Learning from winners
When we are testing it helps to be aware of the perspectives of people who work in other fields within IT. I attended an audience with the 2024 British Computer Society Lovelace and Society Medal winners. It was great to hear talks from the medal winners and to network at the event. Listening to the medal winners’ presentations about their work enabled me to learn from their perspectives.
Professor Tom Crick MBE hosted the event and facilitated interesting conversations with the medal winners.
2024 BCS Society Medal Winners
- Karl Flinders – Journalist, Computer Weekly
He spoke about his work as a journalist uncovering the Post Office Scandal, and said that people who work in IT should speak out when they know something is wrong.
- Anne Marie Imafidon MBE – Founder and CEO, Stemettes
She spoke about the need for diversity and how Stemettes works to inspire girls, young women and non-binary people to work in STEM. She talked about what it was like to be the only woman and/or black person in the room. She also said that including the arts in STEM can be useful, making it STEAM. I now want to read her book She’s In CTRL.
2024 BCS Lovelace Medal Winners
- Professor Aggelos Kiayias
He spoke about his work on Blockchain including a protocol that reduces its energy use.
- Professor Philippa Gardner
She spoke about verification. I spoke to her after the presentation when she introduced me to Symbolic Execution, a form of testing, and Hoare Logic, which can be used for validating software.
- Dr Sue Sentance
She developed the PRIMM approach to teaching programming and spoke about how it has been introduced to schools around the world. She said it was best to be able to read code before learning to write it.
After the presentations, I networked with lots of great people. This was a great event because it celebrated the medal winners’ success and gave insights into different disciplines within IT. I learned a lot, including new ways to test software and the need for diversity in IT, and I met some great people.
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