On May 8, 2014 NVIDIA launched the Women Who CUDA campaign to highlight the work of innovative women in the area of GPU computing. Winning entries in the CUDA Women survey (click here to enter) – that is open until May 30, 2014, will be published on the high-visibility, high-volume NVIDIA website. Tweets during the campaign will provide visibility in the GPU computing community for many, if not all of the entrants.
CUDA Fellow Lorena A. Barba
For many reasons including my experience as a scientist and teacher, I hope that all who read this post will bring the NVIDIA Women Who CUDA campaign to the attention of any woman who might qualify. The entry process looks straight-forward and the resulting recognition may create or accelerate a career. Not too shabby a return given the minimal effort required to apply or send an email to a friend or colleague!
As a teacher, I emphasize the importance of learning to write well for a general audience so you can get your work known outside of a specialized peer-reviewed community. You can change the world with GPU computing but only if the world is aware of your work. This message is based in-part on my own education in the “school of hard knocks” as I worked to transition from a research scientist in the theoretical division at Los Alamos to someone with a more global impact in the technology world, and on numerous success stories such as Linus Torvalds who changed the world by freely releasing the Linux operating system at just the right time in history when virtual memory microcomputers were becoming an affordable tool available to individuals around the world – just as GPUs have now made Supercomputing for the Masses available to people around the world.
Recognition is a necessary part of life in the global technology community regardless if the individual is an introvert or extrovert, a scientist performing basic research, a professor seeking tenure or grant money, an entrepreneur attempting to create the next big thing, a commercial programmer looking to perform quality work that will have an impact, or an open source developer building the tools that are now the foundation of much of our technology world.
Still, as a male it is difficult for me to appreciate the challenges facing women even with the concerted efforts in the US and many countries around the world to eliminate gender bias and other barriers to women in science and technology. From a personal perspective I saw the challenges my two sisters had to overcome in moving from small rural schools in Idaho to gain acceptance at recognized US educational institutions and finally to achieve the media and professional recognition that helped them pursue successful careers in New York and Los Angeles. Theirs are but two examples of how success is tied to hard work, intelligent thinking, perseverance, and the ability to communicate the ideas in your chosen field of endeavor to a general audience.
As my nine-year son told me after reading this post, “All women are capable of the unbelievable”. Please apply or contact a friend or colleague to help that happen.
Best of luck to all applicants!
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