Opportunities are Endless for Spelman Computer Science Majors
Some Spelman College first-year students may be timid entering, but they graduate as women who have discovered their key interests, pursued them and are ready to compete in any arena.
Growing up in Michigan, Shelby Thomas found her calling early. In middle school, she took a community college Web design course and “fell in love with it.” Then her mom, who worked in information technology, suggested she study computer science.
Thomas, who majored in computer and information sciences, credits Spelman’s “Geek Week” for introducing CIS students to opportunities at companies including Google, Electronic Arts and Microsoft. Thomas, who served as a computer science peer educator, has interned twice at NASA’s Marshall Space Center working on software development and conducting tests on C++ code written for the Ares rocket's flight computer. The great thing about computer science, Thomas said, is its vast opportunities in areas including Web design, gaming, robotics, artificial intelligence, and the list is endless.
Translating Massive Data Feeds
Spelman alumna Mave Houston, C’95, knows how to manage multiple streams of data and talented colleagues. She is director of process interaction and user experience in the Tax Business Process Management Group at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Her Washington, D.C. team ensures that users accomplish corporate compliance tasks efficiently and effectively. She joined the firm in 2005.
After receiving her CIS degree in 1995, Houston attended Auburn University where she earned a master’s degree in computer science and computer engineering and a doctorate in computer science and software engineering. She completed post doctoral work at IBM’s Almaden Research Center where she conducted user studies involving ethnographic coding and analysis, benchmarking and video coding.
Houston said the preparation at Spelman in algorithm visualization and human computer interaction was critical to her graduate work. She also believes Spelman’s emphasis on interviewing, resume writing, and honing presentation skills prepared her for a corporate environment. “I firmly believe the skills I acquired at Spelman allowed me to move into a director's role at PwC in less than five years,” Houston said.
The Road to Mountain View, California
Google Inc. heads the dream job list for most young techs. Exciting, demanding work, good pay and stellar benefits plus salt, sugar and free, caffeine-laden feeding stations on every floor. Those are a few reasons why Andrea Roberson, C‘2009, likes her job.
At Spelman, she focused on artificial intelligence/robotics, networking, and computer graphics programming. The former captain of Spelman’s award-winning robotics team also interned at several companies before heading to California.
Roberson credits a National Science Foundation grant she won while at Spelman for introducing her to specific technologies she might never have studied on her own. “I was able to research wireless and virtual networks, graphical processors and computational chemistry,” she said.
The 3,000-mile trip from Atlanta to Google was a short one for the well-trained graduate.
Google HBCU Hackathon
(From left to right: Carlette Odemwingie, Aubria Hull, Jett Bagley, Kison Osborne, Gerard Vanloo)
Students from Spelman College and Morehouse College received third place in Google’s HBCU Hackathon in Atlanta. Google hosted more than 80 computer science students from the greater Atlanta area who worked in teams on projects that provide solutions to real-world challenges. The hackathon, which includes programs to engage with the computer science departments of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, is part of Google's commitment to building a diverse next generation in the technology field.