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Congressman Don Bacon visits AIM Brain Exchange to kick off Congressional App Challenge

U.S. Representative Don Bacon, R-Neb., visited the AIM Brain Exchange Friday to kick off the Congressional App Challenge.

He was joined by a round-table panel of business, education and community leaders to talk about efforts to support tech education and expand diversity in tech-related fields.

The Congressional App Challenge is an annual competition aimed at encouraging kids to learn to code.

Students in congressional districts that host the challenge have the chance to build and submit an app. If they win, the app is displayed in the Capitol building in Washington D.C.

Rep. Bacon kicked off the round-table discussion by noting how crucial technology and tech education is to national security.

He cited an example of special forces that use robotic applications to help keep soldiers out of harm’s way, and he noted how exponentially tech is evolving.

“Moore’s Law is in effect. What is it going to look like 50 years from now? That’s why we have to invest in [Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education] or we are going to fall behind as a country,” he said.

The panel discussed local efforts to attract kids to tech education, and efforts to expand diversity in the tech realm.

At one point, they took questions from students from Monroe Middle School. Angel, an 8th grader, asked what the educators were doing to put themselves in the mindsets of teenagers.

One panelist offered the example of using virtual reality headsets to show how building construction happens, from the blueprints to the finished building.

Diversity in tech was a central part of the conversation. Panelists said it was crucial to foster a diverse workforce in tech-related fields so young people see adults who look like them working in those jobs.

“Everywhere I go, I hear…there’s a shortage of technical training in our schools. That’s where the needs are at in our country,” said Bacon.

Bacon said the deadline to register for the Congressional App Challenge is September 10, and the deadline to submit the app is October 15. For more information, click here.

 

Early Bird registration for Heartland Developers Conference ends July 18

Time is running out to take advantage of $299 early bird pricing for the AIM 2018 Heartland Developer Conference. 

The registration price will go up to $350 after Wednesday, July 18.

Registration includes all keynotes, breakout sessions, a welcome reception and MESH Party access.

HDC is the region’s longest running local software design and development event. It provides the opportunity for all software design and development professionals, from entry-level to those with advanced experience, to come together and dive into the latest technologies and techniques first-hand.

This year’s keynote speakers include Kathleen Dollard, a .NET expert and Microsoft MVP who has given talks around the world, and Doug Durham, CTO of Don’t Panic Labs.

Related: Heartland Developer Conference 2018 keynote speaker Kathleen Dollard on ‘loving legacy code’

2018 is the 15th year for the conference’s annual promotion of software knowledge and innovation.

This year’s sessions feature a variety of topics, including:

To see the full list of topics and speakers, check out the HDC 2018 schedule here.

Heartland Developer Conference 2018 keynote speaker Kathleen Dollard on ‘loving legacy code’

OMAHA — The Heartland Developer Conference’s 2018 keynote speaker has been a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) since 1998, and has given dozens of speeches and talks around the world.

Kathleen Dollard is on the .NET Core Team at Microsoft, where she contributes to .NET Core CLI/SDK, and managed languages, and she’s written multiple articles on a range of .NET technologies.

The title of her presentation is “Loving Legacy Code.”

“Programmers think about existing code differently than new code,” said Dollard. “Instead of trying to design and solve problems in fairly open space, they are working out the puzzle of solving a problem within the rules set by the rest of the current code.”

She calls working with legacy code a “huge and exciting challenge.”

Among the topics she’ll address are how expensive code rewrites are, readability versus the ability to reason about code, refactoring for size and complexity, and tricks to force tests.

A ‘space brat’ inspired by NASA

Dollard describes herself as a “space brat” who grew up in Huntsville, Alabama where her father was an aerospace engineer working on the Saturn V. She says growing up in that atmosphere taught her how much people can accomplish when working together on a common goal.

“NASA has estimated that 400,000 people worked toward the single goal of a few men walking on the moon. It was truly an amazing accomplishment for 1969,” said Dollard.

But Dollard didn’t love computers at first. As a child, and even into adulthood, she largely disliked working with computers, because making mistakes was “expensive and painful,” she says.

