guidance, and support to diversify the computing pathway. Please consider becoming a mentor for the Paired Mentoring Program to help someone coming along behind you to find their way." The bottom, right-hand corner also features an arrow pointing to the edge of the document inside a circle above the text: "See key facts."</em></p><div class="se-component se-image-container __se__float-none" contenteditable="false">    <figure style="margin: 0px;">        <img src="https://wpassets.ncwit.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/04181740/ncwit_PairedMentorPrgram2.png" alt="Digital image of the back side of a flyer about the National Center for Women &amp; IT (NCWIT) Aspirations in Computing (AiC) mentoring partnership program with the Institute for African-American Mentoring in Computing Sciences (iAAMCS) featuring a QR code. Text includes logos for ncwit.org | Aspirations in Computing and iAAMCS, and reads: &quot;Paired mentoring program; Kickoff - June 9, 2023; Virtual quarterly meetups begin in July; All are welcome to participate in the entire program or a one-time drop-in during a quarterly meetup. This program provides culturally responsive 1-on-1 and group mentoring that empowers mentees to pursue their careers with confidence. Sign up deadline is May 12. Mentor Matching Survey: https://forms.office.com/r/5CcmNsWY35 ; FAQ: Can a graduate student be both a mentor and a mentee? A: Yes! Please check both boxes.   90% of young adults with a mentor are interested in becoming one in the future(1). 6x; Mentors are 6x more likely to be promoted compared to their coworkers(2). 97% of individuals with a mentor feel they are highly impactful and valuable(3).  Aspirations in Computing (AiC) changes what’s possible for women, genderqueer, and nonbinary people in technology by offering the kind of encouragement that conquers isolation, builds in long-term motivation, opens doors—and changes lives. In this new partnership with the Institute for African-American Mentoring in Computing Sciences, college students receive mentorship and support at all stages of their college careers.   1. youthmentor.org/thestats  2. forbes.com/sites/lisaquast/2011/10/31/how-becoming-a-mentor-can-boost-your-career  3. nationalmentoringday.org/facts-and-statistics&quot;" data-rotate="" data-proportion="true" data-size="," data-align="none" data-percentage="auto,auto" data-file-name="ncwit_PairedMentorPrgram2.png" data-file-size="0" data-origin="," origin-size="1100,850" name="ncwit_PairedMentorPrgram2.png" style="" data-index="1" data-rotatex="" data-rotatey="">  </figure></div><p><em>Image description: Digital image of the back side of a flyer about the National Center for Women &amp; IT (NCWIT) Aspirations in Computing (AiC) mentoring partnership program with the Institute for African-American Mentoring in Computing Sciences (iAAMCS) featuring a QR code. Text includes logos for ncwit.org | Aspirations in Computing and iAAMCS, and reads: "Paired mentoring program; Kickoff - June 9, 2023; Virtual quarterly meetups begin in July; All are welcome to participate in the entire program or a one-time drop-in during a quarterly meetup. This program provides culturally responsive 1-on-1 and group mentoring that empowers mentees to pursue their careers with confidence. Sign up deadline is May 12. Mentor Matching Survey: <a target="_blank" href="https://forms.office.com/r/5CcmNsWY35" alt="https://forms.office.com/r/5CcmNsWY35" class="on">https://forms.office.com/r/5CcmNsWY35</a> ; FAQ: Can a graduate student be both a mentor and a mentee? A: Yes! Please check both boxes. </em></p><p><em>90% of young adults with a mentor are interested in becoming one in the future</em><sup><em>1</em></sup><em>. 6x; Mentors are 6x more likely to be promoted compared to their coworkers</em><sup><em>2</em></sup><em>. 97% of individuals with a mentor feel they are highly impactful and valuable</em><sup><em>3</em></sup><em>.</em></p><p><em>Aspirations in Computing (AiC) changes what’s possible for women, genderqueer, and nonbinary people in technology by offering the kind of encouragement that conquers isolation, builds in long-term motivation, opens doors—and changes lives. In this new partnership with the Institute for African-American Mentoring in Computing Sciences, college students receive mentorship and support at all stages of their college careers. </em></p><p><sup><em>1</em></sup><a target="_blank" href="https://www.youthmentor.org/thestats" alt="youthmentor.org/thestats"><em>youthmentor.org/thestats</em></a></p><p><sup><em>2</em></sup><a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaquast/2011/10/31/how-becoming-a-mentor-can-boost-your-career/" alt="forbes.com/sites/lisaquast/2011/10/31/how-becoming-a-mentor-can-boost-your-career"><em>forbes.com/sites/lisaquast/2011/10/31/how-becoming-a-mentor-can-boost-your-career</em></a></p><p><sup><em>3</em></sup><a target="_blank" href="https://nationalmentoringday.org/facts-and-statistics/" alt="nationalmentoringday.org/facts-and-statistics"><em>nationalmentoringday.org/facts-and-statistics</em></a><em>"</em></p>

