Last week, you sent us your conference wishlists via twitter, and the Conference Raffle Fairy Godmothers (Anika, Katrin, Sara and yours truly) sat down to – in true conference raffle fashion – pull out your team names from a jar and assign conferences to teams. This is what it looked like!
(Image: Anika Lindtner) (Image: Anika Lindtner)
(Image: Anika Lindtner)
But enough suspense – here are the winners of our first conference raffle for the summer:
It’s now time to get booking your flights and accommodation and to get ready to have the time of your life at these amazing conferences. We have some tips on how to rock that conference plus tips and tricks for those who will be giving lightning talks! We will of course introduce all students to the conference organisers, but should you want to meet some people from the local Rails Girls community, let us know! We’ll try our best to connect you.
And if you ended up empty-handed, worry not! We will have a second raffle in August with more conferences. On this note, we’d like to thank again all of the conferences who offered tickets for our first round conference raffle:
We are Jayasi and Megha, a.k.a. Team CodeBenders. We have started our Summer of Code in Delhi, India with our coaches Kashyp, Bharti and Shobhit, mentor Erik and supervisor Benedikt.
We are Computer Science students from IIIT-Delhi. Jayasi graduated this year and is currently working. Megha is now a senior and is excited to start her last year as an undergrad.
Our amazing team! <3 (Image: Team CodeBenders)
Why ‘CodeBenders’? What does the name mean?
The word bender means person/object that bends something. We were going to bend a lot of code this summer, hence the name CodeBenders. According to another meaning of the word ‘bender’, CodeBender also refers to a coding spree. We fell in love with that name as soon as it came up in one of our discussions!
How did you hear about the SoC and why did you apply?
When we heard about the program via Twitter, we loved the concept and how it welcomes beginners to the open source world. In the overwhelming list of projects, we came across some frameworks and gems which we use. The prospect of contributing to one of those projects was absolutely riveting. The team behind RGSoC is magnificent and inspiring. We saw RGSoC as the perfect platform to begin our open source journey.
What are you working on?
We are working on the RailsAdmin project. RailsAdmin is a rails engine which provides a user-friendly interface for managing data. Having used RailsAdmin in a few of our projects and thoroughly going through the code, we have realised the power it provides to easily interact with the application data. After talking to a few people and discussing with our mentor we came up with a list of problems which users face, and we are trying to make valuable additions to the project by solving some of these problems.
What is your happiest moment so far?
Everytime we get something to work, or fix a broken piece of code, it makes our day. Interacting with our coaches and learning from them on a daily basis is turning out to be a great experience.
If you could code anything in the world, what would it be?
-Jayasi: Delhi is so famous for it’s traffic and it takes me an hour and a half to travel back and forth from work. If I could, I’d code to build a teleportation machine. One second you’re at home, and the next you reach anywhere you want to! ^.^ Imagine the amount of time that can be saved, and oh, oh .. I could see Florence, and Belgium and Ireland! Yes, a teleportation machine, definitely! B| Maybe that can even take me to Mars…
-Megha: We know 42 is the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything, which was first calculated by the supercomputer Deep Thought after seven and a half million years of thought. This shocking answer resulted in the construction of an even larger supercomputer, named Earth, which has been tasked to resolve the mystery. I would want my code to solve this mystery! :D
Introducing team CookieMonster… err, I mean, team DEIGirls
Who are we?
Hello world! We are Inês and Rosa, two crazy girls from Coimbra, Portugal.
Together with Christian Weyer, Pablo Porto and Tiago Mendes-Costa (our beloved coaches) we make the team DEIGirls, under the supervising of Alex Williams!
The elements of Team DEIGirls (Image: Team DEIGirls)
Rosa:
I’m the craziest and cookie-addicted 27-year-old girl who has a Master’s Degree in some other engineering stuff that decided that programming was her thing.
I learned programming in my previous degree and was fascinated. When I finished it I wasn’t satisfied so I enrolled in Computer Science, in the University of Coimbra. That’s where I re-met Inês (we had crossed paths before but never actually talked, isn’t the world a crazy place?). I looooove my dog Nancy (she’s the love of my life) and dancing (someone told me I’m amazingly light for my sturdy build hehehe).
