RCAC and Purdue’s Women in HPC assist with inaugural InnovateHer Hackathon
The Rosen Center for Advanced Computing (RCAC) and Purdue’s Women in High-Performance Computing (WHPC) group recently participated in the inaugural InnovateHer Hackathon, a weekend-long event at Purdue University aimed at fostering inclusivity in the field of technology.
InnovateHer was a 36-hour 
long Major League Hacking (MLH) competition hosted by seven different student organizations in conjunction with the Purdue Student Government. The mission of the event is to create a welcoming and inclusive space for students of marginalized identities in technology. Per the InnovateHer website: “We are dedicated to encouraging everyone to recognize and create solutions for issues faced by women, as well as celebrating their remarkable contributions to technology.”
The hackathon began at 8 a.m. on Saturday, March 2nd, and continued until 4 p.m. on Sunday, seeing teams work on their projects throughout both days and overnight. Teams consisted of a maximum of four people, and registration was open to all, regardless of background or experience. The InnovateHer organizing team provided the guidelines for the projects, and judging was conducted by a panel of sponsors, organizers, and experts. On top of the hackathon competition itself, InnovateHer also provided the students with a plethora of support, activities, and learning opportunities throughout the weekend. Sponsoring companies, such as Bloomberg and Caterpillar, gave panel discussions and had open tables for students to speak with representatives. Technical workshops and research talks were given on topics such as coding, blockchain, and high-performance computing. There were also presentations focused on diversity in the field of technology. In fact, a mandatory requirement was that all participants must attend at least one diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) presentation given during the weekend. Food was provided throughout the event, and InnovateHer even hosted a stargazing session on the Memorial Mall lawn to help offer some overnight respite from the nonstop hacking.
“We aim to spotlight the challenges faced by women and non-binary people in technology. It’s evident that contemporary tech landscapes harbor gender-related challenges, especially regarding bias and underrepresentation. Through this event, we hope to embolden all students and promote active participation towards closing the gender gap in STEM.” ~InnovateHer Mission Statement
The Rosen Center for Advanced Computing 
contributed to the hackathon by hosting professional and technical events over the weekend. On Saturday, RCAC’s Suzanna Gardner, Taylor Graham, and Keegan Adams led a Networking 101 workshop on behalf of Purdue’s WHPC group, of which they are members. The workshop showed students ways to develop their professional network and included a hands-on resume-building segment. The response to the workshop was great, with the participants learning to make impactful connections, leverage their strengths, and capture opportunities.
“In today's fast-paced and competitive job market,” says Suzanna Gardner, the Research Operations Administrator for Outreach at RCAC, “empowering women with the skills to confidently navigate their career paths is not just beneficial—it's essential. That's why the WHPC team was excited to create and lead a workshop tailored for the InnovateHer Hackathon. Our goal was to enhance participants' resume-writing and networking skills, teaching them the skills they need to leave a lasting impression. Taylor, Keegan, and I had a blast helping everyone, and it was truly inspiring to be part of an event where everyone had the same goals and objectives.”
On Sunday, RCAC hosted a high-performance 
computing workshop, led by Eric Adams and Geoffrey Lentner. The workshop was open for HPC newbies and pros alike, with discussions ranging from what HPC is and why you would want to use it to more advanced topics, such as how to construct specific lines of code on a shared-computing resource. One topic that especially piqued the crowd’s interest was the Anvil supercomputer, the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded system that is available for free to researchers throughout the United States. After the workshop, the students participated in a Q&A, asking questions such as how to gain access to Anvil and other Purdue HPC resources or what education pathway they should pursue so they could work in the field of high-performance computing.
Overall, the attendance for these workshops was impressive, attracting over 40 passionate students who were excited to enhance their skills and prepare for their future endeavors. RCAC and Purdue’s WHPC group were thrilled with the success of the workshops and the InnovateHer Hackathon as a whole, and they hope that InnovateHer will continue into the future. To learn more about the hackathon and to see a full schedule of events, please visit: https://www.innovate-her.com/
For more information on Purdue’s Women in HPC group, please visit here: https://www.rcac.purdue.edu/whpc
To learn more about HPC and how it can help you, please visit our “Why HPC?” page. Anvil is funded under NSF award No. 2005632. More information about Anvil is available on Purdue’s Anvil website.