Aspirations in Computing Begins Paired Mentorship Program with iAAMCS

<p><em>​</em><br></p><div class="se-component se-image-container __se__float- __se__float-right"><figure style="margin: auto; width: 250px;"><img src="https://ncwit-aspirations-service-stage-public.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ncwit_aic_collegiateaward_logo_fullcolor_web_0.png" alt="NCWIT Collegiate Award Logo" data-origin="250,110" data-proportion="true" data-align="right" data-file-name="ncwit_aic_collegiateaward_logo_fullcolor_web_0.png" data-file-size="0" origin-size="341,150" style="width: 250px; height: 110px;"></figure></div><p>The National Center for Women &amp; Information Technology (NCWIT) Aspirations in Computing Program (AiC) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2023 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.aspirations.org/award-programs/aic-collegiate-award" alt="NCWIT Collegiate Award">NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Collegiate Award</a>, celebrating 47 undergraduate and graduate women, genderqueer, and non-binary students from 38 academic institutions nationwide. Conferred annually, the award recognizes technical contributions to projects that demonstrate a high level of innovation and potential impact.<br></p><p><em>The entire NCWIT AiC program platform is supported generously by Apple. AiC also receives support for specific national program elements; the NCWIT Collegiate Award is sponsored by Qualcomm and Amazon.</em><br></p><h2>Winners<br></h2><ul><li><strong>Serena Ivery,</strong>&nbsp;Birmingham-Southern College;&nbsp;<br><a target="_blank" href="https://vimeo.com/823919524/5a59f2436d" alt="Clearing the Cobwebs: Benefits of Identifying Online Human Trafficking">▶️ <em>Clearing the Cobwebs: Benefits of Identifying Online Human Trafficking</em></a><br></li><li><strong>Anika Puri, </strong>Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT);<br><a target="_blank" href="https://vimeo.com/824834060/297cf34dd0" alt="ElSa: A Novel Real-time Wildlife Poacher Detection Solution Leveraging Machine Learning Driven Spatio-temporal Analysis of Nighttime UAV Thermal Infrared Videos">▶️ <em> ElSa: A Novel Real-time Wildlife Poacher Detection Solution Leveraging Machine Learning Driven Spatio-temporal Analysis of Nighttime UAV Thermal Infrared Videos</em></a></li><li><strong>​Swapna Throve,</strong> University of Virginia; <br><a target="_blank" href="https://vimeo.com/824826942/e9f2fef57f" alt="Data-Driven Scalable AI for Addressing Problems in the Study of Smart Grids">▶️ <em>Data-Driven Scalable AI for Addressing Problems in the Study of Smart Grids</em></a><br></li></ul><h2>​​Honorable Mentions<br></h2><ul><li>​<strong>Noor Boukari</strong>, Dartmouth College; <br><a target="_blank" href="https://vimeo.com/824835076/8bdc9c486a" alt="▶️ Developing a Mobile App for Accessible Malaria Diagnosis Using Deep Learning Semantic Segmentation">▶️ <em>Developing a Mobile App for Accessible Malaria Diagnosis Using Deep Learning Semantic Segmentation</em></a>​<br></li><li><strong>Taylor Bradley,</strong> Johns Hopkins University; <br><a target="_blank" href="https://vimeo.com/824836060/6c17c5ebd8" alt="▶️&nbsp;Novelty Detection in Network Traffic: Using Survival Analysis for Feature Identification">▶️&nbsp;<em>Novelty Detection in Network Traffic: Using Survival Analysis for Feature Identification</em></a>​<br></li><li><strong>Angela Busheska,</strong> Lafayette College; <br><a target="_blank" href="https://vimeo.com/824836611/bad2bf7399" alt="▶️ EnRoute">▶️ <em>EnRoute</em></a>​<br></li><li><strong>Dominique Calder, </strong>George Mason University; <br><a target="_blank" href="https://vimeo.com/824837752/707431221e" alt="▶️ Building and Decaying a Document Corpus For Sub-Block Forensic Analysis">▶️ <em>Building and Decaying a Document Corpus For Sub-Block Forensic Analysis</em></a>​<br></li><li><strong>Portia Cooper, </strong>University of Arizona; <br><a target="_blank" href="https://vimeo.com/824838342/d91d4cf57b?share=copy" alt="▶️ Training Transformer Models to Recognize Hate Speech Masked by Homoglyphs">▶️ <em>Training Transformer Models to Recognize Hate Speech Masked by Homoglyphs</em></a>​<br></li><li><strong>Katelyn France,</strong> University of Minnesota - Duluth; <br><a target="_blank" href="https://vimeo.com/824838661/37b415eacb" alt="▶️ &quot;Anaphylactic Shocker!&quot; Creating Novel Medtech Devices and Supporting the Next Generation of Women in STEAM">▶️ <em>"Anaphylactic Shocker!" Creating Novel Medtech Devices and Supporting the Next Generation of Women in STEAM</em></a>​<br></li><li><strong>Maliha Haider, </strong>Kean University; <br><a target="_blank" href="https://vimeo.com/824839368/7cbceea5a8" alt="▶️ Comparison of Yelp's Star Rating and Text Reviews">▶️ <em>Comparison of Yelp's Star Rating and Text Reviews</em></a>​<br></li><li><strong>Dana Joseph, </strong>Dartmouth College; <br><a target="_blank" href="https://vimeo.com/824843880/69f73ca3b9" alt="▶️ Catalace: Using Artificial Intelligence and Precision Medicine to Accurately Predict Cancer">▶️ <em>Catalace: Using Artificial Intelligence and Precision Medicine to Accurately Predict Cancer</em></a>​<br></li><li><strong>Victoria Li,</strong> Harvard University; <br><a target="_blank" href="https://vimeo.com/824841514/3a5c35ec17" alt="▶️ CROTON: An Automated and Variant-Aware Deep Learning Framework for Predicting CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing Outcomes">▶️ <em>CROTON: An Automated and Variant-Aware Deep Learning Framework for Predicting CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing Outcomes</em></a>​<br></li><li><strong>Rachel Masters,</strong> Colorado State University; <br><a target="_blank" href="https://vimeo.com/824841922/1bed63e689" alt="▶️ Virtual Reality Forest Bathing: Importance of Biomass for Stress Reduction in VR Nature">▶️ <em>Virtual Reality Forest Bathing: Importance of Biomass for Stress Reduction in VR Nature</em></a>​<br></li><li><strong>Eesha Nayak,</strong> University of Texas - Austin; <br><a target="_blank" href="https://vimeo.com/824842830/6305315da9" alt="▶️ Nutri: Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) to help primary care providers (PCPs) set personalized nutrition goals with patients">▶️ <em>Nutri: Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) to help primary care providers (PCPs) set personalized nutrition goals with patients</em></a>​<br></li><li><strong>Katherine Skocelas, </strong>Michigan State University;<br><a target="_blank" href="https://vimeo.com/824843182/d55e7fc784">▶️ <em>Understanding the Evolution of Multicellular Organisms</em></a></li></ul><h2>​​Finalists<br></h2><table class="se-table-layout-fixed"><tbody><tr><td><div><strong>Hena Ahmed<br></strong>Scripps College<br><em>Towards Reproducible Machine Learning: A Sensitivity Analysis of Pseudo-Randomness in ML Models<br></em><br></div></td><td><div><strong>Drshika Asher<br></strong>University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign<br><em>Horizon Worlds: Features and Moderation-specific Affordances<br></em><br></div></td></tr><tr><td><div><strong>Kary Cabrera<br></strong>University of Southern California<br><em>Computer Vision for Business Impact: Identifying Objects and Sorting by Color<br></em><br></div></td><td><div><strong>Lily Chen<br></strong>Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)<br><em>Automated Detection of Diabetic Retinopathy with Deep Learning<br></em><br></div></td></tr><tr><td><div><strong>Alexandra Chin<br></strong>Wellesley College<br><em>Efficacy of a Misconceiving Robot to Improve Computational Thinking in Collaborative Problem Solving<br></em><br></div></td><td><div><strong>Shide Dehghani<br></strong>University of California - Berkeley	<br><em>Extract Flora<br></em><br></div></td></tr><tr><td><div><strong>Diya Dinesh<br></strong>Carnegie Mellon University	<br><em>A Novel Multi-Model Approach to Real-Time Road Accident Prediction and Driving Behavior Analysis using a Fully-Connected Feed-Forward Deep Neural Network and an Object Detection CoreML Model<br></em><br></div></td><td><div><strong>Ye-un Christina Go<br></strong>University of Texas - Austin	<br><em>Post-Facto Calibration of the HETE-2 (High Energy Transient Explorer) Satellite Proportional Counter<br></em><br></div></td></tr><tr><td><div><strong>Joanna Huang<br></strong>University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign<br><em>Improving Robot-Aided Care of Physically Impaired Individuals<br></em><br></div></td><td><div><strong>Rrezarta Krasniqi<br></strong>University of North Texas<br><em>A Three-Pronged Approach for Detecting Highly Impactful Quality Concerns in Source Code<br></em><br></div></td></tr><tr><td><div><strong>Aparna Kumar</strong></div><div>Columbia University<br><em>Improving SEACells<br></em><br></div></td><td><div><strong>Paridhi Latawa</strong></div><div>Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)<br><em>EasyComm<br></em><br></div></td></tr><tr><td><div><strong>Amanda Liu</strong></div><div>University of Maryland - College Park<br><em>Debugging Techniques in Professional Programming<br></em><br></div></td><td><div><strong>Bryn Loftness<br></strong>University of Vermont<br><em>The ChAMP System: An Open-Access Tool for Enhancing Knowledge Discovery and Detecting Digital Phenotypes of Early Childhood Mental Health<br></em><br></div></td></tr><tr><td><div><strong>Sana Madhavan<br></strong>University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign<br><em>Processing Mindfulness Meditation: An Exploratory Analysis<br></em><br></div></td><td><div><strong>Christine Mbagwu<br></strong>University of Maryland Global Campus<br><em>High Performance Computing in the Cloud<br></em><br></div></td></tr><tr><td><div><strong>Lauren McGuirk<br></strong>Grand Valley State University<br><em>Virtual Motion Therapy (VMT)<br></em><br></div></td><td><div><strong>Sarah Motteler<br></strong>Rice University<br><em>Garden Planner<br></em><br></div></td></tr><tr><td><div><strong>Jalynn Nicoly<br></strong>Colorado State University<br><em>Virtual Reality Restorativeness<br></em><br></div></td><td><div><strong>Marian Obuseh<br></strong>Purdue University<br><em>Sensor-based Surgical Data Science and Human Factors in Robotic-Assisted Surgeries<br></em><br></div></td></tr><tr><td><div><strong>Kim Anh Phung<br></strong>University of Dayton<br><em>Co-AID: Collaboration of Artificial Intelligent Doctors for X-Ray Image Analysis<br></em><br></div></td><td><div><strong>Lori Porter<br></strong>University of Louisville<br><em>Galaxy Evolution with Simulations and Citizen Science<br></em><br></div></td></tr><tr><td><div><strong>Tanisha Rajgor<br></strong>Northeastern University<br><em>Deepfake Detection With Haar-Cascades &amp; GANs<br></em><br></div></td><td><div><strong>Yarianis Rivera<br></strong>Boston University<br><em>The Covid Run Game<br></em><br></div></td></tr><tr><td><div><strong>Jocelyn Shen<br></strong>Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)<br><em>Modeling Empathic Similarity In Personal Narratives<br></em><br></div></td><td><div><strong>Priyanka Shrestha<br></strong>Stanford University<br><em>Developing a Mechanistic Tensor Decomposition (MTD) for Systems Serology Data<br></em><br></div></td></tr><tr><td><div><strong>Saumya Suvarna<br></strong>University of Pennsylvania<br><em>Social Media as an Indicator of Declining Mental Health<br></em><br></div></td><td><div><strong>Quincy Taylor<br></strong>Brigham Young University - Provo<br><em>Understanding Hacktivist Groups through Online Media Posts<br></em><br></div></td></tr><tr><td><div><strong>Akshaya Venkatesh<br></strong>University of Illinois - Chicago<br><em>Changing Consumer Behavior - A Mobile App to Minimize Food Waste and Maximize Harvest<br></em><br></div></td><td><div><strong>Keke Wu<br></strong>University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill<br><em>Designing Accessible Visualizations for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD)<br></em><br></div></td></tr><tr><td><div><strong>Maya Zeng<br></strong>California State University - Northridge<br><em>Sustainable Origami<br></em><br></div></td><td><div><strong>Victoria Zhang<br></strong>Harvard University<br><em>Characterizing Quantum Processors Using Discrete Time Crystals<br></em><br></div></td></tr></tbody></table>

