Women in Computer Science, Engineering and Technology (WiCET) Summer Program returned to New York Tech in-person for the first time in a few years. The program was made possible by AMD (formerly Xilinx, Inc.) and its Women in Technology University Grant Program.

“Through a highly competitive grant from Xilinx Corp. we were able to fund this very successful outreach event with the goal of broadening participation of women in engineering. I am pleased to see that the hard work of our expert faculty and dedicated staff have delivered an amazing educational experience to the participants in this event, “ said Babak D. Beheshti, Ph.D., dean of the College of Engineering and Computing Sciences.

WiCET welcomed 25 students on a first come, first serve basis, to learn more about engineering design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and computer science/programming while gaining hands-on experience. The objective was to build a dynamic vehicle with electronic sensors and self-driving capabilities through 3-D modeling and printing, laser cutting, FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) chips, and Python programming. Although the program isn’t limited to just women participants, the program was developed to empower young women interested in a career in STEM.

The instructors were N. Sertac Artan, Ph.D., Lab Engineer David Fanning, and Lab Engineer Folashade Alawiye. They were supported by New York Tech graduate students Binnu Ponugoti, Mitali Bhojwani and Nivedha Chokkalingam.

David Fanning noted, “One of our main goals was to create an environment where the students not only learned the fundamentals, but also where they had the freedom to take their project in the direction that they chose. For some teams this meant going beyond the basic project goals that we set forth initially. We’re not just trying to give them a task to complete, our hope is to give them the tools and skills to continue to learn, explore and grow well beyond the WiCET program!”

Dr. Artan looks forward to the program every year because of its focus on women empowerment in the field. “It was wonderful to see the joy in the eyes of the female high school students when they engage in hands-on engineering activities. Programming FPGA chips is notoriously hard even for undergraduate engineering students. It was remarkable how high school students quickly got productive with FPGA chips. I thank my colleagues for their diligent work, and I am grateful to NYIT CoECS and Xilinx for their generous support.”

Mr. Fanning echoed Dr. Artan’s shared sentiments stating, “If we can expose young women to STEM and get them excited about a future in the STEM fields that is a great thing! This program could be the spark that sets them off on a career path that they might have otherwise not known about or explored.”

“It was really refreshing to see more females interested in Computer science and Engineering, “ added Ms. Alawiye. “Even though the students had a short amount of time to learn a lot of stuff, I must say that the level of assimilation was outstanding. Their level of determination left me in awe. This shows the future of technology is in good hands.”

We were given some very useful feedback to improve our program for next year. Overall, WiCET was very well received. The majority even suggested the program be extended beyond five days.

Ninth grader Aastha said, “I think everything I learned from this program was really helpful… I really loved this program!”

Tenth grade Karen recognized the resilience of her peers within the program stating, “My peers are determined, ambitious and they won’t give up easily when they face an issue.”

Thank you to all our 2022 participants, coaches, supporting faculty and staff, and AMD for a successful program!