National Center for Women & Information Technology

Well, last week I was on the road again.  This time in Chicago for the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) Summit.  It was pretty interesting getting there.  I took a cab from the airport, but he had to drop us off before the river because of the security around the NATO Summit had all of the downtown river crossings blocked by about 40 police in full riot gear standing shoulder to shoulder.  We had to walk through them pulling our suitcases behind us.  I should have taken a picture, but I was afraid they would not like it.

As always, I find a little time to go sightseeing.  This trip, I had two mornings without meetings so I grabbed my camera and enjoyed the city.  The first day, Erik Russell (former Einstein Fellow) and I took an Architecture River Tour.  Here are some of my favorite buildings.

It was a beautiful day.  

Trump building

Love how the other buildings are reflected on this building.  It is meant to have a ripple-like effect to give feeling of the water of the river.  It is also curved to match the shoreline of the river.

This is a very large apartment building.  Cars on the bottom, residents on the top.

House of Blues.  It was across the street from my hotel.

I also attended the NCWIT Summit.  Most of the conversation, panels, and speakers was centered around how to get more women in STEM fields, especially Information Technology.  There was also receptions for the Illinois Aspiration Awardees and the Innovation Award.  Women and girls that are doing amazing things in computer science.

The next day I took a long walk around the city and ended up at Millennium Park which is right next to Lake Michigan.

This was just one of many beautiful gardens with the city in the horizon.

This was a strange sculpture that was a large curved mirror.  I had fun taking pictures of my reflection with the city in the background.

The trip was great.  The city is wonderful.  The summit was informative and I was able to make some good professional networking connections.  I enjoyed seeing my friend Erik.  I have only two more conference trips left before the end of my fellowship in DC.  Time is going all too quickly.