NCWIT Selects 2023 Collegiate Award Recipients

<h2><em>​Together NCWIT and AZNext are offering IT training programs and skill building courses to Aspirations in Computing Community members.</em><br></h2><p><strong><br>BOULDER, Colo. -&nbsp;</strong>​ The <a href="https://ncwit.org/" alt="National Center for Women &amp; Information Technology (NCWIT)" target="_blank">National Center for Women &amp; Information Technology (NCWIT)</a> is excited to announce a new partnership with <a href="https://www.asu.edu/" alt="Arizona State University" target="_blank">Arizona State University</a>’s <a href="https://uoeee.asu.edu/aznext" alt="AZNext Program" target="_blank">AZNext Program</a>. AZNext is a workforce accelerator program offered by Arizona State University that provides workforce training for IT, Cybersecurity and Advanced Manufacturing jobs. The program provides training at no cost and also provides certificate exam fee reimbursement to qualified applicants. Together NCWIT and AZNext are offering training programs which include both virtual/online and in-person training as well as   hands-on learning in a lab environment.  The program offers options for acquiring industry recognized credentials to help individuals stand out in their current job or future career aspirations. This opportunity will be shared with the NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Community, which consist of over 22,000 women, genderqueer, and non-binary technologists from high school into the early workforce.</p><p><em>​The NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Community is supported by Meta.</em><br></p><p><strong>About NCWIT: </strong>The National Center for Women &amp; Information Technology (NCWIT) is a non-profit community of nearly 1500 universities, companies, non-profits, and government organizations nationwide working to increase women’s participation in computing and technology  from K–12 and higher education through industry and entrepreneurial careers. NCWIT convenes, equips, and unites change leader organizations nationwide to increase the influential and meaningful participation of girls and women — at the intersections of race/ethnicity, class, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, and other historically marginalized identities — in the field of computing, particularly in terms of innovation and development. Find out more at www.ncwit.org.</p><p><strong>About Aspirations in Computing:</strong> NCWIT Aspirations in Computing (AiC) is a sweeping national talent development initiative for women, genderqueer, and non-binary in computing, from kindergarten through graduate school and beyond. Aspirations in Computing provides year-round, high-touch, structured engagement, recognition, opportunities and encouragement, as well as lifelong peer and professional networks for thousands of technically inclined young people. Since 2007, the Aspirations in Computing Community has welcomed over 22,000 talented women, genderqueer, and non-binary students from around the country.</p>

NCWIT Announces Partnership with Arizona State University’s AZNext Program

<h2>Three Canadian High School Students Recognized for Technological Achievements</h2><p> </p><div class="se-component se-image-container __se__float- __se__float-right" contenteditable="false">                                <figure style="margin: auto; width: 250px;">                                                                <img src="https://ncwit-aspirations-service-stage-public.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ncwitaicaward_logo_fullcolor_web_0.png" alt="Award for AiC Logo" data-origin="250,99" data-proportion="true" data-align="right" data-file-name="ncwitaicaward_logo_fullcolor_web_0.png" data-file-size="0" origin-size="379,150" name="ncwitaicaward_logo_fullcolor_web_0.png" style="width: 250px; height: 99px;" data-index="0">  </figure></div><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.aspirations.org/aspirations-canada" alt="NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Canada" class="on"><strong>NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Canada</strong></a><strong> </strong>proudly announces the 2023 <a href="/award-programs/apply-for-the-award-for-aic" target="_blank"><strong>NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing</strong></a> (AiC) national recipients, honoring three high school students from three provinces.&nbsp;</p><p> </p><p>Each year, The National Center for Women &amp; Information Technology (NCWIT) recognizes Canadian high school students in grades 9 through 12 who are women, genderqueer, or non-binary are eligible to receive recognition for their aptitude and aspirations in technology and computing, as demonstrated by their computing experience, computing-related activities, leadership experience, tenacity in the face of barriers to access, and plans for post-secondary education.&nbsp;</p><p> </p><p><em>The entire NCWIT AiC program platform is supported generously by Apple. AiC also receives support for specific national program elements. The NCWIT Award for AiC is sponsored by Apple, Bank of America, Microsoft, and Motorola Solutions Foundation.</em></p><p> </p><h2 id="Winners"><strong>2023 National Winners</strong></h2><h5>Ammielle Wambo Becker</h5><div class="se-component se-image-container __se__float-left" contenteditable="false" style="width: 50%;">                                                                                      <figure style="margin: 0; width: 100%; padding-right: 40px">                    <img src="https://wpassets.ncwit.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/28133749/NCWIT_AiCwinners_Canada_AmmielleWambo-1.jpg" alt="Graphic design featuring a grayscale photo of Ammielle Wambo Becker, Canadian National Award winner of the Award for Aspirations in Computing, an NCWIT Award." data-rotate="" data-proportion="true" data-size="50%," data-align="left" data-percentage="50," data-file-name="NCWIT_AiCwinners_Canada_AmmielleWambo-1.jpg" data-file-size="0" data-origin="," origin-size="1080,1080" name="NCWIT_AiCwinners_Canada_AmmielleWambo-1.jpg" style="width: 100%;" data-index="1">  </figure></div><p><em>REGION: ONTARIO</em></p><p>Ammielle is an ambitious and dedicated high school senior currently exploring bioinformatics and machine learning. She prefers to work on data exploration and analysis projects in Python, but she also codes websites and applications with JS and HTML/CSS. She is passionate about solving real-world problems using technology and has won hackathons like the TKS Moonshot hackathon with her bioprinting idea and the RBC NGI hackathon with her youth resource hub. Ammielle has spoken to over 3,000 people at virtual panels on Women in STEM and Diversity in Quantum Computing. In the future, she hopes to go to university and combine computer science and engineering with biology.</p><h5>Louise Ho</h5><div class="se-component se-image-container __se__float-left" contenteditable="false" style="width: 50%;">      <figure style="margin: 0; width: 100%; padding-right: 40px">            <img src="https://wpassets.ncwit.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/27215239/NCWIT_AiCwinners_Canada_LouiseHo.jpg" alt="Graphic design featuring a grayscale photo of Louise Ho, Canadian National Award winner of the Award for Aspirations in Computing, an NCWIT Award." data-rotate="" data-proportion="true" data-size="50%," data-align="left" data-percentage="50," data-file-name="NCWIT_AiCwinners_Canada_LouiseHo.jpg" data-file-size="0" data-origin="," origin-size="1080,1080" name="NCWIT_AiCwinners_Canada_LouiseHo.jpg" style="width: 100%;" data-index="2">  </figure></div><p><em>REGION: WEST COAST</em></p><p>Louise has been coding in the since she was eight years old, which was when she decided that was what she wanted to do as a career. She has begun to fulfill that dream by majoring in computer science after high school graduation, where she plans to go on exchange, participate in a co-op program, minor in health science or economics, and potentially get a graduate degree. Currently, she teaches Python, web development, robotics, and digital design at Under the GUI Academy, a coding school with multiple locations across British Columbia. She has been a part of their community for seven years, first as a student and a volunteer teaching assistant, and now a paid instructor for the past couple years. Over the years, Louise has competed in the Canadian Computing Competition (top 10%), Technovation (bronze), and various robotics competitions as well. Outside of computing, she plays beach and indoor volleyball at the top national level and helps coach the varsity teams at her high school. Another passion of hers is reading and writing: she has written a 65k word novel and participated in the Vancouver Writers Fest. Her love of literature has helped develop her communication skills that are crucial in the technology space.</p><h5>Nour Mohamed</h5><div class="se-component se-image-container __se__float-left" contenteditable="false" style="width: 50%;">      <figure style="margin: 0; width: 100%; padding-right: 40px">    <img src="https://wpassets.ncwit.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/27215243/NCWIT_AiCwinners_Canada_NourMohamed.jpg" alt="Graphic design featuring a grayscale photo of Nour Mohamed, Canadian National Award winner of the Award for Aspirations in Computing, an NCWIT Award." data-rotate="" data-proportion="true" data-size="50%," data-align="left" data-percentage="50," data-file-name="NCWIT_AiCwinners_Canada_NourMohamed.jpg" data-file-size="0" data-origin="," origin-size="1080,1080" name="NCWIT_AiCwinners_Canada_NourMohamed.jpg" style="width: 100%;" data-index="3">  </figure></div><p><em>REGION: ATLANTIC</em></p><p>Nour is 16-year-old student in 12th grade at Citadel High school. She accomplished a lot with regard to technology, mathematics, and engineering. Nour participated in multiple hackathons, including Diversity and Inclusion, Banking and Finance, as well as the NGI RBC hackathon. She also got featured and worked along with GDG Halifax, Women in Tech. Nour has participated in Hour Of Code featuring Microsoft; an hour long program getting you started into the basics, and help you creatively and initially build a project from zero. Nour has also participated in Young Women As Engineers in DAL and received a set of electronics, including an Arduino set that she programs and develops on constantly. She got into graphic design and visual art too, which became a day-to-day hobby and improved her time management skills. She digitally draws, studies 3d models and elements in various Adobe products such as Illustrator, After Effects, Photoshop, and different plugins like Element 3d, Orb, Duik Bass, and Flow while building her portfolio. Nour has interned with ATLAS space academy, working with microprocessors, and exploration of electrical engineering. Nour plans on participating in the Skills NS and Skills Canada 2d animation contest. Nour is studying and developing early digital and technical skills to become an Electrical and Electronics Engineer at Dalhousie University. By getting in touch and involved with a lot of mechanics and sciences, she is willing to focus more on innovation, enhancing her creativity, looking at different perspectives, and developing concepts both digitally and in real life to help her and others who would find a potential in this mindset. She will focus on more math related formats and projects, such as wirings, calculating motor functions, width, depth, and height, reference images, building and construction, and much more to help visualize, set, and solve any problems that come aboard.</p>

