Caroline Ruden (left) and Angela Stevens were among the presenters at Emporia State’s Women in Technology Conference on Wednesday. Chuck Samples/KVOE News.
Women seeking information about technology careers were invited to Emporia State University’s Women in Technology Conference at the Sauder Alumni Center on Wednesday.
Among the presenters was Angela Stevens, a security operations manager at Spirit AeroSystems. Stevens says there are a lot more career options in technology than people may first think.
Stevens says she started working on computers when she was eight years old. She then taught herself BASIC when she was 10 and dabbled in hacking before flipping her career around into cybersecurity. She says technology is typically a male-dominated field, but women can play prominent roles in the field.
Caroline Ruden, a security operations center analyst team lead for Ennovar at Wichita State University, was among the featured presenters. She tells KVOE News her technology career actually started at a bowling alley.
Ruden’s career then took her to an internship at Spirit AeroSystems and her current role at Ennovar. She says youth can be seen as automatic inexperience, so she encourages women thinking about technology careers to move into areas that aren’t being addressed. She also says events like the conference Wednesday are big to help develop relationships.
Also speaking were:
*Alexandra Ewy, Senior Software Developer III, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas
*Wendy Wheat, Senior Director of Systems Architecture, T-Mobile
The conference wraps up public activities organized by Emporia State’s Cybersecurity Research and Outreach Center. CyROC Director Leticia Rust says the center organized 15 different activities, including presentations, the Women in Technology Conference, Cybercon 2.0 for high school students and the recent donation of computers to the Emporia Senior Center.