Joining the IT revolution!

Noting that very few young girls show an interest in studying computer science or communication systems, the EPFL's School of Computer and Communication Sciences (Barbara Jobstmann, assisted by Elise Klay, Joanna Salathé and Eliéva Pignat) and the Equal Opportunities Office (Farnaz Moser and Nicole Berseth) decided to organize the very first "girls only" summer workshop.
Aware of the fact that an application as popular as WhatsApp can send 64 billion messages each day, the workshop organizers decided to have the girls design a chat to gain a better understanding of the technical, design and information security aspects.

"I really liked designing the application but everything relating to blocks [i.e. graphical programming] was hard to understand (…) but I finally figured everything out by the end of the week," explains one of the participants. In fact, it was quite a challenge for these girls to have to build an application from scratch without any prior knowledge, particularly since there are so many notions to grasp such as data, networks, communication protocols and information security. By the end of the week, however, all of the participants rose to the challenge and managed to use their app and show it off to their friends and family. "It was great, very nicely explained and everyone was really friendly. Not only did we learn how to create this app, we also learned how to create other apps on our own at home whenever we feel like it," explains one of the girls. Another girl adds, "I think that the activities are amazing and that the "monitors" and the participants were all on the same wavelength. After we created the app, we were all so proud that we felt like doing it again the following week."

Plunging into virtual reality
Among the most popular activities of the week, the group took part in a series of immersive interactions in virtual reality.
Imagine yourself entering an EPFL laboratory full of very sophisticated-looking computers and scientific gadgets. Researchers welcome you and explain that you have to put on 3D glasses and stand in the middle of different screens. You plunge into a universe where you must either avoid obstacles or push them away by touching them. One of your friends stands behind you, telling you which arm or leg to use to touch the virtual projectile moving in your direction. With each successful attempt, you score more points.

"It's kind of freaky and fun at the same time!" exclaims one of the participants after her session.

The set of immersive interactions in virtual reality mainly serves to develop technologies for real-time interaction with virtual reality, such as with avatars, for example. The participants were able to experience "The Cave", an installation that tests user responses to a virtual environment. This is an interdisciplinary research project that involves not just computer science but also psychophysics.

"Googliness" and an office chute
"I became enthralled with information technology after eight years of political science studies and learned everything on my own… Absolutely everything! I began creating websites and now work in my dream job. When I work, I do not have the impression that I am working: I'm having fun."

Zineb Ait Bahajji, a Google engineer, is full of enthusiasm which is…very communicative!
"How does one get hired at Google?", asks one of the participants.

"Apart from having the necessary IT skills, you have to have Googliness…" replies Zineb. But of course! Googliness is the typical Google attitude! In other words, you have to have a healthy dose of seriousness but also a sense of humor, kindness, curiosity, open-mindedness and especially: a voracious desire to learn.

"Is it true that you have an office chute?" asks another participant. "Indeed we do. It goes from the second floor of the building down to the restaurant on the ground floor. We even have the same poles that fire-fighters use to go from one floor to the next," replies Zineb.

"So, do you now feel more comfortable with information technology after this workshop?", Zineb asks the girls. It seems to me that you can't possibly get bored in this environment. You can change, learn…there is so much going on. It is a promising sector with plenty of job openings. Working in the IT field can also be for a good cause such as protecting people's privacy on the Internet … and we need IT specialists to improve people's well-being."

A greatly appreciated first workshop
"I learned a lot of things about information technology and made lots of friends :D". This was the most common feedback given in the anonymous survey, which was overwhelmingly positive. One of the teachers, Eliéva Pignat, even says that "the girls were so absorbed by their work that I practically had to force them to take a break."

Mission accomplished therefore, since several of the participants intend to study computer science or communication systems in the future: "I found the workshop to be very instructive and enriching. It was also fun and really made me want to study IT later on."

The designers and teachers Eliéva Pignat, Elise Klay and Joanna Salathé with Google engineer Zineb Ait Bahajji
"The activities were all interesting and fun. Most of the activities I had never done before. Elise, Eliéva and Joanna are very good explaining things clearly and were very kind. Thank you."

This summer workshop in 2014 was very successful and there will undoubtedly be another summer workshop 2015. To conclude, one of the participants recognized the usefulness of IT and confided to us with a smile and a wink: "If I become a spy one day, it will certainly come in handy..."