Canadian High School Students Recognized for Technological Achievements

<div class="se-component se-image-container __se__float- __se__float-right" contenteditable="false" style="">                                                                                        <figure style="margin: auto;">                                                                                                                                                                                <img src="https://ncwit-aspirations-service-stage-public.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ncwit_aiceducatoraward_logo_fullcolor_web.png" alt="AiC Educator Award Logo" data-origin="," data-proportion="true" data-align="right" data-file-name="ncwit_aiceducatoraward_logo_fullcolor_web.png" data-file-size="0" data-rotate="" data-size="," data-percentage="auto,auto" origin-size="434,150" name="ncwit_aiceducatoraward_logo_fullcolor_web.png" style="" data-index="0" data-rotatex="" data-rotatey="">  </figure></div><p>NCWIT proudly announces the 2023 <a href="https://www.aspirations.org/award-programs/aic-educator-award" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Educator Award</a> recipients, honoring 109 educators from 43 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and Canada.</p><p>Each year, U.S. educators (formal or informal), counselors, administrators, mentors, or other influencers who support the computing-related passions of 9 through 12 grade students are eligible to receive recognition for their efforts to promote gender equity in computing. This year, the awards include three National Educator Award Winners, 64 Affiliate Award Winners, and 42 Affiliate Award Honorable Mentions selected from more than 130 amazing, talented applicants.</p><p>View a complete list of the 2023 Regional Award recipients <a href="#EA23" alt="Educator Award List">here</a>. View a complete list of the 2023 Honorable Mentions <a href="#HM23">here</a>.</p><p>Congratulate this year's educators with the resources in the <a href="https://www.aspirations.org/aic-educator-award-publicity-toolkit-for-schools" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" alt="AiC Educator Award Publicity Toolkit" class="on">AiC Educator Award Publicity Toolkit</a>.</p><p><em>The entire NCWIT AiC program platform is supported generously by Apple. AiC also receives support for specific national program elements. The AiC Educator Award is sponsored by AT&amp;T.<br></em></p><h2>National Educator Award Winners</h2><p><br>The National NCWIT Aspirations in Computing (AiC) Educator Award elevates several educators whose work exemplifies the best of the AiC Educator Award. The Award identifies outstanding formal and informal educators who play a pivotal role in encouraging 9th-12th grade students who are women, genderqueer, or non-binary students to explore their interest in computing and technology. The award also recognizes these educators for their efforts to promote gender equity in computing.</p><p>In its sixth year running, NCWIT is pleased to announce the 2023 National NCWIT AiC Educator Award recipients:&nbsp;</p><p></p><ul><li>Adam Riazi of Cabell Midland High School in Ona, WV;&nbsp;</li><li>Anne Laughlin-Fuller of of Dublin Jerome High School in Dublin, OH;&nbsp;</li><li>Khamphet "Phet" Pease of of Wilson Middle School in San Diego, CA<br>  </li></ul><p></p><p>Read their full commendations below.</p><h5>Adam Riazi</h5><div class="se-component se-image-container __se__float-left" contenteditable="false" style="width: 25%;">                                                                                <figure style="margin: auto; width: 100%; padding-right: 40px;">                                                                                                                                                                <img src="https://wpassets.ncwit.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/09152223/Riazi-Headshot-CSTA9x16.png" alt="Color photograph of Adam Riazi, 2023 National Educator Award recipient, smiling toward the viewer and standing in front of a tree with purple floewrs. " data-rotate="" data-proportion="true" data-size="25%,auto" data-align="left" data-file-name="Riazi-Headshot-CSTA9x16.png&quot;" data-file-size="0" data-origin="," origin-size="2560,1928" data-percentage="25%,auto" name="Riazi-Headshot-CSTA9x16.png&quot;" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" data-index="1">  </figure></div><p style="margin-left: 75px;">Adam S. Riazi is a National Board Certified Teacher of Mathematics and Computer Science at Cabell Midland High School in wild, wonderful West Virginia. He was named as a Mountaineer Mathematics Master Teacher Noyce Fellow, where he develops, promotes, and leverages mathematics teacher leadership across West Virginia. He was also honored as Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Education national winner, a Computer Science Teachers Association national educator award recipient, and a multiple time National Center for Women &amp; Information Technology and AP Computer Science Female Diversity award winner. Adam instills in his students that learning is a collaborative endeavor, and that a high-quality STEAM education is one of the civil rights issues of our time. Through his classes, Adam’s students mapped the Milky Way Galaxy using radio telescopes at Green Bank Observatory, performed research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, won awards in the Congressional App Challenge, and planned and hosted community Hour of Code events in their school, district, and state.</p><p style="margin-left: 75px;"> </p><p style="margin-left: 75px;">Adam proclaims, “There is no such thing as teaching in the absence of learning. When my students learn, I have succeeded in becoming a teacher. Plain and simple. I aim to inspire my students to see the world as larger than themselves, yet not so large that they cannot change it.”</p><p style="margin-left: 75px;">Adam earned a Bachelor’s Degree in mathematics, a post-baccalaureate certificate in secondary mathematics education, and a Master’s Degree in leadership studies, all from Marshall University where he was a member of The Society of Yeager Scholars. Adam S. Riazi is an unworthy husband and charmed father, an assimilated Appalachian and y’all utterer. A frustrated musician and a disc golfer. A random collector, eyeglass obsessor, evidence seeker and magic bean buyer. A backroad driver and habitual shoegazer, unfortunate optimist and hopeless dilettante. An indiscriminate aficionado, a general enthusiast. And a believer in that which is yet to come.</p><h5>Anne Laughlin-Fuller</h5><div class="se-component se-image-container __se__float-left" contenteditable="false" style="width: 25%;">                                                                            <figure style="margin: auto; width: 100%; padding-right: 40px;">                                                                                                                                                        <img src="https://wpassets.ncwit.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/09152221/ALaughlinFuller19x16.png" alt="Color photograph of Anne Laughlin-Fuller, a 2023 National Educator Award recipient, smiling toward the viewer." data-rotate="" data-proportion="true" data-size="25%,auto" data-align="left" data-percentage="25%,auto" data-file-name="ALaughlinFuller19x16.pn" data-file-size="0" data-origin="," origin-size="1545,2000" name="ALaughlinFuller19x16.pn" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" data-index="2">  </figure></div><p>Anne Laughlin-Fuller is a CS Educator at Dublin Jerome High School in Dublin, Ohio. She teaches AP Computer Science Principles and AP Computer Science A. During her time at Dublin City Schools, Anne has served as FIRST Robotics and FIRST Lego League advisor. She is the main advisor for our district Dublin Tech Club and assists students in producing our educational outreach curriculum for our Pre -K through middle school camps. With her students, Anne has developed the Coding for Community Authentic Service Learning Replication Model with other organizations, teachers, and school districts throughout Ohio and the US.&nbsp;</p><p>Anne has several degrees in the areas of Biology and Computer Science. They include a BS in Biology from Denison University, BS in Computer Science from Franklin University, an M.ED in Instructional Technology from Ohio University, and an MSCS in Computer Science from Franklin University. As a child from Appalachia, Anne’s goal as an educator is to encourage her students to reach for the stars and make sure that they have access to a curriculum that is equitable, culturally, and historically responsive to the needs of her students. She is very proactive in making sure all students have access to a computer science education, regardless of their gender, race, and ability level. CS is for ALL students. Anne encourages her students to work on the legacy that they leave upon graduation. We never know how the ripples that we leave can affect others.</p><h5>Khamphet Pease</h5><div class="se-component se-image-container __se__float-left" contenteditable="false" style="width: 25%;">                                                                        <figure style="margin: auto; width: 100%; padding-right: 40px;">                                                                                                                                                <img src="https://wpassets.ncwit.