At the Generator Maker Space, in the new Champlain College Flex Space

Talks by women in the fields of data science, machine learning, and creative computing:

Lisa Soros: “Evolving Creative Neural Networks”
Lisa Soros is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Innovation at Champlain College. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the International Society for Artificial Life.

Donna Rizzo
Dr. Rizzo is a fellow at the University of Vermont Gund Institute, where she performs research on the development of new computational tools to improve the understanding of human-induced changes on natural systems and the way we make decisions about natural resources. She holds a PhD in Civil & Environmental Engineering from UVM, and now teaches in that department as well as in the Department of Computer Science.

Maureen McElaney: “Digital Discrimination: Cognitive Bias in Machine Learning”
Maureen McElaney is a Developer Advocate at IBM Center of Open Source Data and Ai Technologies and enjoys broadening IBM’s understanding and involvement in open source communities. Prior to joining the team, she worked as a QA Engineer at Dealer.com and is passionate about building tools that increase developer productivity and joy. She is an experienced community builder, co-organizing Vermont Code Camp, on the board of the Vermont Tech Alliance, and is passionate about building diversity (of all kinds) in tech.

Narine Hall
Narine Hall teaches computer science and data analytics at Champlain College. She has a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Vermont. Dr. Hall was the Chief Data Scientist at Wolfram Research, founder/CTO of BlinkSecure, led data science and AI efforts at IBM’s Watson program, and works on core AI infrastructure at Faraday here in Burlington.

Polly Mangan: “Data Science at Social Sentinel”
Polly Mangan works as Lead Data Scientist at Social Sentinel, a local social media threat alert service. She is skilled in statistical modeling, advanced analytics, and effective communication. Polly excels at deconstructing complex material. She is a technical professional with a Master of Science focused in Applied Mathematics from the University of Vermont, and worked as a Senior Data Scientist at Dealer.com/Cox Automotive before joining the Social Sentinel team.

And a 30-minute panel discussion, featuring:

Kristin McClure
Kristin McClure is a graduate student at the University of Vermont in Data Science and Complex Systems, with a focus on machine learning and data visualization. Her undergraduate research was at the University of Pennsylvania in economics. For the majority of her professional career, she worked at IBM, most recently leading a team focused on strategic planning and data analytics.

Dr. Linda Schadler, Dean of the University of Vermont College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences
Linda Schadler is the Dean of the University of Vermont College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences. She obtained her PhD in materials science and engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. She has published over 170 journal articles on the mechanical, optical, and electrical behavior of nanofilled polymer composites. Recently she has been working with a team of 5 women to create a data resource in polymer nanocomposites called NanoMine. The goal of the Nanomine is to provide an open source resource to aid in both scientific understanding of composites and design of composites for commercial applications. Linda is a Fellow of the Materials Research Society and ASM International and is a former member of the National Materials Advisory Board.