Tag Archives: Middle East

September 28, 2012 · 7:18 pm

Last TechWomen Day at Huawei

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Today was the last day at Huawei in Santa Clara for the three TechWomen mentees during their visit to the Silicon Valley.  There are still some San Francisco Bay Area events before they travel to the the Grace Hopper Celebration and then the US State Department in Washington DC next week.  The Huawei team held a lunch and gave each of our emerging leaders a certificate signed by Futurewei President, Guolin Wang, and by the TechWoman’s mentor or mentors.  I was also treated to a surprise birthday party this morning and Huawei held its annual Moon Cake and Chinese harvest festival party this afternoon.  A busy day!

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Images Copyright 2012 by Katy Dickinson

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September 26, 2012 · 2:19 pm

TechWomen: Last Week in Silicon Valley

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The 42 TechWomen Mentees from eight countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA region) have been in California’s Silicon Valley for almost three weeks. Next week, we move on to the Grace Hopper Celebration (Baltimore MD) and to visit the US State Department in Washington DC.

This week, my Mentee and I visited a grade school computer club (thanks to the invitation from Suzanne Andrews of ABI). Last night, we went to a big party at Twitter in San Francisco. Sending tweets directly from Twitter’s headquarters was fun. We also continue to work diligently on her project. This has been a special and productive time for mutual learning.

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Images Copyright 2012 by Katy Dickinson

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September 22, 2012 · 11:24 pm

TechWomen Tours

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Yesterday was a very full day for the 42 TechWomen visiting California from the Middle East and North Africa. Audrey Van Belleghem (NetApp Director, Strategic Programs) invited a group of us to tour the NetApp Sunnyvale campus – seeing the data center and sharing lunch. Then, a group of TechWomen went to visit the Stanford University campus, while others started driving south to visit Disneyland, Hollywood, and Universal Studios for the weekend.

Last night, two dozen mentors, mentees, and Anita Borg Institute program staff gathered at the Muslim Community Association in Santa Clara. I worked with the MCA Outreach group to set up this event. MCA generously hosted the dinner and welcomed the TechWomen into their community. Three of the TechWomen (two mentors and a mentee) had gone to the same Engineering school in Alexandria, Egypt, and had fun catching up with each other over dinner.

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Images Copyright 2012 by Katy Dickinson

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September 16, 2012 · 11:48 pm

TechWomen Dinner at Home

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The Huawei TechWomen mentors and mentees gathered in my home for a potluck dinner tonight. My husband made a halal chicken curry with rice as the entree.  There were women from at least seven countries around our table: China, Egypt, India, Iran, Lebanon, Morocco, and the USA. The guests had fun visiting my office in WP668, our backyard caboose. The food was interesting, plentiful, and delicious. My mother and husband joined the party.  What a delightful group of new friends!

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Images Copyright 2012 by Katy Dickinson and John Plocher

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September 14, 2012 · 8:53 pm

TechWomen at LinkedIn

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The TechWomen mentees were at LinkedIn today for a workshop on professional social networking, followed by a reception to which the mentors were also invited. I have never been to the LinkedIn campus in Mountain View before, although I certainly know the area since it is so close to Sun Microsystems’ old campus.  The first week for the MENA women visiting the Silicon Valley seems to have gone well.  The mentors learn as much talking with each other as the mentees do.

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Images Copyright 2012 by Katy Dickinson

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September 11, 2012 · 10:44 pm

TechWomen at Huawei

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We are having a good first week with the three TechWomen mentees hosted by Huawei in Santa Clara, California. We are still sorting out offices and equipment and accesses and orientation and starting work on our projects.  Tonight,  John and Paul and I went to a sushi dinner with two TechWomen and then on a tour of the San Jose TechShop where we have a family membership.  We visited the textile area, wood shop (including my favorite Powermatic lathe), metal shop, laser room, and other technical and tool delights.

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Images Copyright 2012 by Katy Dickinson

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September 6, 2012 · 10:57 pm

TechWomen 2012 Orientation

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Today was when the TechWomen 2012 mentors and mentees (“Emerging Leaders”) all met for the first time – at the orientation event hosted by Oracle in Redwood City, California. It was an exhilarating day – both catching up with returning 2011 mentors and meeting the three mentees who will be hosted by Huawei in Santa Clara this month. I have been working with the U.S. State Department’s TechWomen program since 2010 and am so very pleased it is going well in its second year. As both a Professional Mentor and the manager of the TechWomen program overall for Huawei, I am looking forward to working with our mentees, one each from Lebanon, Egypt, and Morocco.

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Images Copyright 2012 by Katy Dickinson

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