November 28, 2014, by International students

Inspiring stories and fascinating ideas at The University of Nottingham’s Women in Technology Day

It was really nice to have the opportunity to meet some amazing women at The University of Nottingham’s Women in Technology Day, November 15 2014. Well, not only women, there were also some men whoattended this event. Actually, this great event was not only for tech enthusiasts, it was for everyone from all walks of life.

There were six presenters who shared their inspiring stories. They came from various backgrounds, which made the talk more interesting. I loved their ideas, passion and enthusiasm. One of issues raised was about how to deal with that ‘imposter’ feeling when you are in a field that is mostly filled by men. One of the solutions is to build your network wider by attending conferences or other similar events. You will meet a lot of people where you can be a truly yourself around them. As a woman, many of us are interested in makeup, skirts, and high heels, so do not be afraid to put them on! It is okay to be geeky and girly at the same time!

Surprisingly, some presenters had background knowledge which is not in engineering, technology or science. One of them came from Psychology and another one from Arts. I was fascinated by knowing the genius results of fusing those two fields with computer science. A lot of people come up with ideas of using technology in their field in order to get a better representation and impact, but just a few of them truly go into the implementation. These wonderful women prove they can. They are wizards! They use their wizarding powers to be a creator, not a consumer of technology, which makes them be able to change the world.

This was the first event especially dedicated for women that I have attended in the UK. I found it be more casual, which was a good thing. We could easily interact and communicate with the speakers. Besides, the committee provided a big space to relax by playing Wii games together with friends that I just met on site. They even provided a photo booth, with a lot of funny props, so that you could have a documentation of your best friendship funny moment. There were also some sponsors who gave an interesting demo, workshop, and useful information for prospective careers. As usual what I found in UK in every event is that they gave you tons of freebies and free food. Have I told you there was free food?!? I am the happiest student in the world!

Last but not least, one good quote from @paolability : “Everyone is entitled to success, everyone is entitled to happiness, including you, yes… you.”

Raras Tyasnurita, an international student from Indonesia studying a PhD in Information Technology at The University of Nottingham

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