What WWDC 2018 Taught Me (About Choosing and Attending Conferences)

This year was the first time I attended Apple’s WWDC conference. It took 3 years of trying, but I finally got the golden ticket to attend this year, and was fortunate enough to have an employer to sponsor my trip as well!

This is the largest iOS conference in the world, and it’s the dream of many iOS developers to eventually attend a WWDC at some point in their careers. Given what a big deal WWDC is, was it worth it? More importantly, if you work for a company that will sponsor only one conference for you in a year, should WWDC be THE one? Or if WWDC is not in the cards this year, how do you select a conference to attend, and what’s the best way to get the most out of it? Come with me as I share my journey, and see!

10 Lessons from Teaching Newbie Programmers iOS

This past August, I volunteered to teach a group of beginner programmers iOS in Denver through Bridge Troll, an organization that provides free programming classes to women and underrepresented groups. I was glad to finally do what I had promised to do earlier in the year as a way to give back to women in tech through teaching iOS. (Speaking of giving back, I also have been mentoring a college woman studying STEM – go Stephanie, you rock! But that’s for another blog post. 🙂 )

I learned some things from teaching that iOS Bridge workshop that day, which I am happy to share here!

Android Developer? Help SimplyE Promote Information Equality

For the past five months, I’ve been working as an iOS Developer on the SimplyE reader app, the e-book reader app for the New York Public Library. Originally developed for the New York Public Library, SimplyE is expanding, and will work with many other libraries over the next few years, which is an exciting development. In order to meet the needs of our growing user base, we are in need of an intermediate level Android Developer. Do you want to know how SimplyE helps people and how you can be a part of that? Keep reading! (no pun intended 🙂 )

Coming Full Circle in IoT and Women in Tech with FemmeHacks

In early 2016, I had a chance to get involved with the Internet of Things through my local Women Who Code hardware hackathon. Fast forward a year later, I’ve participated in multiple IoT hackathons, including the one that sent me to Beijing, China and have become an Intel Software Innovator as a result. This past February, 2017, I had the opportunity to give back to women in tech by mentoring at FemmeHacks, an Intel-sponsored women’s hackathon, and thus come full circle from participating in women’s hardware hackathons to now giving back and mentoring at one. Here’s my story of participating at FemmeHacks 2017 in Philadelphia.

3 Reasons I’m Giving Back to Women In Tech in 2017

Note:

I originally planned to title this post “3 BIG Ways that WWC Helped My Career in 2016” to highlight all the ways that Women Who Code have helped me. But I wanted to speak in a larger sense of the struggles of women in technology and how I want to help, hence the current title. I’m still sending lots of love to WWC throughout this article though! 🙂

“Save The Water Pipes” Wins Excellence Award in IoT China Contest

The “Blue Team”, the team behind the “Save The Water Pipes” project, has returned home to the US after a successful trip to China. The “Save the Water Pipes” project is a freezing water pipe detection and prevention system. It detects when water in a pipe is about to freeze, and drips a faucet to allow water to flow through the pipe until the temperature rises, and then automatically shuts off the faucet. Its purpose is to prevent water damage to homes and buildings in cold areas caused by freezing pipes breaking, while dripping just enough water to prevent the pipes from freezing and prevent water waste.

“Save the Water Pipes” IoT Project Headed to China for Intel Contest

We did it! As mentioned in my last blog post, the Blue Team and I submitted our “Save the Water Pipes” project to the China-US Young Maker competition for a chance to compete in China. As of July 11, 2016, our team has been selected as one of the top 10 semi-finalists to compete in China for the Intel-sponsored hackathon.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support, and thanks to my team members, Eric Richardson and Crystal Gannon, for all your hard work.

Wish us luck in China!

Check out our “Save the Water Pipes” project submission here:

bit.ly/SaveWaterPipes