Inês:
I’m the calmer one, the centerpiece of this team… who am I kidding, I am as crazy as Rosa!
So, I’m currently doing the Master’s Degree in Software Engineering, at the University of Coimbra. Before that, I studied Biochemistry and performed scientific research in toxicology and neuroscience. But that was not the life for me, so here I am, turned into a programmer ;) I’m also involved with the Girls community in Coimbra: I organize Girls Lean In events, regular meetups were we invite powerful women from our community to talk about their experience in order to empower others and inspire them to pursue their goals, and I take part in IEEE Women in Engineering group at Coimbra. My long-time flatmate is a Cookie. Don’t worry, I keep Rosa away from him.
How did you two meet?
Actually Coimbra is a small city so we kind of bumped into each other a lot before we really talked. Our first conversation was in a washing room at the Department of Informatics Engineering where we both studied. Althought the department is a crowded place, there are not that many girls around so when we met in the washing room we were both like “wow, this is the first time I’ve ever seen another girl in the washing room in this building.” And that was the beginning of a great friendship!
How did you hear about RGSoC?
I (Inês) learned about the RGSoC when I participated in a Rails Girls event at Braga where Erik Michaels-Ober and Duana Stanley from SoundCloud did a talk about their involvement in the program. When I found out that the applications for this summer edition were open, I contacted Rosa and made her an offer that she could not refuse! A few hours later we were together in a cafe, contacting the Rails community and starting our application.
Why team DEIGirls?
Because we study in the Department of Informatics Engineering (in Portuguese, Departamento de Engenharia Informática - DEI) and we are girls (surprise!). Simple as that!
The girls from Team DEIGirls (Image: Team DEIGirls)
What project are you working on?
We are working on Lotus, a web framework for Ruby. We will be doing the mailer gem for that project, guided by our mentors Luca Guidi and Trung Lê.
What are you most looking forward to this summer?
Learning a lot and contributing to an open source project, while having an immense amount of fun. And eat cookies!
Hi guys, we are Nelly and Mercy from Nairobi, Kenya. We are working on the RapidFTR project. We are supported by three coaches here at Nairobi; Paul Bombo, Hungai Kevin and Diana Wanjuhi. Paul and Hungai school with us and they are amazing developers. Diana is a software engineer at Maramoja transport. We also work with our mentors, Sri Prasanna from India and Anne Mwangi from Uganda, who are the engineers and developers behind RapidFTR. All these people are wonderful :-)
Who are we?
We are two young women who have a different background but have a common interest in programming.
Nelly:
Jambo!!(Hello)
I’m Nelly the older one :-) , I am currently doing my MSc in Information Technology at United States International University- Africa and I am a professional software developer (I create android apps). I am also the Google Developer Groups lead for United States International University-Africa.
When I joined the tech world, it was out of passion and love for technology, and how it can transform lives. I had not yet done programming before in my life. but when I encountered it in my undergraduate class, I knew that was what I wanted to do all my life. I am currently learning Ruby on Rails and it’s awesome working as a team for a common goal to change people’s lives.
Mercy:
Hi, Mercy here. I am currently studying Applied Computer Technology in United States International University- Africa. My area of interest is in Information Security and Mathematics. I like to program but coding has not always been easy for me. I have been learning html5, css3 and programming languages like C++, Python and Java. I am learning Ruby on Rails at the moment and the experience is amazing.
Why the name “Team The Tremors”?
We choose the name Tremors because we want to cause a disruption. We intend to disrupt the norm and do something new, exciting and breaking barriers.
How did you hear about the RGSoC and why did you apply?
We had a hackathon event that happened on March 14th 2015 in the University. It was during the event that one of our friends, Hungai (also our coach) mentioned to us about it.
We thought it would be great to participate in RGSoC and also work on a real open source project. By this, we would not only learn and grow but also encourage and motivate other upcoming programmers.
What are we working on?
We are working on the RapidFTR project. RapidFTR is an android and web-based application that assists in gathering and sharing of information about children in emergency situations so that they can be reunited with their families. This open source project has been developed for a long time.
