TechWomen|TechGirls Initiative Announces Keynote Speaker for April 3 Annual Luncheon

Nominations now being accepted for 2019 awards luncheon

The TechWomen|TechGirls initiative of the New Hampshire Tech Alliance (Alliance) has announced Dr. Xia Zhou, associate professor of computer science at Dartmouth College, as the keynote speaker of the 2019 TechWomen|TechGirls annual awards luncheon.  The annual event will be held from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm on Wednesday, April 3 at the Bedford Village Inn, 2 Olde Bedford Way in Bedford.

Now in its fourth year, the TechWomen|TechGirls annual awards luncheon acknowledges the accomplishments of three women who contribute to the furtherance of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education and/or professional STEM advancements for women throughout New Hampshire. Three women will be celebrated and named as TechStudent of the Year, TechTeacher of the Year and TechProfessional of the Year. Winners are selected through nominations, which are being accepted here and are due by Thursday, January 31.

“We’re honored to have Dr. Zhou share her experiences and insights with us,” said Shannon Herrmann, annual luncheon committee chair and senior recruiting manager at Alexander Technology Group. “Her experience and interest in mobile computing and data communication have led to her being honored by many organizations and have helped her become well-regarded by her peers and other industry professionals as a leading researcher and industry expert.”

In addition to her role as an Associate Professor, Dr. Zhou co-directs the Dartmouth Networking and Ubiquitous Systems (DartNets) Laboratory and the Dartmouth Reality and Robotics Lab. Her research broadly focuses on how mobile computer intersects with other disciplines and she has been focusing on how light can be turned into a powerful medium for data communication and object/behavioral sensing.

Dr. Zhou has completed several internships, serving as a research intern with Microsoft Research Asia, Technicolor Paris Research Lab and Microsoft. She received the Karen E. Wetterhahn Memorial Award for Distinguished Creative and Scholarly Achievement in 2018, and has also been named as one of 2017’s N2Women Rising Stars in Networking and Communication. She won the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship in 2017, the NSF CAREER Award in 2016 and the Google Faculty Research Award in 2014. Dr. Zhou earned her Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Wuhan University, her Master’s degree in Computer Science from Peking University and her Doctorate degree in Computer Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Tickets for the TechWomen|TechGirls 2019 annual luncheon are $45 for Alliance members,  $55 for non-members and must be purchased here in advance of the event. Sponsorship opportunities for the 2019 luncheon are still available and more information can be obtained by contacting Shannon Herrmann at sherrmann@alexandertg.com.