Sacred Heart Greenwich students and faculty furthered their knowledge of datalogy during the annual Computer Science week that occurred December 5 through December 10, 2021.  Computer science is a culmination of subjects in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).  Sacred Heart provided real-world examples of women in the computer science field through two lecturers, Ms. Malavika Pande and Ms. Nancy Greco.  Both speakers shared their own perspectives of being a woman in a male-dominated field.

Mrs. Ana Nystedt, Upper School Computer Science Teacher and Coordinator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Space Station Explorers, accented the week’s emphasis on women in STEM by creating daily computer science challenges available to the entire Upper School with prizes for winners.

The first speaker, Ms. Pande, is a program manager for the company Azure, an application for the platform Microsoft.  Azure is a cloud platform with more than 200 products and cloud systems, according to azure.microsoft.com.  She is a graduate of Columbia University and received a Bachelor of Science degree (BS) in Computer Science with a concentration in Intelligent Systems in 2020.

Ms. Pande noted her position at Azure, explaining her various duties as Program Manager.  She emphasized how her ability to create personal academic circles has contributed to her success in the computer science discipline.

“I think computer science can be a very intimidating subject, and you are faced with a lot of different challenges and I think it is very important to find your network and join various on-campus organizations,” Ms. Pande said.  “Meet other people who are taking similar classes as you or share similar interests and learn from them.”

Ms. Greco shared her experience as a female engineer with the Upper School, December 10.  She works for International Business Machines (IBM), holding the title of Distinguished Engineer.  She graduated from Cornell University and began working for IBM in 1981.  Ms. Greco has two BSs in Chemistry and Technical Communication, respectively, from Cornell University, according to ibm.com.  Ms. Greco spoke to students in the Upper School about her profession and her tenure with IBM.  Recently, Ms. Greco worked with Boston Dynamics to design a robot called Spot that can inspect data.  Spot can go anywhere a person can go and collect data more frequently and more accurately, according to ibm.com.

Using a remote control, Ms. Greco demonstrated Spot’s abilities during her talk.  She pointed out how Spot can walk, dance, and can regain its footing after falling to the ground.  Ms. Greco informed Upper School students that Spot primarily undertakes assignments that could potentially be dangerous to humans.

Kristin Morrow, co-captain of the Robotics team, took note of her own personal expertise in engineering.  She expressed enthusiasm for the capabilities of Spot and the complexities of the technology that Spot utilizes.

“I am so impressed with the many things that Spot will be able to do to help people.  Not only is Spot capable of inspecting fire extinguishers, which Dr. Greco discussed in her presentation, but with the addition of new sensors and technologies that may be added to Spot soon, Spot could be able to respond to disasters, whether natural or man-made,” Kristin said.  “Spot is also able to go into dangerous workplaces and inspect things such as gas leaks, and damages to power grids.  I think that this is all so interesting, and is such an amazing way to be able to use one’s knowledge in computer science and robotics.”

Featured Image by Libby Kaseta ’22