Blog of the Day: Women In Tech – Maria Paula Saba

Maria Paula Saba started with the simple question, “Do girls wanna wear light?” Using code and small, programmable computers called arduinos which we are also using at City Tech, she created the first programmable jewelry prototype. After seeing how her idea inspired young women, she went on to create a product called Jewliebots, which makes codable jewelry accessible for girls of all ages.

Her business, “Jewliebots”, was successful, but to have an even larger impact, she joined forces with two other female technologists. They refined the product and began to sell the product under a new name, “Jewelbots.”

Just like Maria we can turn our ideas into reality. Its just the matter of time taking a step towards it. There is so much that you can do with technology now days, that it has no limit. It can be used to our full advantage, to create something big and successful.

Watch the video below to learn more about Maria’s vision for wearable technology and the infinite creative and educational opportunities for jewelry.

What is GWC and Why it’s the right step for you to take?

So you’re ready to start coding? Awesome! Did you know that there are hundreds of different coding languages in the world? Each language is a little bit different and can be used for something special.

To help you get started in your exploration, a few languages are picked out that are great for being creative and are easy to start building with quickly. No matter what language you choose for your project, you’ll leave with a better understanding of the building blocks of programming. That way, if you choose to study other languages later, you’ll have a strong foundation to start from! This program could be your first step to a successful career path.

What is girls who code?

Girls Who Code program is not only a program to learn coding but turn your ideas into reality. Its a platform that’s being provided to you at no cost, so why not take advantage of it? GWC program will have clear, step-by-step sections that will help you unleash your inner computer scientist! So no need to worry about if you haven’t done anything of this sort.

Following are certain steps you would follow throughout the program:

  • Big Idea – This is where you’ll learn about the key coding concept you’ll use in this project.
  • Learn It – One of the bravest things you can do is try something new! In this section, you practice bravery by trying out a new coding concept in the language you’ve chosen.
  • Explore It – Next, you grow your creativity by experimenting with what you’ve learned so far and checking your understanding.
  • Build It – Here, you practice purpose by connecting these new concepts to the theme your Club selected for their Girls Who Code Project.
  • Share It – You then share your accomplishments to get feedback and help improve your creation.
  • What’s Next? – Finally, you can show off your resilience by previewing the content in the next part of the tutorial and challenging yourself to continue learning!

Announcement!

Girls Who Code is a well recognized non-profit organization. We need more volunteer facilitators (city tech students and alumnae) for City Tech Girls Who Code Club. If you can spare one hour per week as GWC facilitator and are willing to pair up with one high school or city tech first semester student to help them learn coding and technology through simple fun activities. As facilitator you become a member of that organization. Please join the official club ASAP at the following link.

Process:
When registering for the City tech club use club code NY5550 to join as facilitator. GWC organization does a background check when you apply as facilitator, which can take a couple of days. Then the facilitators go through online training and are provided with official GWC coding and tech project curriculum to help them help a high school or fresh college student get introduced to technology.
Perks:
As facilitator you don’t need to know much in advance. Just need to have a passion for technology and willingness to help others learn about technology.
There is very good support and hand holding assistance provided by a live person at GWC HQ. You can add this to your resume that you are a Girls Who Code volunteer facilitator, and you get a GWC  certificate.

A look at what you can do!

This is a sample project built by a student in the Girls Who Code Club!

Adventure Game in Scratch

“We created an adventure game using Scratch inspired by Ayanna Howard. Ayanna is a roboticist and Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Ayanna’s proudest moments came at NASA working on the mars rover. She used artificial intelligence to program the robot exploring mars. Now, she researches new ways that robots can expand space exploration and assist people on Earth.

Developing this adventure game in Scratch required more steps than our previous Animation Project. We used a lot of conditionals and sprites to make our animation work! It was fun creating a story and seeing our end project. We hope that this project serves as an inspiration for the next roboticist in the world.​”

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