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/09152242/Pease_headshot9x16.png" alt="Color photo of Khamphet Pease, a 2023 National Educator Award recipient, smiling toward the viewer." data-rotate="" data-proportion="true" data-size="25%,auto" data-align="left" data-percentage="25%,auto" data-file-name="Pease_headshot9x16.png" data-file-size="0" data-origin="," origin-size="1672,2508" name="Pease_headshot9x16.png" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" data-index="3">  </figure></div><p>Khamphet "Phet" Pease teaches STEAM electives (Project Lead the Way’s Gateway to technology including modules such as 3D Design and Modeling, Automation and Robotics, and Computer Science for Makers and Innovators) at Wilson Middle School and has advised the Wilson Robotics Team since 2012 -- "Go Tigerbots!" where the students compete in First LEGO League (FLL) and Botball autonomous competitions.</p><p>Once a student at Wilson Middle School herself, Phet has a strong desire to empower students from all walks of life to pursue careers in science and technology. Phet has a particular interest in bolstering technology careers for young women, which led to her creating independent boys and girls robotics teams at Wilson from 2013-2015 and starting a Girls Who Code program at Wilson in 2017. She also founded the Society of Women Engineers (SWEnext club) at her school. From 2015-2016, she mentored 16 female students from across San Diego County to build, engineer, and program a microlab experiment deployed to the International Space Station to test zero gravity.</p><p style="margin-left: 75px;">Phet graduated from UCSD with a B.S. in Biology and received her Masters in Education from the University of San Diego. She participated as a Noyce Master Teaching Fellow in Mathematics at San Diego State University from 2013-2018 and was voted San Diego County Teacher of the Year in 2015. She has numerous other accolades including the 2020 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST), 2021 San Diego County Engineering Council's Outstanding K-12 Engineering Educator, 2022 SD2 STEM Educator, and 2022 CSTA CS Teaching Excellence Award. She and her students were featured on the second season of CBS's "Mission Unstoppable with Miranda Cosgrove" in partnership with Infosys Foundation USA.&nbsp;Phet participates in the STEM Advisory Committee for the San Diego Rotary and serves as a Rotary advisor to promote STEM education in the Hoover cluster of the San Diego City School district. Khamphet lives in San Diego with her husband (Jeff), son (Charlie) and two dogs (Panko and Bok Choy).</p><p><a id="EA23"></a></p><h2><a id="EA23"></a>2023 Regional Affiliate Educator Award Recipients</h2><p></p><ul><li>Don Allen, Troy High School; 	Fullerton, CA</li><li>Bobbie	Bastian, Bollman Technical Education Center; Thornton, CO</li><li>Andrea Cascia, El Camino High School; Oceanside, CA</li><li>Michael Claudio, Olympian High School; Chula Vista, CA</li><li>Jazmin Collins, New Mexico State University; Las Cruces, NM</li><li>Paul Daniel, Loveless Academic Magnet Program High School; Montgomery, AL</li><li>Vennie Della Cioppa, Timpanogos High School; Orem, UT</li><li>Bobbie Deuter, Warner High School;	Warner, SD</li><li>Melody Dumas, Legacy High School; Midland, TX</li><li>Creighton Edington, Rural Education Advancement Program (REAP); Peralta, NM</li><li>Said El-Mejdani, Westwood Community High School; Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada</li><li>Mark Emry, McNeil High School; Austin, TX</li><li>Christine Faye, Sierra Vista High School; Las Vegas, NV</li><li>Brigham French, Fishers High School; Fishers, IN</li><li>Amanda Glunz, Audubon High School; West Allis, WI</li><li>Deborah Gray, Alabama School of Math and Science; Spanish Fort, AL</li><li>Laura Gray, Gwinnett County Public Schools; Athens, GA</li><li>Lisa Hauser, School for Advanced Studies - North; Miami, FL</li><li>Rebecca Hoffart, Peter Gruber International Academy; St. Thomas, VI</li><li>Kimberly Ingraham, Gretna High School; Omaha, NE</li><li>Robin Jones, Richland Two Institute Of Innovation (R2i2); Columbia, SC</li><li>Susan Jones, Midway High School; Waco, TX</li><li>Laura Juarez, CT STEM Academy; Wallingford, CT</li><li>Eilene Klaka, Eastlake High School; Redmond, WA</li><li>Keethan Kleiner, North Carolina School Of Science And Mathematics; Hillsborough, NC</li><li>Yolanda Kol, Harbor Teacher Preparation Academy; Wilmington, CA</li><li>Rebekah Lang, Villa Walsh Academy; Morristown, NJ</li><li>Ann Larson, Middletown High School; Middletown, RI</li><li>Selwyn	Lawrence, South Lakes High School; Reston, VA</li><li>Jacqueline Lewis, Enterprise High School; Chunky, MS</li><li>Rajasree Mitra, Dougherty Valley High School; San Ramon, CA</li><li>Joseph	 Moceri, Troy High School; Troy, MI</li><li>Taylor Morton, New Century Tech Demo High School; Huntsville, AL</li><li>Cindy Moshman-Southworth, Patchogue-Medford High School; Riverhead, NY</li><li>Voke Ogueh, Hastings High School; Fulshear, TX</li><li>Hannah Oldham, Sprayberry High School; Atlanta, GA</li><li>Neil Plotnick, Everett High School; Winthrop, MA</li><li>Laurel Pollard, Lebanon High School; Lebanon, NH</li><li>Patrick Rambo Vieira, Southeast Career Technical Academy; Henderson, NV</li><li>Theresa Richards, Carnegie Mellon University; Pittsburgh, PA</li><li>Jeanine Rioux, Valley View High School; Moreno Valley, CA</li><li>Andrew Schuetze, Lutheran High School of San Antonio; San Antonio, TX</li><li>Chiara Shah, Emma Willard School; Troy, NY</li><li>Brian Shay, Jl Ilsley High School; Fall River, Nova Scotia, Canada</li><li>Melanie Shimek, Manitowoc Lincoln High School; Manitowoc, WI</li><li>Bryan Silver, Kalani High School; Honolulu, HI</li><li>Mary Simms, James Hubert Blake High School; Ellicott City, MD</li><li>Dana Singer, Freedom High School; Orlando, FL</li><li>Kalyn Smith, Code Differently; Camden Wyoming, DE</li><li>Kristina Sorrells, Salem Academy; Winston-Salem, NC</li><li>Deepika Srivastava, Redlands Unified School District; Redlands, CA</li><li>Janice Loudon Stoner, Loyola Academy; Chicago, IL</li><li>Vinitha Subburaj, West Texas A&amp;M; Canyon, TX</li><li>Jon Swaine, Bayridge Secondary School; Kingston, Ontario, Canada</li><li>David Swift, Atoka High School; Coalgate, OK</li><li>Jennifer Teague, Lavaca High School; Lavaca, AR</li><li>Leon Tynes, Xavier College Preparatory; Phoenix, AZ</li><li>Chinma Uche, Academy of Aerospace and Engineering; Windsor, CT</li><li>Bhawna Verma, Paradise Valley High School; Cave Creek, AZ</li><li>Mark Vukovic, C-TEC Career And Technology Education Centers of Licking County; Westerville,	OH</li><li>Sarah Walsh, Visitation Academy of St. Louis; Saint Louis, MO</li><li>Eric Walters, Marymount School of New York; New York, NY</li><li>Jeff Wilkins, Hendersonville High School; Hendersonvlle, TN</li><li>Corey Woodring, Belleville Senior High School; Belleville, NJ</li><li>Julie York, South Portland High School; Westbrook, ME</li></ul><p></p><p><a id="HM23"></a></p><h2>2023 Affiliate Educator Honorable Mentions</h2><p></p><ul><li>Tammy Andrew, The Hotchkiss School; Lakeville, CT</li><li>Aundrea Atwood-Starkey, Southern High School; Harwood, MD</li><li>Christina Bright, Polaris Career Center; Middleburg Heights, OH</li><li>Gabby Brzozowski, Rocky Hill High School; Rocky Hill, CT</li><li>Beth Cerrone, Innovation Center of St. Vrain Valley Schools; Longmont, CO</li><li>Dee Chapman, The Griffin School; Austin, TX</li><li>Michele Coultas, Palo Verde High School; Las Vegas, NV</li><li>Josiah	Davisson, Advanced Technologies Academy; Las Vegas, NV</li><li>Myra Deister, Sunny Hills High School; Fullerton, CA</li><li>Jane Dinh, Granada Hills Charter High School; Granada Hills, CA</li><li>Janice Dwosh, Paradise Valley Unified School District; Phoenix, AZ</li><li>Jordan Eldridge, Code Differently; Middletown, DE<br></li><li>Cindy Erickson, Newton Country Day School; Newton, MA</li><li>Nikerson Frederique, Providence Career And Technical Academy; Providence, RI</li><li>Lori Fuller, Monarch High School; Coconut Creek, FL</li><li>Kimberly Hermans, Woodbridge High School; Newport Beach, CA</li><li>Carrie Hil, St. Joseph's Academy; O'Fallon, MO</li><li>Kristin Holmes, Commack High School; Commack, NY</li><li>Saghar Homayounpour, New Berlin West Middle/High School; Port Washington, WI</li><li>Matthew Horner, Randolph High School; Randolph, NJ</li><li>Paul Johnson, Del Norte High School; Escondido, CA</li><li>Takeshi Kaneko, Henry M. Gunn High School; Palo Alto, CA</li><li>Nomie Keusch Baker, Girls Who Code; Forest Hills, NY</li><li>Amy MacPherson, Phoenix College Preparatory High School; Laveen, AZ</li><li>Lloyd Mann, Shadow Ridge High School; Las Vegas, NV</li><li>Joanna Marcotte, Franklin High School; Franklin, NH</li><li>Roger Mayo, Advanced Technologies Academy; North Las Vegas, NV</li><li>Marysa McCartney, Salina High Central; Salina, KS</li><li>Deborah Minassian, Dover Senior High School; North Hampton, NH</li><li>Joe Morel, Padua Franciscan High School; Bay Village, OH</li><li>Theodore Newfield, Armwood High School; Seffner, FL</li><li>Margaret Novack, Foothill High School; Henderson, NV</li><li>Cam Ogletree, Madison Central High School; Madison, MS</li><li>Roza Shaimurat, LISA Academy; Sherwood, AR</li><li>Robert Speciale, West Career &amp; Technical Academy; Las Vegas, NV</li><li>Barbara Teterycz, Capital High School; Santa Fe, NM</li><li>Joe Thompson, McDonogh School; Owings Mills, MD</li><li>Tammy Vaught, Academy for the Arts, Science, and Technology; Galivants Ferry,	SC</li><li>Todd Vawdrey, West High School; Salt Lake City, UT</li><li>Henry Vo, Richardson High School; Richardson, TX</li><li>Mary White, Augusta Preparatory Day School; Augusta, GA</li><li>Amber Williamson, Atlanta College and Career Academy; Ellenwood, GA</li><li>Melissa Wrenchey, Tesla STEM High School; Redmond, WA</li></ul><p></p>