We will be implementing the following issues:
Mark a child as “Not Matching” a potentially matched enquiry
Separate highlighted fields for web from mobile
Display ‘no potential matches found’ message
We chose this project because we are familiar with the emergency situations like terror attacks, refugees and displaced persons. Losing a loved one is a painful experience but this application helps in reuniting people in such situations.
We also want to learn the most about Ruby and Rails.
What are you looking forward to this summer?
We want to learn as much as possible and improve our programming skills and move to a higher level with our programming experience.
We thank our Mentors: Sri and Anne, Coaches: Paul, Hungai and Diana, Supervisor: Cathy for their positive support. Not forgetting the RGSoC Team.
Follow us on twitter @teamtremors
Thank you RGSoC Community
Hi, we are the Rubyherzlein Team! We are working out of the SoundCloud office in Berlin, and our summer project is called SoundDrop. Our team consists of Franzi from Hamburg and Nynne from Copenhagen.
Why Rubyherzlein
While deciding on a name, we talked about how the Rails Girls Society is so full of hearts! Its the logo for most events and also quite often used as an emoji within the RGSoC community. As we are beginners, we thought of calling ourselves Rubyherzlein, which in German means ‘little Ruby heart’! <3<3<3
Rubyherzlein Team + extended Team: Erik, Duana, Hannes (Image: Rubyherzlein Team)
How we met
We both live in Berlin and have attended multiple RG events, but nonetheless never bumped into one another. We got to know each other via the internet - like real programmers ;) Tweeting and sharing on twitter led to a coffee in a cute café in Berlin-Mitte. We really hit it off - it was like love at first sight! Shortly thereafter we were on track with our application, with much help from our coach, Erik, and mentors, Duana and Tam.
Rubyherzlein - on our 1st Day (Image: Rubyherzlein Team)
How we heard of RGSOC
Nynne: I learned about RGSoC through the grapevine. When I started learning to program, the Rails Girls society was one of the first communities I heard about. I immediately knew I wanted the RGSoC experience! I learned about the program last summer, and was first super bummed out that it was way too late to apply. But then I decided to do everything I could to prepare for this years’ application and I’m so happy I made it!
Franzi: I heard about RGSoC the first time on a Rails Girls meetup last winter. Learning about Rails Girls was a big coincidence. During lunch with a friend someone at the other table talked about it. As I had been looking for a community like this for some time, I signed up for the next RG workshop immediately.
Which project we are working on
We work on the SoundDrop Project. It was submitted by Duana, who is now our mentor at Soundcloud. Two years ago another RailsGirls Team worked on it. At that time it was an app which linked QR - Codes to audio files. In the Soundcloud office it was used to have funny little stories linked to coffee machines (marked with an QR Code). We will continue their work and transform the app into a mobile map where places are linked to audio files using geo-tagging! By the end of the summer, you’ll be able to ‘drop’ sound (SoundCloud-hosted audio files) anywhere in a landscape and anyone using the SoundDrop app can find it there when they go to the physical locality. This can be used for creating guided tours (city guides!) and for making audio exhibitions. The app will also be used as a mobile app for Soundcloud employees, who will be encouraged to link their most favorite spot in Berlin to a Soundcloud song.
Our goal for the summer
First and foremost we want to learn as much as possible! We want the SoundDrop app to get to a point where we can invite people to use it, and we want to continue to build our network within this awesome open source community.
Learning to program as a beginner can feel a bit overwhelming at times. The biggest goal is that we actually improve so we handle the workload with ease and are able to grasp even more input. We’d like to evolve to a level where we are comfortable seeking out solutions to problems and are able to clear the roadblocks that are inevitably a part of being a programmer.
Our happiest moment so far
Every morning when we enter the office, get a big glass of orange juice and start the day with Erik’s awesome coaching session! Honestly its hard to single out specific moments. There are so many good ones! So far we are really enjoying the summer, and are super happy to be learning in this incredibly supportive community.
If we could code anything in the world
Franzi: I would build an app which makes people smile.
Nynne: If I could make anything in the would, I’d like to build a huge platform with images and data on all the works of art in all the museums in the world! Yes I know, I’m a huge art history nerd…
