Women in Computer Science and Engineering (WiCSE), the official student Association for Computing Machinery’s Council on Women in Computing (ACM-W) chapter at the University of Florida, recently hosted its annual Middle and High School Code-A-Thon. The group welcomed about 35 Gainesville-area middle and high school students for a day of interactive and educational computer science workshops.
Students were split into two groups based on prior computer science knowledge. The more beginner group participated in workshops that introduced them to binary, hex, logic gates, and Arduinos while the more advanced group participated in data structures, introductory cybersecurity, neural networks, and React workshops.
The workshops were hosted by a variety of student organizations from UF, including Women in Electrical and Computer Engineering (WECE), the UF Student Information Security Team (UFSIT), the UF Programming Team (UFPT), the UF Software Engineering Club (UFSEC), and Dream Team Engineering.
“Computer Science education is important for the future of our society,” said Rong Zhang, Ph.D., an associate instructional professor in the Department of Computer & Information Science & Engineering and co-advisor for WiCSE. “WiCSE and UF-TYPE are dedicated to introducing coding skills to students at an early age.”
WiCSE’s mission is to facilitate the growth and empowerment of women in computer science by educating and celebrating their participation in the field. The group holds professional development workshops, and social and outreach events. WiCSE welcomes any and all UF students to join. To learn more, visit https://ufwicse.com/.
Allison Logan
Communications Manager
Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering