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Melissa Sariffodeen: Blazing a digital literacy trail for girls and women

Nathaniel Neil Whelan

The annals of history are filled with the accomplishments of remarkable people: discoverers of scientific phenomena and innovators of new technologies. But for the most part, history only celebrates the achievements of men. Granted, our high school textbooks teach us about Joan of Arc and Marie Antoinette, but what about women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)? Their absence is proof of centuries of marginalization and gender discrimination. It shouldn’t be surprising then to

A mother and daughter weaving a carpet.

Unseen and unrecognized: Women’s key role in the history of computer memories

Ghazaleh Jerban

Guest writer, Ingenium-University of Ottawa Fellowship in Gender, Science and Technology.

In 2017, I had the honour of travelling to Iran — the country that's world famous for its hand-woven carpets — to study women’s traditional practises of Persian carpet weaving. I visited collective and home carpet-weaving workshops in Kashan , where I interviewed local women who were involved in carpet weaving. Frames of astonishing designs, mixed with attractive colours using traditional tools, have been fixed in my memory. Traditional tools used for carpet weaving, ToranjMehrab carpet weaving

A page from the Harvard Mark II electromechanical computer's log, featuring a dead moth that was removed from the device.

Engineering & Technology

Why do we call computer glitches “bugs”?

Ingenium - Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation

The term “bug” is another way of saying something is wrong with our computer or software, but where did the term come from? While many attribute the reference to computer scientist Grace Hopper, this article from Curiosity explains that it dates back to Thomas Edison’s private journals.

uOttawa's first computer

Engineering & Technology

Researching the untold story of Canada’s keypunch girls

Ingenium - Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation

Last summer, the Canada Science and Technology Museum offered up access to its collection so that researcher Jennifer Thivierge could study “keypunch girls” — the women who punched holes in data cards and fed them into machines or tabulators, starting in the 1950s. The University of Ottawa’s Gazette writes about her findings, and what they say about gender discrimination within the field of computer science.

Screen capture of python code

Earth & Environment

Project Log #3: PHP and Databases

New week, new ideas.

The front of the Canada Aviation and Space Museum

Earth & Environment

Project Log #1: Raspberry Pi & Arduino

To be honest, I was not completely sure what I would be doing in my internship here at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum. There had been mentions of a cool project, but I really had no idea what I was getting into.

An example of computer code

NASA has issued a challenge to the community

Jesse Rogerson, PhD

Ingenium – Canada's Museums of Science and Technology

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has issued a challenge to its public: increase the efficiency of one of its high-level research software and win $55,000 USD. Many of us forget that NASA also works in aeronautics, not just space. In order to develop cutting edge air planes and other flight tech, NASA begins with simulating airflow using a Fortran code called FUN3D. However, FUN3D isn't able to keep up with some of the simulations its been given. As a result, NASA has

An artists impression of a neural network.

Engineering & Technology

Microsoft AI Masters "Ms. Pac-Man"

Jesse Rogerson, PhD

Ingenium – Canada's Museums of Science and Technology

Have you ever played Ms. Pac-Man? If so... have you played over 3000 rounds of it? Because that's how long it took for a Microsoft Artificially Intelligent program called Maluuba to learn how to get the highest possible score in the game, 999999. Check out how it did it... and don't worry, there's no worry of this AI taking over the world.

Chemists Are First in Line for Quantum Computing’s Benefits

Engineering & Technology

Chemists Are First in Line for Quantum Computing’s Benefits

Efforts to invent more practical superconductors and better batteries could be the first areas of business to get a quantum speed boost.