NCWIT Awards 109 Educators for Promoting Equity in Computing

2023 National Aspirations in Computing Award Recipients Announced 

<p> </p><p>​AiC Community Members are getting noticed for their accomplishments in tech and beyond! Check out these highlights:</p><p></p><ul><li>Twenty AiC Community members were listed among the top 300 scholars in the 2022 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.societyforscience.org/regeneron-sts/2022-scholars/" alt="Regeneron Science Talent Search">Regeneron Science Talent Search</a>, one of the nation’s most prestigious science and math competitions for high school seniors: Neha Ayyalapu, Sohini Banerjee, Maggie Bao, Srihitha Dasari, Amy Feng, Alice Feng, Sheryl Hsu, Sonya Jin, Su Kara, Jui Khankari, Sophie Krajmalnik, Jennifer Lew, Comfort Ohajunwa, Anika Puri, Navya Ramakrishnan, Ashlyn Roice, Natalie Shell, Ella Wang, Katherine Xie, and Zara Yu. AiC Community Member Ella Wang went on to be named one of the Top 40 finalists in the competition.</li><li>​AiC Community Member Favour Nerrise is currently serving as National Chairperson of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). She’s working to increase the number of Black engineers and computer programmers through “Game Change 2025, a strategic plan that Nerrise implemented to see 10,000 Black engineers graduate annually by 2025.” Nerrise’s work was highlighted in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/23/a-stanford-phds-plan-to-graduate-10000-black-engineers-by-2025.html" alt="an article on CNBC">an article on CNBC</a>.</li><li>​“I was encouraged because I grew up with a female role model in my mom, who was a software engineer, and I built a community of peers who were interested in computer science, too… But it was sad to see incredibly talented people leave the field who were turned off by the gender gap and didn’t have support in place.” // In <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pointsoflight.org/awards/medical-student-fills-the-gender-gap-throughout-the-world-of-stem/" alt="an article in Points of Light">an article in Points of Light</a>, AiC Community Member Pooja Chandrashekar talks about the organization she founded, called ProjectCSGIRLS.</li><li>​AiC Community Member Pradnya Desai won the Audience Choice Award for Best Pitch at the 2022 University Pitch Competition sponsored by The Indus Entrepreneur. Her winning idea was for a startup called Ad-Connect, which aims to help children with ADHD develop social skills by using a virtual reality application. Learn more about Desai and her work <a target="_blank" href="https://news.njit.edu/pradnya-desai-awarded-startup-competition-microsoft" alt="here">here</a>.</li><li>​“As the cofounder and president of the Computer Programming Club, I led members to build a program that recognizes recycled materials through machine learning and image recognition technology.” // AiC Community Member Anjie Liu was one of 20 students who received scholarships from Houston’s KPRC 2 and American Furniture Warehouse. Learn more <a target="_blank" href="https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2022/05/11/kprc-2-senior-scholarship-anjie-liu-overcame-a-traumatic-injury-to-accomplish-remarkable-achievements-in-school/" alt="here" class="on">here</a>.​<br>  </li></ul><p></p>

AiC Members In the News (Winter 2021 - Spring 2022)

