Female Computer Science student being recognized for tech and role-model work

Comp_Sci_1

March 28, 2016

Alyssia Jovellanos has a dream of creating a powerful pipeline of women in tech at McMaster University.

The second year Computer Science student is already on her way. Jovellanos is the co-founder of student hack-a-thon DeltaHacks, which brings together interdisciplinary teams to create software and hardware projects for social change; she’s the first female president of the University’s Computer Science Society and she’s helped teach computer coding to more than 3,500 elementary school children through an outreach program.

“We all know that women are underrepresented in tech and computer science and software engineering,” said Jovellanos. “I think it’s important for younger girls to see role models so that they know they can be software engineers or computer scientists or really anything. There is an issue with the pipeline of incoming students but there’s also an issue with students who are currently in the pipeline and how do we keep them in those tech fields and I think that’s a big thing.”

Jovellanos’ efforts has been recognized by The Anita Borg Institute (ABI), an organization dedicated to advancing women in computing and host to the world’s largest female-driven tech event.

She is the recipient of the institute’s Student of Vision ABIE Award, which annually celebrates a young woman who has a unique vision and is making a difference in technology. The award includes a $1,000 US scholarship and trip to the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in Houston in October. Jovellanos is among three women, including a technical leader and an entrepreneur, who will be recognized during the ABI’s Women of Vision Awards Banquet in Silicon Valley on May 5.

Jovellanos said she wants to try and provide more professional development and learning opportunities for women interested in tech. Jovellanos said she also wants them to know that there’s so much they can do working in the tech sector.

“The reason why I wanted to go into Computer Science is because I realize (code) is everywhere and I can use computer science as a tool for positive change. It can be applied to so many different fields and my goal is to use this technical skill set to create really high impact applications or to inspire the next generation of computer scientists.”