Serene Chong, USF IE Graduate Student (Programming Workshop
Leader)
Serene started her masters degree in Computer Science at USF this Spring.
After completing a business undergraduate degree in Malaysia she got into
the IT industry. After a year working, Serene realized that she is more
interested in computers than business. Serene’s thoughts: “There are so
many areas in Computer Science. You can choose one thing that you are
interested in and there will be an area in Computer Science you can explore
and be good in. It is a learning curve all the way and you will never get
bored of it. It is always challenging and competitive in this area.”
Serene likes to design and wants to focus in the area of Human Computer
Interaction.
Ketaki Joshi, USF IE Graduate Student (Networking
Workshop Leader, Hardware Workshop Co-Leader)
I, Ketaki Joshi, after having completed my undergrad in India @ University
of Mumbai in Computer Engineering, flew all the way to the west to achieve
my Masters at University of San Francisco. Computers and the distributed
web specifically interested me, so I took up the course of Internet
Engineering in this university. I am currently in my 3rd semester here, as
I started in Fall 05, last year! The experience has been no less than an
interesting journey learning the various technologies and trying to find
applications that can make the technology look more interesting and
worthwhile!
The count of women in this vast IT industry may be less as compared to our
male counterparts, but I am glad that this count has increased by one after
my entry in the IT world, even as a student at this moment. Computers had
and will always fascinate me, as they are something I believe to be more
than just a machine; they are a result of ideas, thinking, and hardwork put
in by the intellectual minds!
Nancy Montanez, USF CS Graduate Student (Google Earth Workshop
Leader, Hardware Workshop Co-Leader, Program Organizer)
Ms. Nancy Montanez received a BS in Computer Science from USF and taught 2
semesters of computer science and math courses at USF shortly after. She
went on to work as a consultant for a small company and for the Department
of Radiology at the UCSD. After, she worked at NASA Ames as a Higher
Education Assistant overseeing 50 undergraduate interns and placing them
into technical positions at NASA. Being at NASA inspired her to pursue her
Master's in Computer Science, where she has had wonderful opportunities,
such as bringing computers down to a small town in Peru
to having her research accepted into a world wide computer conference. She
is currently finishing up her Master's thesis and will be teaching her
second course in Computer Architecture this fall. Her hobbies include
reading, traveling around the world, and learning new languages.
Jennifer Reyes, USF CS Undergraduate Student (Robots Workshop
Leader)
Ms. Jennifer Reyes will be starting her fourth year at USF as a computer
science major. She believes strongly in the educational benefits that
computers provide. Therefore, Jennifer strives to expose everyone to the
world of computer science. Her thoughts: "Computer science is a great
profession because at a workstation anyone can become a scientist, an
entertainer, a student, and an educator."
Teresa Win, University of San Francisco (Speaking on Friday, 6/30/2006)
Ms. Win is a USF alumna ’85 and a member of the Board of Trustees. Her service to USF includes chairing the Integrated Science Center project, serving on the Committee on Information Technology Strategy, and working with the Women in Science and Community Connections programs. Ms. Win worked in technical and management positions related to information technology at large and small businesses. Ms. Win invented getAccess, an Internet security related software application, and together with her husband formed enCommerce to commercialize getAccess. enCommerce was acquired in April 2000. Ms. Win has a BS degree in Computer Science from the University of San Francisco and a JD from Santa Clara University. Teresa’s thoughts on the field of computer science: “The IT field holds great opportunities for women to achieve a thoroughly satisfying professional career because of its technical, artistic, business, and ever evolving aspects. Try IT, you’ll love IT!”
David Wolber, USF (Program Founder and Organizer)
Dr. David Wolber is a professor of computer science at USF. His interests
include collaborative research tools, promoting transparent government
through technology, fostering public service projects involving technology,
and end-user programming. He has a Ph.D. in computer science from U.C.
Davis, and is nearing an M.F.A. in creative writing from USF.
His webpage is http://cs.usfca.edu/~wolber