<p>As the 2021-2022 awards season comes to a close, NCWIT Aspirations in Computing (AiC) is proud to announce that this year, a total of 3,610 unique recipients received a combined total of 3,893 recognitions. NCWIT AiC offers <a target="_blank" href="https://www.aspirations.org/award-programs/apply-for-an-award" alt="three distinct awards">three distinct awards</a> for high school students, college students, and educators, recognizing aspirations, abilities, technical accomplishments, and influential guidance. Below is a breakdown of this year’s recipients; click the links to learn more about the winners and honorable mentions for each award.</p><p>The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.aspirations.org/award-programs/apply-for-the-award-for-aic" alt="Award for Aspirations in Computing">Award for Aspirations in Computing</a> honors 9th-12th grade women, genderqueer, or non-binary students for their computing-related achievements and interests, and encourages them to pursue their passions. Award recipients are selected based on their aptitude and aspirations in technology and computing, as demonstrated by their computing experience, computing-related activities, leadership experience, tenacity in the face of barriers to access, and plans for post-secondary education. Awards are given at both National and Regional Affiliate levels, and participants may receive awards at both levels in the same season. This year, a total of 3,767 awards were given to students in 49 states, Puerto Rico, Guam, US Virgin Islands, Overseas Military Bases, and Canada, in the following categories:</p><p></p><ul><li><a href="https://www.aspirations.org/news/2022-national-award-for-aic-recipients-announced#Winners" target="_blank">National Winner: 40</a></li><li><a href="https://www.aspirations.org/news/2022-national-award-for-aic-recipients-announced#Mentions" target="_blank">National Honorable Mention: 360</a></li><li><a href="https://www.aspirations.org/be-inspired/student-award-recipients" target="_blank">Affiliate Winner: 1,290</a></li><li><a href="https://www.aspirations.org/be-inspired/student-award-recipients" target="_blank">Affiliate Honorable Mention: 1,069</a></li><li><a href="https://www.aspirations.org/be-inspired/student-award-recipients" target="_blank">Affiliate Rising Star: 784</a></li><li><a href="https://www.aspirations.org/be-inspired/student-award-recipients" target="_blank">Certificate of Distinction: 224</a></li></ul><p></p><p>The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.aspirations.org/award-programs/aic-collegiate-award" alt="NCWIT Collegiate Award">NCWIT Collegiate Award</a> honors the outstanding computing accomplishments of undergraduate and graduate women, genderqueer, or non-binary undergraduate and graduate students. Conferred annually, the award recognizes technical contributions to projects that demonstrate a high level of innovation and potential impact. This year, the following recipients were recognized:</p><p></p><ul><li><a href="https://www.aspirations.org/news/22CollegiateRecipients" target="_blank">Winners: 3</a></li><li><a href="https://www.aspirations.org/news/22CollegiateRecipients" target="_blank">Honorable Mentions: 12</a></li><li><a href="https://www.aspirations.org/news/2022-ncwit-collegiate-award-finalists-announced" target="_blank">Finalists: 80</a></li></ul><p></p><p>The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.aspirations.org/award-programs/aic-educator-award" alt="AiC Educator Award">AiC Educator Award</a> identifies exemplary formal and informal educators who play a pivotal role in encouraging 9th-12th grade women, genderqueer, or non-binary students to explore their interests in computing and technology. The award recognizes these educators for their efforts to promote gender equity in computing. This year, the following recognitions were given:  </p><p></p><ul><li><a href="https://www.aspirations.org/announcing-the-2022-ncwit-national-aic-educator-award-recipients" target="_blank">National Winners: 4 </a></li><li><a href="https://www.aspirations.org/news/one-hundred-and-seven-educators-are-recognized-for-their-efforts-to-promote-equity-in-computing" target="_blank">Affiliate Winners: 70</a></li><li><a href="https://www.aspirations.org/news/one-hundred-and-seven-educators-are-recognized-for-their-efforts-to-promote-equity-in-computing" target="_blank">Affiliate Honorable Mentions: 37</a></li></ul><p></p><p>To make this awards season possible, more than 500 volunteer reviewers completed a total of 10,434 application reviews. The dedicated efforts of these volunteers are crucial to the success and ongoing impact of the NCWIT AiC Recognitions program. To join this effort, learn more about volunteering to review AiC Award applications here: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.aspirations.org/get-involved/volunteer-reviewers" alt="aspirations.org/get-involved/volunteer-reviewers">aspirations.org/get-involved/volunteer-reviewers</a>.</p><p style="margin-left: 40px"><em>“From the influence of other women involved in STEM and computing that I've been able to connect with from the NCWIT community, I've been inspired to work on extra projects over the summer, furthering my knowledge in coding languages and mechanical engineering in robotics. In conclusion, I wanted to send a big thank you for the support you've provided to young women like myself since it truly does make a difference.” </em><br>	 — 2022 Aspirations in Computing Awardee </p><p>Research shows that <a target="_blank" href="https://ncwit.org/resource/practicingencouragement/" alt="encouragement">encouragement</a> plays a critical role in engaging students from diverse backgrounds in computing, and past recipients of the NCWIT AiC Awards often share that receiving an award helped encourage them to persist in their technical explorations. As one past recipient said, “NCWIT helped me find a community with similar goals and encouraged me to pursue a higher education in computer science.” Another stated, “This award has taught me the value in leadership. In a way, the award has shown me what it's like to be in a community of computing.” A third recipient shared that she was inspired to help others get involved: “The award affirmed that I have a place here, and has inspired me to be that encouragement for other girls in tech as well.”</p><p>To learn about all of the AiC award recipients from this year as well as previous years, visit the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.aspirations.org/be-inspired/awardees" alt="Awardees page" class="on">Awardees page</a>. </p><p><br></p>