“The first computer I fell in love with was the IBM PC,” said Dollard. “For the first time, it wasn’t painful to make a mistake. Learning is about making mistakes, it’s not about being careful. That introduced me to a career where I can learn every day. First, just getting it to work. Then getting it to work in a solid and beautiful way as I became an architect.”

She says she now has a passion for technology and language design, and the people who bring it all together.

“Now, my greatest fascination is the way programmers interact with the process of building software. I feel very lucky that I get to work on making that experience better every day in my job at Microsoft,” said Dollard.

‘This is the code that runs the economy’

She hopes her presentation at HDC 2018 will help programmers with their approach to legacy code.

“The number one thing I hope programmers take away is respect for the people writing the legacy code they have or will work on. They were working without the current understanding of the problem. They defined that understanding along with the code,” said Dollard.

“The second things is the importance of tests for legacy code and a couple of tips for adding tests to legacy code, as well as warnings about when it’s going to be hard.”

Dollard says there can be a “range of fear” for programmers when approaching legacy code.

“It’s scary to work on code you don’t understand fully, and it can be hard work. But this is the code that runs the economy. It runs airports and hospitals. It could not be more important.”

For more information, visit the Heartland Developer Conference website.

For more information on Kathleen Dollard and all the other speakers, presentations and workshops at HDC 2018, visit the website here.

Project 18 survey of Omaha women in tech seeks more responses for accurate snapshot

Almost one month after its release, a survey of women’s experiences working in tech in Omaha is about one-third of the way to its goal of 600 responses.

Project 18 released the survey in the middle of May. As of June 11, it has logged around 200 responses, according to organizer Rebecca Stavick.

“I’m enthusiastic about our results so far, but we’ll need quite a few more surveys if we want this data to represent the tech industry in Omaha,” said Stavick.

The confidential survey asks a range of questions about workplace culture, advancement opportunities, benefits, and work-life balance. It is designed to be completed in about 10 minutes, and participation isn’t limited to women.

“It’s important to note this survey is for people of all genders working in tech or tech-adjacent roles,” said Stavick.

There’s a wide array of national information on gender disparities in the tech industry, but much less information locally.

The Project 18 survey seeks to fill that gap.

“We’ve established 600 completed surveys as our goal because we’ve estimated that about 600 is a representative sample of all tech workers in Omaha, which according to the [Omaha Chamber of Commerce], total over 15,000,” said Stavick.

Stavick has said the goal of the survey is to see what kind of policies Omaha employers have in place and to hear how women feel about working conditions.

From there, Project 18 plans to focus on specific ways to make Omaha a better place to retain and recruit women in tech. 

According to the Omaha Chamber, the economic impact of tech jobs is significant. Tech jobs represent the largest economic development opportunity in the region, and the addition of 4,000 tech workers in the next few years could have a $1 billion impact on the local economy.

Stavick is asking people in Omaha to share the survey as widely as possible.

“Don’t just tweet it out — ask specific people you know to take and share the survey,” said Stavick. “Who are the ‘influencers’ that you know that can distribute this to their broader network? What companies need to know about the survey?”

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To take or share the Project 18 survey, click here.

For more information about Project 18, click here.

Training seminar offers insight on accelerated learning principles

(Photo: Training from the Back of the Room session at Blueshift Innovation, Kansas City, 2018. Photo provided by Matt Kirilov/PMI Heartland Chapter.)

OMAHA — Organizational leaders, trainers and instructors have a new opportunity this month to advance their training skills.

“Training from the Back of the Room” is a two-day course that promises to explore the latest findings about how the brain takes in, stores, retrieves and uses knowledge.

Participant will “discover six powerful learning principles based on the best of brain science, then apply these principles every time you train, teach, or coach others,” according to the course description.

Training from the Back of the Room takes place June 19 and 20 at Metropolitan Community College’s Fort Omaha campus from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

“These Accelerated Learning principles go hand-in-hand with team-based Agile and Scrum processes and principles,” says course instructor Jenny Tarwater. “If you are an Agile coach or Scrum trainer, you will be especially pleased to discover how to combine Agile/Scrum concepts with collaborative learner-engagement.”

For more information: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/training-from-the-back-of-the-room-tbr-omaha-tickets-41630374571?aff=Bowperson