NCWIT AiC Honors 3,610 Students and Educators in the 2021-2022 Awards Season

<div class="se-component se-image-container __se__float- __se__float-right" contenteditable="false">      <figure style="margin: auto; width: 250px;">            <img src="https://ncwit-aspirations-service-stage-public.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ncwit_aic_collegiateaward_logo_fullcolor_web_0.png" alt="NCWIT Collegiate Award Logo" data-origin="250,110" data-proportion="true" data-align="right" data-file-name="ncwit_aic_collegiateaward_logo_fullcolor_web_0.png" data-file-size="0" origin-size="341,150" name="ncwit_aic_collegiateaward_logo_fullcolor_web_0.png" style="width: 250px; height: 110px;" data-index="0">  </figure></div><p>NCWIT is pleased to announce the winners and honorable mentions of the 2022 <a href="/award-programs/aic-collegiate-award" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NCWIT Collegiate Award</a>, honoring the outstanding computing accomplishments of undergraduate and graduate women, genderqueer, or non-binary students. Conferred annually, the award recognizes technical contributions to projects that demonstrate a high level of innovation and potential impact.</p><p>​Learn about the 2022 recipients by watching the award winning students speak about their projects and what's next for them and by reading about them in the list below.</p><p><em>The entire NCWIT AiC program platform is supported generously by Apple. AiC also receives support for specific national program elements; the NCWIT Collegiate Award is sponsored by Qualcomm and Amazon with additional support from Palo Alto Networks.</em></p><h2>2022 Collegiate Award Recipient Videos​</h2><p></p><ul><li>​<a target="_blank" href="https://vimeo.com/709256100/4f04ac7ea0" alt="2022 Freshmen/Sophomore/Two-Year Institution Collegiate Award Recipients">2022 Freshmen/Sophomore/Two-Year Institution Collegiate Award Recipients</a>​</li><li>​<a target="_blank" href="https://vimeo.com/710426127/1fcfd5d6e6" alt="2022 Junior/Senior Collegiate Award Recipients">2022 Junior/Senior Collegiate Award Recipients</a>​</li><li>​<a target="_blank" href="https://vimeo.com/709259386/69cd281548" alt="2022 Graduate Collegiate Award Recipients">2022 Graduate Collegiate Award Recipients</a>​</li></ul><p></p><h2>Winners</h2><p> </p><p></p><ul><li><strong>Laalitya Acharya, Columbia University, <em>Nereid: Using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) Approach, an AI Technique, to Rapidly and Accurately Detect Microbial Contamination That May Cause Water-Borne Diseases</em></strong><br>		This project developed an affordable, low-maintenance device that can identify contaminants in water and be used to reduce the risk of water-borne disease transmission in areas where people have traditionally lacked access to clean water. The device, called Nereid, employs a microscope camera to take images at regular intervals, and then sends these images to its artificial intelligence processor for analysis. In the event that contamination is identified, the device uses long-range wireless technology to communicate this information to the water plant for further analysis. (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHBwQjfS5Yw" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li><li><strong>Fatemeh Haghighi, Arizona State University, <em>Transferable Visual Words: Exploiting the Semantics of Anatomical Patterns for Self-Supervised Learning</em></strong><br>		Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems help physicians better diagnose and treat diseases by using artificial intelligence to more accurately interpret medical images, which have the unique ability to render nuance in internal human anatomy (semantics). This project sought to make CAD systems more efficient by using deep learning to minimize manual labeling efforts in automated image-processing systems. The researcher built a self-supervised learning framework that enables the capture of semantics-enriched information from unlabeled medical image data, enabling CAD systems to detect abnormalities effectively and efficiently using a small number of annotated images.  (<a href="https://youtu.be/WnqZ3Mm1bZo" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li><li><strong>Sarah Wielgosz, University of Pittsburgh, <em>Parametric Modeling of NASA's Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators for Future Deep-Space Missions</em></strong><br>		Though the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has used radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) to power its probes and rovers for 50 years, the current design methodology does not fully maximize RTG performance. For this project, the researcher worked with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory to design new RTGs capable of completing future deep-space and subsurface exploration missions. Using MATLAB and the university’s supercomputer to develop and test analytic models, a specific power greater than 11 [W/kg] was achieved, more than twice that of current RTGs. (<a href="https://youtu.be/yOnZPZigYeY" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li></ul><p></p><h2>Honorable Mentions</h2><p></p><ul><li><strong>Mary Gerhardinger, Kenyon College, <em>The Hubble Tension and Early Dark Energy: Simulating Nonlinear Instabilities</em></strong><br>		This project builds on the idea that the tension between distinct measurements of the Hubble constant, which indicates how fast the universe is expanding, results from a deficiency in the standard model of cosmology, and it investigates a possible solution by introducing a dynamical scalar field, also known as early dark energy (EDE). EDE “turns on” during the early universe and transfers energy into the universe, thereby changing its expansion. Previous work showed that using a linear analysis of EDE can resolve the Hubble tension. This project focused on demonstrating that a nonlinear model also solves this issue. (<a href="https://youtu.be/Umg38tCs10A" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li><li><strong>Grace Guan, Stanford University, <em>Early Detection of COVID-19 Outbreaks Using Human Mobility Data</em></strong><br>		This project leveraged cell phone mobility data to develop models to successfully predict daily new COVID-19 cases and the seven-day test positivity rate for different geographic regions in Israel. This tool can be used to guide government decision making in real time, which is especially important in the post-vaccination era, when focused interventions are needed to contain outbreaks while mitigating the collateral damage from more global restrictions. This prediction model can also be applied to predict outbreaks of other communicable diseases, such as influenza, measles, and SARS. (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR0F7pVN8nk" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li><li><strong>Tabitha Edith Lee, Carnegie Mellon University, <em>Structural Sim-to-Real Transfer of Robot Manipulation Policies Using Causal Reasoning</em></strong><br>		This project is a robot learning methodology called "structural sim-to-real transfer," which looks at how robots can leverage causality to learn how to interact with objects in simulation, and then transfer this learned experience to adapt and learn from new scenarios in the real world. This approach yields robot behaviors that are more compact, more robust to differences between the training and test data, and more efficient to adapt to a real robot than correlation-based approaches. (<a href="https://youtu.be/kezn1rRWO2c" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li><li><strong>Marceline Lewis, Kennesaw State University, <em>Renewable Ocean Wave Energy Harvesting Device for Sustainable Boats and Ships</em></strong><br>		This project demonstrates that it is possible to efficiently convert the movement of boats and ships caused by wave impacts into a clean renewable energy resource that will make boats more sustainable. Wave energy converters traditionally require direct contact with the water, such as buoys that are designed with a linear generator inside that sways up and down as the buoy rises and falls to generate energy. The project  prototype’s mechanism for producing electrical power is designed to sit inside of a boat instead of on the outside, avoiding energy conversion inefficiency resulting from drag. (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEMXHTf8OHI" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li><li><strong>Shannon O'Hara Wiora, Tidewater Community College, <em>Comparison of Algorithms for Predicting Membrane Protein Structures</em></strong><br>		This project involved a comparative analysis of the Rosetta and MODELLER algorithms for homology modeling. Homology modeling is used to predict a protein’s structure. These predictions are important for understanding the protein’s mechanism of action, and they can also be used to study the binding of ligands to that protein, providing a rational and cost-effective platform for drug design. By evaluating the comparative algorithms, the best possible homology models can be developed to evaluate the protein structures, providing a better starting point for understanding protein function and predicting ligand binding poses. (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EEKPza_TfI" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li><li><strong>Trisha Prabhu, Harvard University, <em>ReThink: An Effective Method To Detect and Stop Cyberbullying, Using Context-Sensitive Sentiment Analysis and Deep Learning Algorithms</em></strong><br>		<span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">According to Stopbullying.gov, cyberbullying affects more than 15 percent of U.S. high school students, including more than 55 percent of LGBTQ+ students. This project developed a patented app, ReThink, that can help detect and stop online hate. The ReThink Keyboard is a custom-built QWERTY keyboard that replaces a mobile device’s default keyboard and uses machine learning technology to detect offensive messages. It works across all apps to give users a chance to reconsider sending offensive content. ReThink is currently available in eight languages.</span> (Learn more about this project <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkzwHuf6C2U" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="https://www.rethinkwords.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>).</li><li><strong>Mehrnoosh Shakarami, University of Texas - San Antonio, <em>Access Control for Smart Home IoT</em></strong><br>		This project is focused on modeling and implementing mechanisms that appropriately control access to Internet of Things (IoT) systems used in smart home environments, such that only the right people can access the right things at the right time. This includes securing these environments to prevent hackers from gaining control over smart devices even if they are able to get onto the Wi-Fi network, as well as making inter-device communications more automated, increasing comfort and ease of use. (<a href="https://youtu.be/8ZB2Tzhd42w" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li><li><strong>Christa Simaan, University of Pennsylvania, <em>The Formalization of Permutation Networks</em></strong><br>		A permutation network uses configurable switches to rearrange the input such that the output is always a permutation of it. Originally developed for telecommunications, these networks are an important part of the Advanced Encryption Standard that powers all web communication technologies. Permutation networks are unique in that they are configurable, reversible, scalable, and parametric polymorphic. This project defined and proved the soundness and completeness of a Benes permutation network using the Coq proof assistant. (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHvjj0En044" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li><li><strong>Rachel Sterneck, Yale University, <em>Energy Efficient and Robust Adversary Detection in Neural Networks</em></strong><br>		Although deep neural networks (DNNs) have great potential to be used in real-world vision tasks, their vulnerability to adversarial attacks – inputs that have been carefully perturbed to fool classifier networks while appearing unchanged to humans – must be addressed to ensure that machine learning applications are safe and reliable. For this project, the researchers created a structured methodology of augmenting a DNN with a detector applied to the most sensitive layer of the network. The method was shown to be an energy-efficient way to improve state-of-the-art detector robustness against adversarial examples. (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxFoJiKnY3M" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li><li><strong>Aakriti Upadhyay, University at Albany - SUNY, <em>A Topology-Aware Sampling-Based Motion Planner</em></strong><br>		Autonomous robotic systems often require pre-planned information about their surroundings to avoid colliding with obstacles when planning their paths. Their configurations contain information on their position, orientation, joint angle, and displacement. However, the topological data extracted (i.e., the connectivity information of the space) by these planners are either not reusable or do not provide much information about the robots’ space. This project introduces a topology-aware sampling-based motion planner that combines the data-extraction features of topological data analysis (TDA) methods with the sampling-based motion planning algorithms to compute an energy-efficient path planner for the robots. (<a href="https://vimeo.com/663323813" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li><li><strong>Sherry Wong, University of Wisconsin - Madison, <em>Cosmic Ray and Magnetically Driven Bubbles in Galaxies</em></strong><br>		Through a combination of numerical simulations and data-processing methods, this project investigates the behavior of hot, dense gas bubbles accelerated by magnetic reconnection and heated by cosmic rays. How these bubbles form and evolve is significant to understanding how magnetic reconnection can affect the larger galactic system. The researcher found evidence confirming the idea that these bubbles are formed by reconnection, shedding light on the effects of reconnection and the effectiveness of the code that simulates it. (<a href="https://youtu.be/Ll3xpb87mPc" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li><li><strong>Rebecca Zhu, Princeton University, <em>MyGraine: Predicting Migraines Using Machine Learning</em></strong><br>		This project created a tool that uses artificial intelligence to accurately predict migraine occurrences. Existing migraine tracking diaries only allow people to track retrospective information, but having the ability to predict when a migraine will occur can allow them to take preventive measures. Several machine learning and deep learning models were trained and tested using a data set of migraine trigger factors. The trained, best-performing model was integrated into a website called MyGraine. Users can input their migraine triggers and specific indicative features and get predictions on whether they will get a migraine. (<a href="https://youtu.be/wIypyLQuLOc" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View this project online.</a>)</li></ul><p></p>